Advice please - which "London" school?

[thedove]

Guys and gals, i need your wisdom. I am currently looking at Stapleford, Cabair and maybe Oxford as schools to do zero(ish) to the full monty (even if it is frozen!) Seriously - any thoughts? Stapleford are about 10K cheaper that cabir, but I think that Cabair have a repution in the indusrty as being quiet good. I have been advised to just get the licence and use the spare cash for flying experience sims e.t.c. I plan to live in (west) london and commute... your pearls of wisdom please (email me direct if you want).

[ESSEX BOY]

Stapleford !!!

Sounds like your best option so far !!!

they have a good reputation, they have been mentioned several times in the last few months, and all ive seen has been good <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Cheap and Very Cheerful

Ive not heard too many good things about Cabair recently, but they are well known ?

<img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> . .Check them all out and give them a visit !!!

Good Luck !!! And Spend Wisely !?! <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

[thedove]

Essex boy - your name gives you away! do i sense a bias

[AirbusPilot]

Im about to start this sunday my PPL at Stapleford.

I got no complaints what so ever regarding Stapleford. I have a friend currently doing the PPL as well over there and he likes it.

OK it's not well known like Cabair but does it really matter?

I live in London as well so Cabair is the closest to me than Stapleford, but i found the staff at EGSG very helpful and willing to help <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> which is what im looking for, people who will help me during my carrer until i get to the top (ATPL), cant say the same about Cabair sorry. <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

Good Luck

Regards,. .Pedro

PS- If one day you come up to Stapleford let me know.

[ 31 January 2002: Message edited by: AirbusPilot ]</p>

[zero-lash valve lifter]

I did the old CAP 509 course at Oxford and they were fine, pretty impersonal but ok. Compare them with Stapleford and immediately you have the price advantage and additionally you have excellent instructor and aircraft availability, something that Oxford are hard pressed to do. There is also the commonly held view (although not mine) that airline sponored students are treated much better than the self-sponsored guys. With airlines pulling out of sponsorship recently this may no longer be such an issue but this will not arise at Stapleford. . .Cabair I have no experience of, unfortunately they are also branded Scabair so you can draw your own conclusions about them.. .To sum up Oxford are OK but I would recommend Stapleford for both price and quality of service. I suppose in the end the license is the same where ever you go.. .Cheers <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[JT8]

Flyingfish - I take it you are hoping to do a modular course. In that case, I would actually use the slightly smaller and more friendly school - in your case Stapleford.

If you wanted to do the integrated course you can only do it at Cabair or Oxford in the UK. Cabairs a lot cheaper than OATS, one of the reasons why it is my choice if I do an integrated course.

Another thing, theres loads of people on pprune who will say 'stay clear of x school, I've heard bad things about them..etc'(with no personal experience of the place) Go and visit the school yourself and see what YOU think. Talk to students past and present. Consider aircraft and instructor availability. Look for hidden costs such as navigation charges etc.

Best of luck! <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> . .JT8

[thedove]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've got trips to all three planned over the next few weeks, cabair this sat in fact! As for the integrated/modular thing I may have the wrong end of the stick here but at stapleford my understanding is that you can do the modular bits consecutively ie in 54ish weeks - so to me that sounds like the same integrated deal I'd get at cabair unless I really have my knickers in a twist.........

[A and C]

Only use cabair as a last resort , all they want is your money !.

They treat there staff life dirt and have the same regard for the students once the money is in the bank.

[TheNavigator]

Hello there!

I am doing my PPL at Stappleford and can confirm what has been said about them! Very friendly, personal, busy airspace and airfield but that does not mean you wont get your time! Good availability of aircraft which are all in good shape!

If you need further info let me know!

[rockaria]

I have just done my CPL at Stapleford and will commence multi/IR there this week. I have been impressed with the standard of instruction, the friendly atmosphere and availability of aircraft. I would definitely recommend them.

I toured round Cabair, Oxford and Bristol and whilst I was equally impressed with the Bristol set up I was completely unimpressed with Cabair and Oxford.

I have direct experience with Cabair and I found them to be extremely expensive with alot of hidden costs though the instruction was good. At Oxford the costs were high, you didnt seem to be dealt with as though you were an individual, just a number and they quoted twice the length of time to take cpl/ir than everyone else (modular route) due to lack of a/c / instructors/flexibility etc.

So whilst the decision is yours I would recommend Stapleford for costs and instruction and also because of where you live.

Hope that helps, though remember this is just my personal opinion, many other people would disagree.

Rocky

[aztruck]

If you're in West London might I suggest 2 places.. .For a CPL/IR Wycombe Air Centre are really good(and for the PPl as well for that matter).. .Maintenance is excellent and very enthusiastic career instructors who are not looking to run off to the airlines with you as a stepping stone.. .The other location is West London Aero Club, which will do an accelerated Flight Instructor rating in a few weeks as well as all the PPl stuff.. .WLAC is in Maidenhead and is more of a flying Club than a school, but you will meet a great many current Airline pilots in the bar who will encourage you no end.. .I heve done training in both locations and it was great fun.. .It sounds like they are around the corner from you.

[Little Keepings]

I have seen many flying schools over the years and worked for some of them. In my opinion you will not do better that Stapleford, it is outstanding. My spies, however, tell me that so many people are of the same opinion that you may have difficulty getting a place when you want it, so get in quick. Stapleford are associated with London Guildhall University for the ground school element. Again you cannot do better.

ps I don't work for Stapleford.

[CliffordAgius]

I am currently doing my ATPL ground school studies as part of the link between Stapleford and London Guildhall. I think the school is great and I strongly recommend the Staplford USA part. They train from one of the 10 busyest airports in the USA (For traffic numbers). This means you learn (VERY VERY Quickly) you radio work and enjoy the relaxing parts like water ski-ing down the lake on the odd day off.

I also agree with everyone else on the Stapleford UK side of things there is always planes avalible and the friendly atmosphere is great.

What ever you choose good luck and enjoy I am.

Oh and if you do go to London Guildhall you really will need good luck! it's bloody hard and i worked as an engineer before so I have a headstrt on most of my classmates. But having said that it's not impossible you just have to become a book worm and forget what the oputside world looks like, other than the trains in and out of london everyday! when there is not a strike.

Have fun!!!!!! <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[thedove]

This is a really dumb question I know, however, is a PPL just a PPL? I only ask as there is a localish club where I have started on the PPL (JAR). BUT some-one told me that the club had to be JAA aproved if I want to use the PPL as module 1 for the CPL/Frozen APTL etc. Therefore, I should only to the PPL at a recognised school doing JAA/ATPL training. Is this true?????