Stapleford Flight centre

[base-8]

I finished PPL at SFC about a month ago and overall it was very good. The planes could be nicer but at no point did i have to wait to use a plane. I think the instructors are professional and whilst the receptionist do like to have a chat they get the job done. The new accommodation is nice enough (did have problems with the shower and toilet in my room but these things happen and you cant blame SFC for that!) For me the only thing that i was not happy with was the lady who came in 5 days a week to clean, and by that i dont mean clean, i mean sit down and bitch about everything and everyone. Probably the most 2 faced person iv met. She then would have the audacity to moan about the way that the rooms were left (i saw some of the rooms and there was nothing wrong with them other than the need for a quick mop and cloth.)

I would recommend SFC to anyone and will be returning to do CPL

[SpreadEagle]

Maybe slightly off thread, but I absolutely loathe flying into Stapleford. It is my number one least favourite place to visit. Sadly it is the airfield, it at least feels like, I have to visit the most. There are some I love to go to. Wellsbourne (great cake), Kemble, North Wield and White Waltham spring instantly to mind. There are some I am non-plussed by - Denham and Connington for example. Wycombe and Cranfield are fairly low on my list, both are expensive and both can have curt ATC, but of all Stapleford is rarely a cheerful experience.
Firstly is can get very busy and ground radio have a poor view from their ground floor office. I heard them barking at some chap who had taxyed up the western side of 04 earlier this week, to cut across the runway and get on the eastern side. Granted he was in the wrong place. However their shouting 'turn left immediately and cross the runway' was retarded. Fortunately the pilot ignored them because evidently he had eyes and could see a Cessna on short finals who eventually begged 'No, please stay where you are!' They can't see properly and are a radio, so should not be yelling instructions.
The amount of double-clicking on the radio also irritates me.
But the aviators and that includes the airschool are the biggest hazard. On a busy day some weeks ago I managed to see a gap and line up for 04. No sooner had I done so I heard "G-XXXX on final for 04". I'd had a good look but got off the runway anyway, only to find a twin landing on 22, the opposite direction to the traffic with 4 or so in the circuit! The idiot deliberately dropped in so he could use the hard runway and on pulling off said "thanks for your co-operation everyone".
On one day, again only a few weeks ago I was meeting with an ex-captain with something like 30,000 hours and 25+ years of GA in that as well. He was cut up on final by an airshool aircraft just dropping straight in on final, but did exactly the right thing to leave enough space so both could land. I was viewing all this from the outside bit in the cafe. A second aircraft, also from the school did nothing to react to what had happened in front, left himself no space and had to go around. On landing, this spotty little herbert from Stapleford flight school approached my friend, and proceeded to draw him diagrams of circuits. I was fairly annoyed and reminded him that there were many people prepared to pay him for his tuition so he needn't hand it out for free. I saw another instructor laying into a young woman because she wasn't wearing a high-viz. I don't remember the last time I saw any of the instructors wearing one however. I have never trained with Stapleford, but my experiences of them are a bunch of rude cowboys who think they own that airfield. I could give numerous more examples but these are just in the last few weeks. You need eyes on stalks and a crystal ball to get in an out safely.
I have overheard them teaching in the cafe many times. Most of their tuition seems on the whole very thorough, but there does seem to be much swaggering and bravado.
A big thumbs down. A place I would never visit, were it entirely up to me.
Cafe is ok though.
And again apologies if it is a teeny bit off subject, but I hate that place so much I just wanted to get it all off my chest. I feel better now.
Oh, and I have never had any problems with the girls behind the desk when settling landing fees. Always polite and always on hand.

[zerotohero]

lol its good to vent! you go for it

[Muddy Boots]

Good to know I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of the place!

[MagicTiger]

SpreadEagle, it is probably more the retarded pilots on the day, who is to blame. For not knowing or understanding the procedures of the day. Maybe they should have made a proper briefing.

I actually think I was on final the day this happen, as number 2 for 04L, the Cessna decided to land on 04R, while the IDIOT taxing upon on the 04L, decided to cross the runway.

Remember, the Radio service- can not give ANY ADVICE, but to be taxing up on the active runway can only be the fault of the PIC of the aircraft in question.

Yes I also know, suddenly this aircraft crossed over the active runway after the Cessna landed. There will always be pro's and cons, from what I have seen the pro's far outweigh the cons. But there will always be a few people impossible to satisfy regardless.
I personally think Stapelford offers a good training facility, if you can learn to fly there, you can probably manage to fly anywhere. And that is what the major of flying at Stapelford is for, learning to fly, besides the cafe, there is not much else around there.

If you want to go some place as GA pilot only for fun and enjoyment and relaxing, there are other places better, like Isle of Wight.

[flyvirgin]

If you dont like it, Don't fly there, simples

[lander66]

Very interesting thread although after reading it I am still left with the same conclusion I had before, a confusion conclusion. I suppose the threads for all flight schools are like this.

Just to move away from the training aspect (feel free to move it back again) I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on the accomodation. I know it has been briefly mentioned but can anyone explain what sort of things (after studying of course) students tend to do during spare time? And also how is the student comradery?

[MagicTiger]

I think the best thing to do, is to visit the place yourself. Spend a day there or 2 to see. I have never lived there, but let's say it is not really in a central location, not much to do there besides concentrate about your flying. I would say with the amount of money you will be spending on the training, I would personally worry less about what to do in spare time etc. - and worry more about getting the flight training to the optional. End of the day, you will be there for a short period of your time, every course there will be different kind of people there, some you like and some you don't.

Personally I would focus on my own task, you will not have many distractions if you live there, and just get on with your training. You have time to make friends when you finished training!

[lander66]

True enough, although little things like being around the right type of people could have an impact on the enjoyability and of the course, luck of the draw I suppose.

[student88]

I think the place is okay but god that runway is horrendous (04R). Landing on 04L is not so bad..

The instructors are nice, Lisa is lovely but one of the ladies on reception really needs some lessons in customer service.

S88

[Nashers]

does your flat include electricity, council tax, gas, water, cleaning and maintainence in that price?

your getting the same as you would get in a serviced appartment so i dont think 15 a night is too much.. you could have stayed in one of the caravan rooms or whitehouse if you wanted as they are cheaper.

[MagicTiger]

£700 in central London! That has to be a studio or council flat!

Have in mind CPL training and PPL training are 2 different cups of tea. PPL is a hobby, CPL is for motivated and professionals.

It might not be heaven on earth, but certainly teaches you a lot, and I have nothing negative to say about the CPL training - from my view quality. Instructors, briefings, flights, training, nothing negative to say. Have heard of people complaining about PPL training there, but you can not compare PPL and CPL - it's totally different things.

[G-FULL]

I was wondering, how many 152's and how many PA28 do they have? Which type is less used?

[lander66]

Not sure how many they have but C152s are bound to be used more often than the PA28s as they are cheaper to learn in.

[starlet71]

Ah SpreadEagle, think I know of you. You're the guy who drops into Stapleford regularly in that smart looking Piper Sport job.
Truth is that you seem unable to fly the prescribed circuit and consequently cause havoc to the other aircraft in, what is often, a busy circuit.
Try and tighten up on your RT as well. calling "Finals" is naff. you can't be on more than one approach at a time.....call should be "Final".
Also, it's not "Downwind for 04, 22 etc" or "Finals for 04, 22"
Try and avoid "for" and "to" in your RT calls.
If you smarten yourself up and fly the prescribed circuit pattern (please speak to an instructor if you do not know the correct pattern) you may well find your reception a tad warmer and your overall experience improved.

[Maggot64]

Experiences of Stapleford

Whilst I cannot comment on the training aspect of this thread, I would like to share my experiences of Stapleford and its customer care.

About 18 months ago I moved to Essex and was looking for an airfield to rent a plane on a regular basis. I chose Stapleford on the basis of convenience & reputation. I had flown into Stapleford on a number of previous occasions and and had no reason to think of Stapleford other than as a professional airfield with a decent cafe.

The checkout was fine and there was no problem with the instructors - they were polite, friendly and professional - however the aircraft was rather tired.

The reception staff were in a class of their own in their approach to customer care & one person in particular stood out & not in a good way. The staff at the Reception Desk seemed to take adverse pleasure in ignoring you for as long as they could even when they weren't busy and then would treat you with almost complete contempt at having had the audacity to ask them a question and attempt to line the pockets of Stapleford Airfield. Why????? It wasn't a one off occasion where the staff may have had a bad day but on almost every occasion I dared to brave the Reception Desk.

On one occasion, I booked the aircraft for a late afternoon session only to find that it was low on fuel and that the fuel pumps had been locked for the evening. No one bothered to call me so it was a wasted journey which I was pretty cheesed off with.

Another time, the aircraft was wrongly booked out - so another opportunity to fly was lost.

My wife was appalled at the service we had experienced (as she was with me on each occasion) and categorically insisted that we find another airfield to fly from as it wound her up even thinking of flying from Staplefield on a regular basis let alone consider doing her PPL there.

A pity as Stapleford has a lot going for it but I won't be spending my hard earned money there.

[Rodrek]

Hi guys,
I've read all your posts and I'd like to ask you some questions about the IR training in SFC.
As far as I've read people said that the IR training in SFC is excellent.
Do you think that a DA42 (with glass cockpit) would be better than any other multi airplanes for IR operations?
Do you think that training in a controlled airfield would be better than training in an uncontrolled one (like stapleford)?

[Anonystude]

I did my inital ME SPA IR at Stapleford at the end of last year. I'd certainly say the DA-42 / G1000 combo makes passing the IR a hell of a lot easier; it also prepared me (coming from a strictly steam-and-dials world) nicely for the MCC. As for the controlled airfield thing -- I'd say that's not even a factor. You're not in the circuit that much, if at all. Most of the time you're off on route flying (once you're out of the sim and in the aircraft). The only interesting thing is negotiating with London to get a join somewhere north of the field, but that's no drama.

I'd wholeheartedly recommend them if you're after an IR with minimum stress and a decent quality of training.

[proudprivate]

I inquired about doing IMC training a Stapleford in early 2008. Made an appointment through the reception. When I showed up, reception told me they had no record of my booking, terribly sorry, no instructor available
Ended up taking a couple of £'000 of custom elsewhere. Their problem, not mine.

DA-42 - I've been told its easier to fly than the usual old metal, with no worries with prop sync, etc... But the IR-part is relatively mild at the twin level, anyway. Fly a few approaches and do a hold on a single engine and that is it basically.

Do you think that training in a controlled airfield would be better than training in an uncontrolled one ?

The advantage of a controlled airfield is that you don't have to fly very far to shoot a real approach and that the RT is for real. But I guess your instructor can set up non-precision DIY approaches at Stapleford and practice the RT in a simulated way so the travel would only be needed for ILS's.
The advantage of a non-controlled airfield is that the landing fees are generally cheaper and it is less hassle to depart when it is not busy.

[truckflyer]

Why the heck would you think they would make you a DIY non-precision approach at Stapleford?

I mean this is not a Cowboy school where they try fleece you for every pence you have. Southend is 10-15 minutes away! (Controlled and Non precision)

ILS is problem, as is at moment either Cambridge or Manston, Southend O/S!