Bartolini Air Flight School
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
From: Dublin
To be honest I think I was very lucky with getting the date I wanted, I guess the right timing! If I were you, I would keep at them, also keep an eye on this forum as it seems like there are a good few people who have booked looking to change dates.
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 138
Likes: 0
From: Milan
Your overall thoughts about the school?
Fair, probably one of the best in Europe for the under 20k budget
A/c availability?
In my situation it could have been much better. they sold a twin during our training, another broke down, leaving 15 students (2 groups) with one twin that was flying continiously with, as consequence, short times between maintenance. We ended up not having a twin available during the few days od above minima weather, and delaying our training. appareantely for the income of students they have at the moment they need 4 twins more r less, at least to keep the 8 weeks goal realistic.
If you still have the old contract with the 2002 be prepare to struggle to fly the cpl module since a lot of hour builders use the 02. If you have the new contract with the 2008 you won't have problems.
Instructor availability?
Almost always available but you really have to run after them. If you don't ask you don't fly, somebody else will in your place. I didn't expect that, but once you know it you'll fly regularly.
Quality of communication between you and staff?
Ground staff is very helpful, some polish instructors have poor English, but overall I have to say good, even if we randomly discovered they sold one plane from one of the instructors...
Anyway if you have any problem, talk with Joanna.
WX situation?
You're in Poland, so make your conclusions. I was there probably in the worst period and it took 13 weeks to complete the cpl-ir-mep, and going to school every day, some of my colleagues took 16 weeks. Appareantly in summer it's good. From September to March expect one month delay on the 8 week goal.
Big issue for cpl is vfr conditions, and for the ir freezing level. Most of the time it lays on the ground in Autumn-winter, flying is up to the instructor because Tecnams don't have any anti/de-icing system. Flying in clouds is not ideal with -5 on the ground and overcast at 1000ft.
How was the CPL course?
Good, but do not expect incredible advices from the instructors. Plan as goog as you can, and also prepare some questions in prevision of the single flights and also the skill test.
The good thing is that VFR flying in Poland request some skills (unless you just go around looking at the garmin as a lot of people do......), so a good planning is very important.
Try to give your best, because it goes fast. The twin part of the CPL was my favourite, great fun.
If in winter get rid of the cpl module asap (vfr conditions are rare).
A lot of paperwork to print and some tricky airspaces but nothing undoable.
Do they prep the a/c for you before each flight or is that up to you?
Depends, usually you have to refuel, but also with preflight checks doesn't take more than 20 mins to strartup.
What about the IR, good SOPs, briefing, much time spent on autopilot, what sort of approaches do they teach?
How long did it take to do the course?
IR is good, they're one of the first schools in Europe to provide also pbn training and rating. Tho my instructor was not that helpful, if I didn't ask anything we would have flown without even talking. Prepare questions, learn as good as you can the sops, train on the sim they have at school and it will be helpful. Honestly flying rnav is doable even by a monkey, but making it useful for your future is up to you.
Sops are well made (especially for the twin), you will do: rnav - lnav- ils- ndb- vor approaches. EPLL is the perfect place where to do it, a few (still some) commercial traffics, professional controllers and no big delays or holdings. In two hours you could easily do more than 5 approaches.
For the sim do not argue with Bogdan. he's a good guy, if you fair, he fair, if you wanna argue, it's over. Nice that during sim training you do some demanding approaches (Klagenfurt, Wien, Geneva, ecc..).
Adam and Bartek are very good instructors but not so available because they fly on the company's Citation (as some other instructors..).
It took me 13 weeks to finish my cpl-ir-mep.
Anything else worth mentioning?
Again, be prepared to do most of the job alone, or with your course mates. Instructors want to fly as much as they can, but briefings are rare, and you're supposed to know sops and theory even if you never talked about it before with your instructor. For less than 20k I think you cannot ask for more honestly, but with the structure they have at the moment they cannot ask for much more. If they raise the price even more consider Diamond.
Another thing: I do not want to sound too negative in my feedback, but some things were not working really well. What I have to say in their defense is that they're transferring the school to the old airport terminal and also expanding the school. But when I was there it was sometimes not clear if they were a fying school, an executive airline or a tecnam dealer. If I could give them an advice is not to expand too fast, focus on what they think is the most important business for them (hopefully the school, even if it should not be just business..) and not to think they will always be able to manage borderline situations as they did sometimes, because sometimes studens do feel a bit alone, and they share their thoughts within each other, and this is no good for the school reputation. I hope it will get better in this year, because honestly, sometimes they were a bit messy.
Where did you stay and how did you travel to/from there school?
I was staying at an airbnb and there are plenty of them in lodz. Basecamp and salsa were full and honestly, a bit expensive as well.
Lodz is nice honestly, especially in summer-spring. If in winter you'll start to feel a bit depressed after 3 months, don't worry it's normal.
Fair, probably one of the best in Europe for the under 20k budget
A/c availability?
In my situation it could have been much better. they sold a twin during our training, another broke down, leaving 15 students (2 groups) with one twin that was flying continiously with, as consequence, short times between maintenance. We ended up not having a twin available during the few days od above minima weather, and delaying our training. appareantely for the income of students they have at the moment they need 4 twins more r less, at least to keep the 8 weeks goal realistic.
If you still have the old contract with the 2002 be prepare to struggle to fly the cpl module since a lot of hour builders use the 02. If you have the new contract with the 2008 you won't have problems.
Instructor availability?
Almost always available but you really have to run after them. If you don't ask you don't fly, somebody else will in your place. I didn't expect that, but once you know it you'll fly regularly.
Quality of communication between you and staff?
Ground staff is very helpful, some polish instructors have poor English, but overall I have to say good, even if we randomly discovered they sold one plane from one of the instructors...
Anyway if you have any problem, talk with Joanna.
WX situation?
You're in Poland, so make your conclusions. I was there probably in the worst period and it took 13 weeks to complete the cpl-ir-mep, and going to school every day, some of my colleagues took 16 weeks. Appareantly in summer it's good. From September to March expect one month delay on the 8 week goal.
Big issue for cpl is vfr conditions, and for the ir freezing level. Most of the time it lays on the ground in Autumn-winter, flying is up to the instructor because Tecnams don't have any anti/de-icing system. Flying in clouds is not ideal with -5 on the ground and overcast at 1000ft.
How was the CPL course?
Good, but do not expect incredible advices from the instructors. Plan as goog as you can, and also prepare some questions in prevision of the single flights and also the skill test.
The good thing is that VFR flying in Poland request some skills (unless you just go around looking at the garmin as a lot of people do......), so a good planning is very important.
Try to give your best, because it goes fast. The twin part of the CPL was my favourite, great fun.
If in winter get rid of the cpl module asap (vfr conditions are rare).
A lot of paperwork to print and some tricky airspaces but nothing undoable.
Do they prep the a/c for you before each flight or is that up to you?
Depends, usually you have to refuel, but also with preflight checks doesn't take more than 20 mins to strartup.
What about the IR, good SOPs, briefing, much time spent on autopilot, what sort of approaches do they teach?
How long did it take to do the course?
IR is good, they're one of the first schools in Europe to provide also pbn training and rating. Tho my instructor was not that helpful, if I didn't ask anything we would have flown without even talking. Prepare questions, learn as good as you can the sops, train on the sim they have at school and it will be helpful. Honestly flying rnav is doable even by a monkey, but making it useful for your future is up to you.
Sops are well made (especially for the twin), you will do: rnav - lnav- ils- ndb- vor approaches. EPLL is the perfect place where to do it, a few (still some) commercial traffics, professional controllers and no big delays or holdings. In two hours you could easily do more than 5 approaches.
For the sim do not argue with Bogdan. he's a good guy, if you fair, he fair, if you wanna argue, it's over. Nice that during sim training you do some demanding approaches (Klagenfurt, Wien, Geneva, ecc..).
Adam and Bartek are very good instructors but not so available because they fly on the company's Citation (as some other instructors..).
It took me 13 weeks to finish my cpl-ir-mep.
Anything else worth mentioning?
Again, be prepared to do most of the job alone, or with your course mates. Instructors want to fly as much as they can, but briefings are rare, and you're supposed to know sops and theory even if you never talked about it before with your instructor. For less than 20k I think you cannot ask for more honestly, but with the structure they have at the moment they cannot ask for much more. If they raise the price even more consider Diamond.
Another thing: I do not want to sound too negative in my feedback, but some things were not working really well. What I have to say in their defense is that they're transferring the school to the old airport terminal and also expanding the school. But when I was there it was sometimes not clear if they were a fying school, an executive airline or a tecnam dealer. If I could give them an advice is not to expand too fast, focus on what they think is the most important business for them (hopefully the school, even if it should not be just business..) and not to think they will always be able to manage borderline situations as they did sometimes, because sometimes studens do feel a bit alone, and they share their thoughts within each other, and this is no good for the school reputation. I hope it will get better in this year, because honestly, sometimes they were a bit messy.
Where did you stay and how did you travel to/from there school?
I was staying at an airbnb and there are plenty of them in lodz. Basecamp and salsa were full and honestly, a bit expensive as well.
Lodz is nice honestly, especially in summer-spring. If in winter you'll start to feel a bit depressed after 3 months, don't worry it's normal.
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
From: From UK
That sounds like a fair review.
It is, of course, a very difficult thing to review a flight school as very few people will try the same course at different places. I think for the price and the number of positive reviews, it's a good place to train.
I haven't heard of them moving the school to the old terminal. That should make commuting from the centre of Lodz much easier.
It is, of course, a very difficult thing to review a flight school as very few people will try the same course at different places. I think for the price and the number of positive reviews, it's a good place to train.
I haven't heard of them moving the school to the old terminal. That should make commuting from the centre of Lodz much easier.
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Europe
Ppl slots June-August
Hello everyone!
I will shortly introduce myself here because I am new to this forum. My name is Francesco, I am 22 years old and I am from Italy.
I have recently passed the assesment test at Bartolini Air for the 0-atpl modular training. However, at the moment the waiting list is very long: the first available intake for ppl would be in April 2020.
Is there anyone reading this post who has booked a place for the ppl intake in June/August 2019 and is for any reason thinking about postponing or even cancelling his or her training? We could swap slots in the first case, or I could take your slot in the second one.
Thank you very much in advance.
I will shortly introduce myself here because I am new to this forum. My name is Francesco, I am 22 years old and I am from Italy.
I have recently passed the assesment test at Bartolini Air for the 0-atpl modular training. However, at the moment the waiting list is very long: the first available intake for ppl would be in April 2020.
Is there anyone reading this post who has booked a place for the ppl intake in June/August 2019 and is for any reason thinking about postponing or even cancelling his or her training? We could swap slots in the first case, or I could take your slot in the second one.
Thank you very much in advance.
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
From: From UK
I've just seen on Facebook that Bartolini and Ryanair have agreed a mentor programme.
It looks like a pretty interesting programme - though Ryanair have taken on a lot of former students over the last few years even without such a programme.
Does anyone have any more information on it (and will it lead to price increases)?
It looks like a pretty interesting programme - though Ryanair have taken on a lot of former students over the last few years even without such a programme.
Does anyone have any more information on it (and will it lead to price increases)?
Last edited by RedDragonFlyer; 18th July 2019 at 15:35. Reason: Typo
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 326
Likes: 7
From: World
Joined: Nov 2014
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 416
Likes: 0
From: six micro tesla zone
Not if you are a modular student going through the AFTA scheme or a MCC student doing the VA course!
Personally, I don’t see the 737 MAX situation sorting itself out anytime soon; so expect things at Ryanair to be slow in the near future.
Personally, I don’t see the 737 MAX situation sorting itself out anytime soon; so expect things at Ryanair to be slow in the near future.
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: Uruguay
anto125;
I find this review really honest and helpful. I'm from Uruguay but have got a Polish passport (never spoken a word of Polish in my life) and recently I've gone to FTE Jerez and passed their assessment in June. Now I'm considering whether going for Bartolini instead is a better choice since the price difference is huge but the value does seem to be there. Of course FTE has it going with a number of airlines and paying extra for the brand name and quality of instruction is tempting, but I've got the experience of getting a PPL in Uruguay, which is basically the same environment as you described when studying at Bartolini. Also, I'm expecting to start courses in FTE around New Years, but I feel if I choose to go to Poland I'll have to expect to start around this time next year.
I feel these two schools are two different worlds altogether, guess I'll gave to think it through well.
I find this review really honest and helpful. I'm from Uruguay but have got a Polish passport (never spoken a word of Polish in my life) and recently I've gone to FTE Jerez and passed their assessment in June. Now I'm considering whether going for Bartolini instead is a better choice since the price difference is huge but the value does seem to be there. Of course FTE has it going with a number of airlines and paying extra for the brand name and quality of instruction is tempting, but I've got the experience of getting a PPL in Uruguay, which is basically the same environment as you described when studying at Bartolini. Also, I'm expecting to start courses in FTE around New Years, but I feel if I choose to go to Poland I'll have to expect to start around this time next year.
I feel these two schools are two different worlds altogether, guess I'll gave to think it through well.
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 612
Likes: 13
From: North Europe
NesherUY...if you have the money to go to FTE...it is the best choice for sure!!Quality, meteo, instructor, connection with airlines etc etc...if you want to go to a cheap flight school Bartolini (but a lot of) could be a good choice. About ATPL or PPL theoretical course...FTE is like an University...Bartolini is like "made yourself" ground training...you pay as you get...
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
From: BHX
I would highly disagree with your statement.
I went to Bartolini and my friend went to FTE.
Bartolini is ran by all airline staff, the IR ground school was amazing. We covered so much of the EASA ops, that wasnt even the requirement btw.. and I wont wven mentioned the price. I paid 15.5€K and he paid 39€K
I got the job within 2 months with a Legacy Carrier, while he waited desperately over 1.5yrs.
So go figure, just cause the FTE has a luxurious advertisement and so on, it doesnt mean its the best..
More expensive is not always better!
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: England
Hi all,
I caught wind of the partnership between Bartolini Air and Ryanair to make the Bartolini Air - Ryanair Mentored Programme. However, I cant seem to find any information regarding if its an MPL or ATPL course, the pricing for the programme or the minimum requirements.
Would anyone here happen to know?
Thanks
I caught wind of the partnership between Bartolini Air and Ryanair to make the Bartolini Air - Ryanair Mentored Programme. However, I cant seem to find any information regarding if its an MPL or ATPL course, the pricing for the programme or the minimum requirements.
Would anyone here happen to know?
Thanks