What Course?

[at140374]

Looking to self sponsor from zero to ATPL, short listed two courses:

SFT and PAN AM Flight Academy,

Any constructive responses welcome regarding past expeiences with either of these courses, or advice on other courses of a similar nature.

[bottle2throttle]

I was considering SFT myself, however after a chat with a few people who have been there, I've received mixed opinions.
Some say they loved it, and had no problems, whilst others have said they made a mistake in going there dew to availability of planes etc.
I know it's expensive, but I never heard an OATS graduate complain (modular) and I've made my mind up as OATS being the place to go.

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Jesus, this bogy's all over me...........

[seadog]

Bollocks. SFT's the place to go (and that's speaking from experience, not rumours).

[at140374]

Seadog,
Cheers for the response mate, can you tell me more about your experience at SFT e.g course structure, course content, % first time passes, social scene etc.

Cheers Buddy

[Strangely Brown]

I completed my BCPL followed by CPL/IR upgrade course at SFT last year. I had originally booked to go to OATS but they shafted me by delaying my start date by 6 weeks - hence SFT.I was also able to negotiate a discount at SFT. The instruction really is very good but like every other school in this country and abroad you will get knocked back by weather/aircraft availability/sickness and other students that are ahead of you. Lots of cheap accom in Bournemouth. Weather is supposed to be superior to the rest of the country but I didn't experience this.Good ATC and routes - ie channel islands makes life a little more interesting. Remember a flight school will never refuse your money because they are too busy - Oxford included. An OATS stamp means absolutely nothing over and above any other school - don't let anybody tell you differently. Finding your first job will still be the most difficult part of the whole process no matter where you trained, how quickly you trained, how many first time passes you got, or the size of your nob. If you find a school that is £5k cheaper than the next - go for it and use the money to get an FI rating when you finish - most people need it. I can't give you any info on the groundschool as I did mine at ATA in Coventry who were superb. There were 2 Oxford flying instructors on my NAV course who had failed all their exams after studying at OATS. Can't say how they did after the ATA course. I think SFT and 1 or 2 others advertise their ab initio courses for about £30k. In reality it will cost you 50% more than that. My total expenditure from zero to Frozen ATPL including MCC + Perf A over the 15 month period was about £47k. I was extremely lucky to pass all my exams first time. Remember each time you fail the IR it is going to cost £1500 (including the additional training you'll need before the retake). When things are going well you'll feel on top of the world. Other times you'll wonder why you bothered. Don't let the bastards get you down. CAA - Campaign Against Aviation. Good Luck.