Flying Academy in Czech Republic...opinion !
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Meteorology Avenue
Age: 44
Posts: 189
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bartolini
Hi RedBull,
have you done your training at Bartolini or it's just another "I know a friend who did it there.."?
If so, could you please share more info about your experience with them? It seems that a lot of Bartolini's info here is outdated.
Thansk
have you done your training at Bartolini or it's just another "I know a friend who did it there.."?
If so, could you please share more info about your experience with them? It seems that a lot of Bartolini's info here is outdated.
Thansk
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: "Dark side of the moon"
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would check their Facebook and contact students there, best way to get a update on the current state of the school.
https://www.facebook.com/Fly-in-Poland-174314219379888/
I did parts of my training there, though years ago so things might have changed.
https://www.facebook.com/Fly-in-Poland-174314219379888/
I did parts of my training there, though years ago so things might have changed.
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Turkey
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Flying academy-wasting time and money
Do not come this so called flying school and do not waste your money. You will not learn anything and you will spend more than you planned. Think wisely and please don't! In 2014 it was better but nowadays it is a total disaster. You wait for check rides you wait so much extra money and you do not wish this certainly!! 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Miami
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dear @flybywiree,
Thank you for your feedback, with the positives and the negatives. Before I continue I’d like to mention that 95% of graduates from Flying Academy who went to airline interviews in 2015 and 2016, got in.
I’ll take into consideration especially your feedback where we need to improve. However, I’d like to mention a few things, to make sure you have a complete understanding about the situation:
- Regarding the inexperienced instructors – We always have a higher number of FIs with a great number of hours and a limited number of pilots who just recently became FIs. We honestly consider that everybody deserves a chance and it's the least we can do to overcome the predictable situation at the end of the training when nobody wants to even give new pilots a chance of starting their pilot career in an airline, a charter company or a flight school because you’re “unexperienced” and so they become stuck. We believe in keeping the dream alive and helping as much as we can the new pilots who are promising and have outstanding performance during their studies. Please have in mind that we do standardize our pilots to be able to follow the same set of procedures when training pilots. If we think that only the hours of experience are important, applying the same logic it means that nobody can fly an airliner with a fresh CPL, nobody can fly in IMC with a fresh IR and no instructor can teach with a fresh FI. Why do we bother in creating new pilots then?
- Regarding the airplane problems – As you’ve probably seen, our planes fly a lot. Because they are mainly used for training, the lifespan of the instruments is really much lower than normally. We do have a set of MEL without which we can’t fly a plane (i.e. no night flying/IFR flying without Attitude Indicator while time building can be performed in day VMC without it). These are only temporary situations until the parts are being received and installed on the aircraft. Regarding the HI, broken radios etc, I do have to intervene and say that this is not happening. Security during flying classes is extremely important for us, we value our students and you probably know the procedure of announcing a squawk. Also, please mention one single plane that doesn't have GPS from our fleet, since I am absolutely sure that this is an overstatement of yours.
- Regarding our base in a CTR – 90% of our trainees go for Airlines. We have the experience and can say that this is a major advantage of learning to fly like a pro. Indeed, when flying from a controlled airport you encounter costs. However, we are talking about as little as around 4 Euros for a landing, 6 Euros to leave and reenter the CTR. Comparing to the rest of Europe, these costs are minimal. Indeed, if you want to be a PPL holder and fly in the weekend only, I agree that flying from an ATZ with a grass runway, no taxiway, no briefing office and the closest you will be to an airliner is when you look up in the sky, it’s a much better option.
I need to disagree that the landing and communication fees are hidden as we mention to all trainees approximately how much they should expect. Bare in mind that we cannot control landing and communication fees especially when a trainee is doing the time-building module of the program and maybe deciding (on his/her own) to fly to a major European airport; the costs for that would be even hundreds of Euros. Because of this, when future pilots want to join us we just set their expectations that they will encounter landing and communication fees during their training of approximately 2.250 EUR for the 0-ATPL program. We tell this to each and every trainee before they start. Why would we hide a cost which is not ours?
- Regarding delays – I agree with you that in the peak months some delays do appear due to the late arrival of the aircraft (just like in the airlines). We’re constantly trying to find new ways to optimize the schedule, to motivate pilots to respect the schedule and return when planned in order to minimize delays time. Regarding any scheduling of flight after sunset when NR is not available, I am confident that this was an isolated and simple human error. As all our trainees have the night training, the person doing the schedule thought by default that you have it as well. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- “Forgetting” to signup trainees for exams – We don’t forget to sign people up, but there are moments when we use all available slots in that respective month in the CAA. The more in advance a trainee plans his/her exams (PPL, ATPL, IR EN etc), the faster we can confirm the slot with the authority. It is a procedure that we cannot 100% control, since it is not fully depending on us.
- Did we lose your Medical certificate, PPL/CPL license, logbook or that’s what you’ve heard? If such a situation exists, i would like to know about it.
- Regarding the bottle-neck you’re talking about on the IR Training part, that was solved as of the second half of last year. We identified the problem and we fixed it with maximum urgency.
- Regarding the relation with the CAA – if there was any backlog in scheduling the check rides, it was due to capacity. We have allocated 2 to 6 slots/week so yes, due to the high amount of trainees, sometimes these slots are not enough. We know about it and we’re working with the authorities to increase the capacity of the CAA. However, once again, this is not a situation that is 100% in our control.
- Regarding the briefing-debriefing costs for IR (10.000 CZK ~370 EUR). This is a minimal cost in the IR training as a result of the feedback we received from the Instrument Rating Instructors (Airline/BizJet Pilots), since trainees need extensive briefing before each of the IR flights. In order to not charge per hour (27 EUR), we’ve made a package for the entire training of 50 hours (the cost is now about 4 times less than paying per hour for the service). We have made this decision especially to help our students to plan their budget. like this, they do not need to count hours and to estimate fees. They are transparently shown to them.
- Regarding accommodation in Brno – we have several places where we accommodate trainees. We use them on a first come first serve basis and we communicate this fact upfront. If you were so "far" from the airport it means you opted to stay in the city center. Please remember that the airport is connected with the city with a bus that goes every 30 minutes and it's just a 25 minutes ride. In Prague, we have the airport connected with the tube, an advantage that not many flight schools have even in Western Europe. If this accommodation was no longer suitable for you, a simple email to Customer Service might have solved the situation.
Again, many thanks for your feedback. As mentioned, we’re always open to hear what trainees have to say, in face to face meetings, emails, phone calls or even a public forum.
If you want to add anything else, please do send it to me. i can reassure you that we will treat feedback seriously each and every time.
Best Regards,
Radim Olbrecht
Head of Training
Flying Academy
Thank you for your feedback, with the positives and the negatives. Before I continue I’d like to mention that 95% of graduates from Flying Academy who went to airline interviews in 2015 and 2016, got in.
I’ll take into consideration especially your feedback where we need to improve. However, I’d like to mention a few things, to make sure you have a complete understanding about the situation:
- Regarding the inexperienced instructors – We always have a higher number of FIs with a great number of hours and a limited number of pilots who just recently became FIs. We honestly consider that everybody deserves a chance and it's the least we can do to overcome the predictable situation at the end of the training when nobody wants to even give new pilots a chance of starting their pilot career in an airline, a charter company or a flight school because you’re “unexperienced” and so they become stuck. We believe in keeping the dream alive and helping as much as we can the new pilots who are promising and have outstanding performance during their studies. Please have in mind that we do standardize our pilots to be able to follow the same set of procedures when training pilots. If we think that only the hours of experience are important, applying the same logic it means that nobody can fly an airliner with a fresh CPL, nobody can fly in IMC with a fresh IR and no instructor can teach with a fresh FI. Why do we bother in creating new pilots then?
- Regarding the airplane problems – As you’ve probably seen, our planes fly a lot. Because they are mainly used for training, the lifespan of the instruments is really much lower than normally. We do have a set of MEL without which we can’t fly a plane (i.e. no night flying/IFR flying without Attitude Indicator while time building can be performed in day VMC without it). These are only temporary situations until the parts are being received and installed on the aircraft. Regarding the HI, broken radios etc, I do have to intervene and say that this is not happening. Security during flying classes is extremely important for us, we value our students and you probably know the procedure of announcing a squawk. Also, please mention one single plane that doesn't have GPS from our fleet, since I am absolutely sure that this is an overstatement of yours.
- Regarding our base in a CTR – 90% of our trainees go for Airlines. We have the experience and can say that this is a major advantage of learning to fly like a pro. Indeed, when flying from a controlled airport you encounter costs. However, we are talking about as little as around 4 Euros for a landing, 6 Euros to leave and reenter the CTR. Comparing to the rest of Europe, these costs are minimal. Indeed, if you want to be a PPL holder and fly in the weekend only, I agree that flying from an ATZ with a grass runway, no taxiway, no briefing office and the closest you will be to an airliner is when you look up in the sky, it’s a much better option.
I need to disagree that the landing and communication fees are hidden as we mention to all trainees approximately how much they should expect. Bare in mind that we cannot control landing and communication fees especially when a trainee is doing the time-building module of the program and maybe deciding (on his/her own) to fly to a major European airport; the costs for that would be even hundreds of Euros. Because of this, when future pilots want to join us we just set their expectations that they will encounter landing and communication fees during their training of approximately 2.250 EUR for the 0-ATPL program. We tell this to each and every trainee before they start. Why would we hide a cost which is not ours?
- Regarding delays – I agree with you that in the peak months some delays do appear due to the late arrival of the aircraft (just like in the airlines). We’re constantly trying to find new ways to optimize the schedule, to motivate pilots to respect the schedule and return when planned in order to minimize delays time. Regarding any scheduling of flight after sunset when NR is not available, I am confident that this was an isolated and simple human error. As all our trainees have the night training, the person doing the schedule thought by default that you have it as well. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- “Forgetting” to signup trainees for exams – We don’t forget to sign people up, but there are moments when we use all available slots in that respective month in the CAA. The more in advance a trainee plans his/her exams (PPL, ATPL, IR EN etc), the faster we can confirm the slot with the authority. It is a procedure that we cannot 100% control, since it is not fully depending on us.
- Did we lose your Medical certificate, PPL/CPL license, logbook or that’s what you’ve heard? If such a situation exists, i would like to know about it.
- Regarding the bottle-neck you’re talking about on the IR Training part, that was solved as of the second half of last year. We identified the problem and we fixed it with maximum urgency.
- Regarding the relation with the CAA – if there was any backlog in scheduling the check rides, it was due to capacity. We have allocated 2 to 6 slots/week so yes, due to the high amount of trainees, sometimes these slots are not enough. We know about it and we’re working with the authorities to increase the capacity of the CAA. However, once again, this is not a situation that is 100% in our control.
- Regarding the briefing-debriefing costs for IR (10.000 CZK ~370 EUR). This is a minimal cost in the IR training as a result of the feedback we received from the Instrument Rating Instructors (Airline/BizJet Pilots), since trainees need extensive briefing before each of the IR flights. In order to not charge per hour (27 EUR), we’ve made a package for the entire training of 50 hours (the cost is now about 4 times less than paying per hour for the service). We have made this decision especially to help our students to plan their budget. like this, they do not need to count hours and to estimate fees. They are transparently shown to them.
- Regarding accommodation in Brno – we have several places where we accommodate trainees. We use them on a first come first serve basis and we communicate this fact upfront. If you were so "far" from the airport it means you opted to stay in the city center. Please remember that the airport is connected with the city with a bus that goes every 30 minutes and it's just a 25 minutes ride. In Prague, we have the airport connected with the tube, an advantage that not many flight schools have even in Western Europe. If this accommodation was no longer suitable for you, a simple email to Customer Service might have solved the situation.
Again, many thanks for your feedback. As mentioned, we’re always open to hear what trainees have to say, in face to face meetings, emails, phone calls or even a public forum.
If you want to add anything else, please do send it to me. i can reassure you that we will treat feedback seriously each and every time.
Best Regards,
Radim Olbrecht
Head of Training
Flying Academy
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: GMTT
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry to tell you sir that your school has been humiliated in this post. It is good write a four-paragraph response, but hundreds of people have been advised through this post and there aren't going to your school.
Good luck
Good luck
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Brno
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Flying academy is just a wasting of time and money and its true
they have the best customer service just before you signed the contract
once its done you will see the worst customer service in your life
they find any way to make you pay extra money
they have few experienced instructures and the rest of them are just student who upgraded to instructor ,so you might be theire first student ,they will give you less knowledge and skills
you will have to study everything by your self and seek explanation from other student or friends
INOP is very common in most of aircraft ( altimeter oil pressure fuel gauge etc )
you will be the only one responsible for all mistakes that customer service are making
and there is no department to complain to
i advice any one who is planing to come to flying academy to come and make a visit and see
what is really happening here befor taking any decision
all the best to every one
they have the best customer service just before you signed the contract
once its done you will see the worst customer service in your life
they find any way to make you pay extra money
they have few experienced instructures and the rest of them are just student who upgraded to instructor ,so you might be theire first student ,they will give you less knowledge and skills
you will have to study everything by your self and seek explanation from other student or friends
INOP is very common in most of aircraft ( altimeter oil pressure fuel gauge etc )
you will be the only one responsible for all mistakes that customer service are making
and there is no department to complain to
i advice any one who is planing to come to flying academy to come and make a visit and see
what is really happening here befor taking any decision
all the best to every one
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Turkey
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Serious facts about Flying Academy Brno/Prag
The things you dont know about Flying Academy and you Wont realize until you sign the contract and hidden costs and disgusting facts
1) Money
Although it seems quiet cheap when you make a first glance at it, the fact is not like that. In my case I paid 10.000 US $ more than my contract. So how did this happen? Let me explain to you. In contract they don't tell you about extra spring training, landing fees, departure fees, arrival fees, communication fees, low pass fees, CTR fees, IR approach fees. Yes you heard it exactly right. They charge you even for a ordinary low pass and IR APPROACH FEE. So think about it, IR is nearly all about approaches like ILS, VOR, RNAV, NDB. And they charge you even for that. Besides you make a simple low pass and they get your money just like that. In simple contract you pay for 85 PIC HOURS. But when you advance in your progress you realize that you are supposed to fly 100 PIC HOURS To become commercial pilot. So you fly more to complete it. But nobody tells you about this because they also know that you will already fly these hours to complete the training. Sometimes they just tell you that you must take ground briefing or extra ground lesson or they won't let you fly. So you take these lessons and you pay more. In the web site school says that they will help you with visa process and guess what ? They charge you for visa assistance too. In conclusion you will spend so much or will be unable to finish your whole training due to this bilateral contract and monetary policy of the school management. So if you think it is cheap I assure you it is not and you will pay much more than you assume.
2) Safety
This is extremely vital and Flying Academy s.r.o BRNO/PRAGUE does not seem to worry about this as well. You will fly with planes which don't have or inoperative artificial horizon, heading indicator, turn coordinator, fuel indicator. Your doors will get open during your flight.Yes you heard it right my fellows. They are either all or partially not working. And when you complain them about these particular and highly vital elements they will tell you it is ok. According to regulation yes you can fly VFR for example with inoperative heading indicator but don't forget you are paying for these and it is safety first in aviation. Even though it is written in manuals of planes , even Czech check riders can cut off the gas during exam which is really caotic. Welcome to caos flight in Czech Republic. Generally it is not fit to fly due to weather in this country but the system pushes you to fly. The decision must be on your call but the school does not care about this and if you cancel your flight due to weather conditions they charge you for extra. Think that you will feel yourself pushed to fly even the weather is bad.
3) Time
You will spend much more time than you normally planned to finish whole training. Why? Due to lack of planes you will wait for flying. You will wait for your plane to arrive. You will wait for your instructor to show up. You will wait hours but you won't be able to fly because the day is over or the plane should go to hourly maintenance etc. You will finish your training and start to wait for your check ride. It may take weeks. Yes my friends this sounds unbelievable but unfortunately it is a boring fact. For my situation it took exactly 83 days waste of time doing nothing but waiting just for my check rides(PPL, IR, MEP, CPL). Because Czech Civil Aviation Authority has only 3 guys to make check rides for all country and Flying Academy is not the only school in there. Besides time wasting is not limited with General System. Assume that you want to take written atpl exams. School will tell you there is no seat avaliable which is a total nonsense because my colleague just scheduled himself via his own communication. Then you can't take part in exam and you will lose at least one month. Make sure that you can't finish this school less than 20 months.
4) Training
In Flying Academy Brno/Prague the ground training is a total disaster. You should study more and more to understand what is going on because you will not learn much during their lessons. The instructors are so new that when I first started here they started more or less at the same time with me to their aviation lifes. It can sound normal but they are not experienced and some of them are really empty and you will realize during either flying or on the ground when you ask something to them. I am not even talking about ATPL ground lessons because it is just signing the paper that you show you are not absent. It is like a conference. Besides they don't have instructors for IR, MEP training. There is only one guy trying to do as much as he can but finally of course it is not enough. So people are cumulating and you not only don't get a proper training but also lose time eventually.
5) Organization
The system is a cumulative of arrogant ignorant people. I don't say all of them are like that. There are really afew people who are really nice but they can't solve a problem because there are hand tighted. The people who are supposed to give your dispatch, plane bag etc. stuff like this are just put there to exam you about your patience. If you keep calm and say nothing make sure that you have ice in your veins my friends. Sometimes they act like you are a slave working there and they are the bosses.
6) Weather
Weather sucks. It is so simple. The only weather fit to fly is from May to September. Besides there will be bad weather days or weeks during this summer time too. So think about a pool which do not have water. I guess you see what I mean.
Conclusion
Flying Academy maybe has the best web site ever. It is so seducing and charming. But the truth is Flying Academy Brno/Prague is waste of time and money seriously. The only thing that matters for them is money. The only respect and nice communication you will receive is the process from beginning to signing the contract. Please think twice my friends. If you really think about taking your aviation education in Czech Republic you may think about Fair, DSA and other ones. Also there is Bartolini in Poland and CAVOK in Hungary and you may count as much as you want. Maybe they have bad sides too, maybe they are worse. The point is you have to be careful about choosing your aviation training. Please just don't make it Flying Academy Brno/Prague or you will make your own report like this))
Have a nice day fellows. Safe skies...
1) Money
Although it seems quiet cheap when you make a first glance at it, the fact is not like that. In my case I paid 10.000 US $ more than my contract. So how did this happen? Let me explain to you. In contract they don't tell you about extra spring training, landing fees, departure fees, arrival fees, communication fees, low pass fees, CTR fees, IR approach fees. Yes you heard it exactly right. They charge you even for a ordinary low pass and IR APPROACH FEE. So think about it, IR is nearly all about approaches like ILS, VOR, RNAV, NDB. And they charge you even for that. Besides you make a simple low pass and they get your money just like that. In simple contract you pay for 85 PIC HOURS. But when you advance in your progress you realize that you are supposed to fly 100 PIC HOURS To become commercial pilot. So you fly more to complete it. But nobody tells you about this because they also know that you will already fly these hours to complete the training. Sometimes they just tell you that you must take ground briefing or extra ground lesson or they won't let you fly. So you take these lessons and you pay more. In the web site school says that they will help you with visa process and guess what ? They charge you for visa assistance too. In conclusion you will spend so much or will be unable to finish your whole training due to this bilateral contract and monetary policy of the school management. So if you think it is cheap I assure you it is not and you will pay much more than you assume.
2) Safety
This is extremely vital and Flying Academy s.r.o BRNO/PRAGUE does not seem to worry about this as well. You will fly with planes which don't have or inoperative artificial horizon, heading indicator, turn coordinator, fuel indicator. Your doors will get open during your flight.Yes you heard it right my fellows. They are either all or partially not working. And when you complain them about these particular and highly vital elements they will tell you it is ok. According to regulation yes you can fly VFR for example with inoperative heading indicator but don't forget you are paying for these and it is safety first in aviation. Even though it is written in manuals of planes , even Czech check riders can cut off the gas during exam which is really caotic. Welcome to caos flight in Czech Republic. Generally it is not fit to fly due to weather in this country but the system pushes you to fly. The decision must be on your call but the school does not care about this and if you cancel your flight due to weather conditions they charge you for extra. Think that you will feel yourself pushed to fly even the weather is bad.
3) Time
You will spend much more time than you normally planned to finish whole training. Why? Due to lack of planes you will wait for flying. You will wait for your plane to arrive. You will wait for your instructor to show up. You will wait hours but you won't be able to fly because the day is over or the plane should go to hourly maintenance etc. You will finish your training and start to wait for your check ride. It may take weeks. Yes my friends this sounds unbelievable but unfortunately it is a boring fact. For my situation it took exactly 83 days waste of time doing nothing but waiting just for my check rides(PPL, IR, MEP, CPL). Because Czech Civil Aviation Authority has only 3 guys to make check rides for all country and Flying Academy is not the only school in there. Besides time wasting is not limited with General System. Assume that you want to take written atpl exams. School will tell you there is no seat avaliable which is a total nonsense because my colleague just scheduled himself via his own communication. Then you can't take part in exam and you will lose at least one month. Make sure that you can't finish this school less than 20 months.
4) Training
In Flying Academy Brno/Prague the ground training is a total disaster. You should study more and more to understand what is going on because you will not learn much during their lessons. The instructors are so new that when I first started here they started more or less at the same time with me to their aviation lifes. It can sound normal but they are not experienced and some of them are really empty and you will realize during either flying or on the ground when you ask something to them. I am not even talking about ATPL ground lessons because it is just signing the paper that you show you are not absent. It is like a conference. Besides they don't have instructors for IR, MEP training. There is only one guy trying to do as much as he can but finally of course it is not enough. So people are cumulating and you not only don't get a proper training but also lose time eventually.
5) Organization
The system is a cumulative of arrogant ignorant people. I don't say all of them are like that. There are really afew people who are really nice but they can't solve a problem because there are hand tighted. The people who are supposed to give your dispatch, plane bag etc. stuff like this are just put there to exam you about your patience. If you keep calm and say nothing make sure that you have ice in your veins my friends. Sometimes they act like you are a slave working there and they are the bosses.
6) Weather
Weather sucks. It is so simple. The only weather fit to fly is from May to September. Besides there will be bad weather days or weeks during this summer time too. So think about a pool which do not have water. I guess you see what I mean.
Conclusion
Flying Academy maybe has the best web site ever. It is so seducing and charming. But the truth is Flying Academy Brno/Prague is waste of time and money seriously. The only thing that matters for them is money. The only respect and nice communication you will receive is the process from beginning to signing the contract. Please think twice my friends. If you really think about taking your aviation education in Czech Republic you may think about Fair, DSA and other ones. Also there is Bartolini in Poland and CAVOK in Hungary and you may count as much as you want. Maybe they have bad sides too, maybe they are worse. The point is you have to be careful about choosing your aviation training. Please just don't make it Flying Academy Brno/Prague or you will make your own report like this
))Have a nice day fellows. Safe skies...
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I agree what Pilot Vecihi says! You can be a student of this school, and it doesnt mean that you will not face those issues mentioned above! Or maybe you will be the former employee there to write a positive comment about it! We used to get those comments from students(actually employees in FA) from Romania! Anyway, if you are a normal student there, ask yourself that why you are going to pay more than as you signed in your contract? Why they dont tell you the insurance? And why they dont give you the insurance contract after even you pay for it? Ask yourself that why you have to pay lowpass cost even you are already paying for CTR fee in Brno and which is already %60 discount on normal price.Oh sorry I forgot to tell that FA doesnt reflect you that discount, so you can pay actual costs for A320, B737... No worries, if you dont keep your rights, Radim has a right to use it nicely
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: UK
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am sorry to see people that are so unfair and bitter... I don't understand, guys, why you think someone has to be an employee of the company to actually like this school? I just happened to have positive experience. I think that the girls that work in the company are nice if you treat them nicely. If you treat them with lack of respect, they will probably treat you the same way. I consider that fair.
Also I have no complains about my instruction, my ground classes, my flights. I am not saying they are perfect, but I don't think any school is. And compared to the UK prices of schools, for instance, Flying Academy is way cheaper. I always pay for what I know that I have to pay.
I have other friends who also had positive experiences with this school. It is just sad to see that people with positive experiences do not express themselves as easy as the ones with negative feedback.
Also I have no complains about my instruction, my ground classes, my flights. I am not saying they are perfect, but I don't think any school is. And compared to the UK prices of schools, for instance, Flying Academy is way cheaper. I always pay for what I know that I have to pay.
I have other friends who also had positive experiences with this school. It is just sad to see that people with positive experiences do not express themselves as easy as the ones with negative feedback.
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Unfair and bitter? It seems you know everything what happened those guys who had a bad experience! Did anyone has a complain you anything about girls in the office??? We are talking here the way of business as FA doing and Radim's, Petr's, Leos's etc attitude.
And you said that you had an US experince but you have no idea about the former employee who were the student in FA For money wise compare apples with apples. Prices in UK could be high, and we are trying to say that FA in CZ is not cheap as they mentioned. At the end you will pay minimum 48-50K (MINIMUM) without living costs. Its your money and its not my business.
Ohh Radim also tried to find the guys who wrote a negative comments in the school, right? He also held a meeting for it Anyway, we are trying to help people who has limited amount of money and the people who wants a little pain in the a.s, and the people who know how to earn money for their family and themselves! So dont tell me that we are wrong! I was with him 18 months and i am pretty much sure about his way of doing business. If you have 1 cent in your pocket, Radim knows it and he will take it! Even he will charge you anything he wants which is not in the contract, and he will ask you to pay. If you dont pay, he will cancel all your flights and you are stucked. I am not sure if you can stand for your rights, but if you can do it, prepare yourself for hearing bad words from him. Finally, i hope you will not face those issues in your training and you will finish your training as planned and within budget as signed in the contract at the beginning.
PS: what Radim wrote in this topic are 70-80% playing with words and lots of conflicts, it was again marketing. Just see his attitude when you have any problem with his school! I am pretty much sure, soon he will learn why we signed a contract and why not only me, also he has to obey and follow the rules in the contract.
I am not judging you, i am trying to say that take into your account what people had/has bad experiences from them.
Money wise or experince wise doesnt matter, i prefer not to fly with an aircraft which has high oil temp indication. I prefer not to fly broken suction gauge, i prefer not to fly with wrong heading indicator... I dont want to risk my life because of stupid faults. And i dont want to pay more which is different than in my contract. I started this school like you, good webpage, cheaper than most of the schools, seems experienced and friendly approaches etc... But at the end it was totally different. Again i hope you and anyone will not face those issues that a lot of people had before. Good luck!
And you said that you had an US experince but you have no idea about the former employee who were the student in FA
For money wise compare apples with apples. Prices in UK could be high, and we are trying to say that FA in CZ is not cheap as they mentioned. At the end you will pay minimum 48-50K (MINIMUM) without living costs. Its your money and its not my business. Ohh Radim also tried to find the guys who wrote a negative comments in the school, right? He also held a meeting for it
Anyway, we are trying to help people who has limited amount of money and the people who wants a little pain in the a.s, and the people who know how to earn money for their family and themselves! So dont tell me that we are wrong! I was with him 18 months and i am pretty much sure about his way of doing business. If you have 1 cent in your pocket, Radim knows it and he will take it! Even he will charge you anything he wants which is not in the contract, and he will ask you to pay. If you dont pay, he will cancel all your flights and you are stucked. I am not sure if you can stand for your rights, but if you can do it, prepare yourself for hearing bad words from him. Finally, i hope you will not face those issues in your training and you will finish your training as planned and within budget as signed in the contract at the beginning.PS: what Radim wrote in this topic are 70-80% playing with words and lots of conflicts, it was again marketing. Just see his attitude when you have any problem with his school! I am pretty much sure, soon he will learn why we signed a contract and why not only me, also he has to obey and follow the rules in the contract.
I am not judging you, i am trying to say that take into your account what people had/has bad experiences from them.
Money wise or experince wise doesnt matter, i prefer not to fly with an aircraft which has high oil temp indication. I prefer not to fly broken suction gauge, i prefer not to fly with wrong heading indicator... I dont want to risk my life because of stupid faults. And i dont want to pay more which is different than in my contract. I started this school like you, good webpage, cheaper than most of the schools, seems experienced and friendly approaches etc... But at the end it was totally different. Again i hope you and anyone will not face those issues that a lot of people had before. Good luck!
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Miami
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Flying Academy
It is easy when you write online hidden behind a nickname, but in this case we know who you are.
Therefore, let's take a look at facts:
@Pilot in Commander
Enrolled to 0-ATPL with US experience - the most efficient and comprehensive training program you can find for EASA license.
Start date: September 17, 2014
End date: May 5, 2016
No flights in the period: December 13, 2014 - September 19, 2015 (9 months of break). This means that you actually finished your 0 experience to ATPL frozen, CPL, IR and MEP training in 19 months, but in 9 of them you chose not to have any flights, against our recommendation.
There were 11.1 hours extra agreed for your training, which led to the first attempt pass on all your check-rides accompanied by the first time pass on your ATPL exams on the 14 subjects. Congratulations on that!
The minimum of hours in the contract was 218, including the check-rides. The actual number of hours flown in aircraft was 229.1.
Also, you did decide to fly a large part of your time building in a more expensive aircraft than the one quoted in the contract.
Amount paid: 985.296 CZK (36.458 EUR)
@Pilot Vecihi
Enrolled in the 0-ATPL program - entire training conducted in Europe.
Start date: June 8, 2015
End date: July 21, 2016
This means 13 months, from 0 experience to ATPL frozen, CPL, IR and MEP. This is a way shorter time than the average for this type of training and this is what we offer to our students, if our recommendations are followed.
We had recommended some extra training hours, but you refused to fly them. However, due to failing the check ride twice, there were 9.6 hours extra needed for training, out of which 3 hours were on the PA44, multi-engine airplane.
The minimum of hours in the contract was 218, including the check-rides. The actual number of hours flown in aircraft was 227.6. Moreover, after completing the training with us, your English has substantially improved, reaching the professional level needed in the airline industry. You succeeded in passing the ATPL theory on the first attempt, which is not very common in general, but very common in our school.
Amount paid: 1.164.484 czk (42.811 EUR, including VAT when applicable)
You are both claiming that the facts are not aligned to what we promise. I would like to invite the readers of this thread to take a look on our website and to compare the prices:
Flight School Flying Academy
Even though you threatened me with writing bad reviews on this forum, I still decided to give you both recommendation letters. I believe your actions are just to blow off some steam at the end of a very demanding training and I feel sorry that this is the way you decided to thank the school which invested time, effort and resources so that you will fulfill your dream.
I'm happy and proud that from the thousands of pilots trained in the past decade, the majority of our alumni are happy with their achievements. Let's please note that we have over 400 enrolled students as we speak in our bases from Miami, Prague and Brno.
As I was writing in the recommendation letters that I gave to both of you, I believe that you did a great job in your training. We got used to getting great news about our students being hired in the airlines. Another one of our trainees was hired today!
We trained you to become very good at what you will be doing as professional pilots. With the training received completing your skills, I am sure that you will soon give us the good news that you received a job offer.
I wish you all the best in your future career!
Regards,
Radim Olbrecht
Head of Training
Flying Academy
Therefore, let's take a look at facts:
@Pilot in Commander
Enrolled to 0-ATPL with US experience - the most efficient and comprehensive training program you can find for EASA license.
Start date: September 17, 2014
End date: May 5, 2016
No flights in the period: December 13, 2014 - September 19, 2015 (9 months of break). This means that you actually finished your 0 experience to ATPL frozen, CPL, IR and MEP training in 19 months, but in 9 of them you chose not to have any flights, against our recommendation.
There were 11.1 hours extra agreed for your training, which led to the first attempt pass on all your check-rides accompanied by the first time pass on your ATPL exams on the 14 subjects. Congratulations on that!
The minimum of hours in the contract was 218, including the check-rides. The actual number of hours flown in aircraft was 229.1.
Also, you did decide to fly a large part of your time building in a more expensive aircraft than the one quoted in the contract.
Amount paid: 985.296 CZK (36.458 EUR)
@Pilot Vecihi
Enrolled in the 0-ATPL program - entire training conducted in Europe.
Start date: June 8, 2015
End date: July 21, 2016
This means 13 months, from 0 experience to ATPL frozen, CPL, IR and MEP. This is a way shorter time than the average for this type of training and this is what we offer to our students, if our recommendations are followed.
We had recommended some extra training hours, but you refused to fly them. However, due to failing the check ride twice, there were 9.6 hours extra needed for training, out of which 3 hours were on the PA44, multi-engine airplane.
The minimum of hours in the contract was 218, including the check-rides. The actual number of hours flown in aircraft was 227.6. Moreover, after completing the training with us, your English has substantially improved, reaching the professional level needed in the airline industry. You succeeded in passing the ATPL theory on the first attempt, which is not very common in general, but very common in our school.
Amount paid: 1.164.484 czk (42.811 EUR, including VAT when applicable)
You are both claiming that the facts are not aligned to what we promise. I would like to invite the readers of this thread to take a look on our website and to compare the prices:
Flight School Flying Academy
Even though you threatened me with writing bad reviews on this forum, I still decided to give you both recommendation letters. I believe your actions are just to blow off some steam at the end of a very demanding training and I feel sorry that this is the way you decided to thank the school which invested time, effort and resources so that you will fulfill your dream.
I'm happy and proud that from the thousands of pilots trained in the past decade, the majority of our alumni are happy with their achievements. Let's please note that we have over 400 enrolled students as we speak in our bases from Miami, Prague and Brno.
As I was writing in the recommendation letters that I gave to both of you, I believe that you did a great job in your training. We got used to getting great news about our students being hired in the airlines. Another one of our trainees was hired today!
We trained you to become very good at what you will be doing as professional pilots. With the training received completing your skills, I am sure that you will soon give us the good news that you received a job offer.
I wish you all the best in your future career!
Regards,
Radim Olbrecht
Head of Training
Flying Academy
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry Radim, wrong assumption but its ok �� And for all people who read this comment: I didint get any recommedation from anyone from this school, i dont need it either...
As it seems here, not in school, you like to give detailed information, so please provide us requested information below...( Same questions asked at school, but you dont show this attitude, so you are also improving, good news
-Do you think that signing a contract is a legal documentation between you and student?
-Do you think that you can change rules in the contract yourself whenever you want?
-Do you think that, can you ask money from student which is not mentioned in the contract?
-Do you think that, some students are not going to read AIP CZ to check actual costs of airport? ( could you please give information about 60% discount on CTR? And why dont you reflect this discount to your students?)
-Could you please give information why you are charging approach,departure,arrival,low pass costs? I couldnt find information in AIP.
-According to the rule and according to mails from your side mentiones that 15 minutes briefing and 15 minutes debriefing should cost free. So why you are charging to these?
-And please give us information 0-atpl in CZ cost with all hidden, sorry, extra costs? Think that i will just take off brno and land in brno. Please include ctr, lowpass, approach,brief,debrief etc... And please try not to forget anything. Just imagine a student will finish everything in normal hours, not failing on anything.
At the end, its nice to refer your website, but only 1 remark. Pricing in website is updated a lot after we signed a contract. So for example, let me give you explanation for you to understand. If i signed a contract in 2005, will you again give reference to your updated website in 2016? You finished your training in 2005 but you see we updated our webpage un 2016?!?)
-Could you please give information about how many times you changed actual webpage on pricing? And when you changed anything your website, signed contract between you and students will destruct itself in 5 seconds? What a mission impossible!
I am happy that finally you seem to have better attitude without telling bad words because of critism. I wish you to have this attitude in the school if someone wants to critise you.
Have a nice sunny day in Brno today
As it seems here, not in school, you like to give detailed information, so please provide us requested information below...( Same questions asked at school, but you dont show this attitude, so you are also improving, good news
-Do you think that signing a contract is a legal documentation between you and student?
-Do you think that you can change rules in the contract yourself whenever you want?
-Do you think that, can you ask money from student which is not mentioned in the contract?
-Do you think that, some students are not going to read AIP CZ to check actual costs of airport? ( could you please give information about 60% discount on CTR? And why dont you reflect this discount to your students?)
-Could you please give information why you are charging approach,departure,arrival,low pass costs? I couldnt find information in AIP.
-According to the rule and according to mails from your side mentiones that 15 minutes briefing and 15 minutes debriefing should cost free. So why you are charging to these?
-And please give us information 0-atpl in CZ cost with all hidden, sorry, extra costs? Think that i will just take off brno and land in brno. Please include ctr, lowpass, approach,brief,debrief etc... And please try not to forget anything. Just imagine a student will finish everything in normal hours, not failing on anything.
At the end, its nice to refer your website, but only 1 remark. Pricing in website is updated a lot after we signed a contract. So for example, let me give you explanation for you to understand. If i signed a contract in 2005, will you again give reference to your updated website in 2016? You finished your training in 2005 but you see we updated our webpage un 2016?!?
) -Could you please give information about how many times you changed actual webpage on pricing? And when you changed anything your website, signed contract between you and students will destruct itself in 5 seconds? What a mission impossible!
I am happy that finally you seem to have better attitude without telling bad words because of critism. I wish you to have this attitude in the school if someone wants to critise you.
Have a nice sunny day in Brno today
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: GMTT
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Oh please... stop! This thread killed your dirty business. I was already to apply for your ab initio training but I received some pictures of one of your C152's with INOP labels, one in the ADI for example....
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Europe
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mr Radim
Finishing a 0-atpl programme in only 13 months is a great achievment and congratulations about that. I thought that this could only happen in the sunny weather of greece.
Could you please explain us why @pilot vecihi paid almost 43.000 euros for your programme when at the same time in your webpage you tell that 0-atpl programme costs less than 36.000?
Finishing a 0-atpl programme in only 13 months is a great achievment and congratulations about that. I thought that this could only happen in the sunny weather of greece.
Could you please explain us why @pilot vecihi paid almost 43.000 euros for your programme when at the same time in your webpage you tell that 0-atpl programme costs less than 36.000?
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Meteorology Avenue
Age: 44
Posts: 189
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Guys, are you kidding, you choose one of the cheapest option from zero to hero and still complaining about this?
And who on earth promised you to finish the training in minimum hours, are you geniuses?
About the flight schools, generally: all the schools are a simple business who try to sell you some rotten cheap tomatoes, average or very high quality
but expensive. You get what you paid for.
I once was in a similar situation, more or less, but eventually assumed all the consequences and gave the best I could give to achieve my dream and
made an excellent skill test even it took me slightly more hours.
So, get a grip, stop mourning and take on all your failures and try to behave with more professional attitude.
And who on earth promised you to finish the training in minimum hours, are you geniuses?
About the flight schools, generally: all the schools are a simple business who try to sell you some rotten cheap tomatoes, average or very high quality
but expensive. You get what you paid for.
I once was in a similar situation, more or less, but eventually assumed all the consequences and gave the best I could give to achieve my dream and
made an excellent skill test even it took me slightly more hours.
So, get a grip, stop mourning and take on all your failures and try to behave with more professional attitude.
Last edited by maximus610; 2nd Aug 2016 at 15:00. Reason: Page layout
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Europe
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Simple Facts
Hello,
Once again, I see myself and other students stating the unfair treatment of Flying Academy.
We are talking about very simple facts but in return we can't get a solid reply.
Students can't get 65% discount from the CTR costs. It is a direct cost to the student. Why are the students paying 100% and Flying Academy is getting the 65% discount out of this?
Briefing and debriefing costs.. Students are paying the instructor fee and Flying Academy wants you to pay briefing costs even it's not in the contract.
90% of the instuctors have very few hours of FI experience. Okay, Radim is giving jobs to the new graduates but what about the students? How they will learn when they are flying with the new guys all the time? This is just the cheapest way for Radim.
Flight Schedules.. You are scheduled and can't fly at the end of the day. All day is wasted. Disorganisation..
There is a funny thing acoording to me. If you don't have minimum 6.000 CZK in your account, the computer system does not allow you to fly. You need to pay first.
Let's say there is a student with no Night Rating. He is scheduled for a flight after sunset.
Since the computer system can detect a low balance, how can't it detect this? Everything is based on money
Students are sent to flights with broken indicators. I have photos indicating this.
Radim wanted all the students to have Pilot Insurance. They deducted the costs from the accounts but in return not even one student got the Insurance Certificate. They made a profit here.
Students were charged for IR English but in return didn't get even 1 hour of training!
Unfair treatment among the students. Especially for checkrides!
If you need visa assistance, they are sending you papers and charge you with 250 Euros. After you arrive there and need a temporary residence, no one is supporting you in the Czech authorities. Again they just give you papers. This is called visa assistance.
Recently they made rule.. If you are required to have visa in the Czech Republic, they want you to spend 25 hours per week at school or fly at least 6 hours per week. If you are studying for ATPL, you will waste a lot of time. If you can finish your ATPL theory exams in 6 months, which is a very good duration, you need to fly 144 hours. Or you waste your days at school doing nothing. I had my Czhech lawyer friend to call the Czech Authority and she learnt that there is no such rule.
It is true that Radim held a meeting in the school to find those students who made comments here. Think about the reason
Guys, if there is a student happy with the training, I am kindly expecting a clarification about these simple facts.
Otherwise it doesn't mean if you are just happy for no reason, or FA is cheaper than UK.
All the best..
Once again, I see myself and other students stating the unfair treatment of Flying Academy.
We are talking about very simple facts but in return we can't get a solid reply.
Students can't get 65% discount from the CTR costs. It is a direct cost to the student. Why are the students paying 100% and Flying Academy is getting the 65% discount out of this?
Briefing and debriefing costs.. Students are paying the instructor fee and Flying Academy wants you to pay briefing costs even it's not in the contract.
90% of the instuctors have very few hours of FI experience. Okay, Radim is giving jobs to the new graduates but what about the students? How they will learn when they are flying with the new guys all the time? This is just the cheapest way for Radim.
Flight Schedules.. You are scheduled and can't fly at the end of the day. All day is wasted. Disorganisation..
There is a funny thing acoording to me. If you don't have minimum 6.000 CZK in your account, the computer system does not allow you to fly. You need to pay first.
Let's say there is a student with no Night Rating. He is scheduled for a flight after sunset.
Since the computer system can detect a low balance, how can't it detect this?
Everything is based on money Students are sent to flights with broken indicators. I have photos indicating this.
Radim wanted all the students to have Pilot Insurance. They deducted the costs from the accounts but in return not even one student got the Insurance Certificate. They made a profit here.
Students were charged for IR English but in return didn't get even 1 hour of training!
Unfair treatment among the students. Especially for checkrides!
If you need visa assistance, they are sending you papers and charge you with 250 Euros. After you arrive there and need a temporary residence, no one is supporting you in the Czech authorities. Again they just give you papers. This is called visa assistance.
Recently they made rule.. If you are required to have visa in the Czech Republic, they want you to spend 25 hours per week at school or fly at least 6 hours per week. If you are studying for ATPL, you will waste a lot of time. If you can finish your ATPL theory exams in 6 months, which is a very good duration, you need to fly 144 hours. Or you waste your days at school doing nothing. I had my Czhech lawyer friend to call the Czech Authority and she learnt that there is no such rule.
It is true that Radim held a meeting in the school to find those students who made comments here. Think about the reason
Guys, if there is a student happy with the training, I am kindly expecting a clarification about these simple facts.
Otherwise it doesn't mean if you are just happy for no reason, or FA is cheaper than UK.
All the best..
Last edited by flybywiree; 6th Aug 2016 at 22:48.
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: UK
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ok, this time I really cannot stay silent: did you ever go to a supermarket and ask why they do not sell you the product that you are buying for the same price that they buy it for? I mean, people, any school is a business, not an NGO! They have no obligation to sell you something for the price they are buying it for. Just like they have no obligation to inform you on the reasons why they sell something for the price they sell it for. You can buy it or not. It is that easy.
As for reasons why to like this school: for the best quality-price ratio. Very fast pace of the course, very good and motivated instructors (yes, even if they are not very experienced, I do appreciate their way of teaching). I love the international environment, the dedication of the employees and actually I like their planes and the fact that whenever I reported an issue it was fixed as fast as it could be fixed.
As I can see, it is the same group of 3-4 people who create issues and problems in the school too that are constantly complaining here as well. People, just grow up and stop trying to talk badly about the school that made you who you are professionally. Really, just because you complain about something twice it does not mean that people will believe you twice...
As for reasons why to like this school: for the best quality-price ratio. Very fast pace of the course, very good and motivated instructors (yes, even if they are not very experienced, I do appreciate their way of teaching). I love the international environment, the dedication of the employees and actually I like their planes and the fact that whenever I reported an issue it was fixed as fast as it could be fixed.
As I can see, it is the same group of 3-4 people who create issues and problems in the school too that are constantly complaining here as well. People, just grow up and stop trying to talk badly about the school that made you who you are professionally. Really, just because you complain about something twice it does not mean that people will believe you twice...