Airways Flight Training
 

Here are a few reasons why I chose Airways Flight Training (AFT) for my CPL/IR.

Instructors - All have previous military and/or commercial experience. These guys instruct because they want to, not because they need the hours.

Aircraft - The Duchess is a great training platform and probably one of the nicest twins I’ve flown. It has contra rotating props which make the asymmetric stuff a little easier, and two doors which makes getting in and out less of a drama!

Price - Probably one of the more competitively priced training providers you'll find in the UK.

Atmosphere - The best! Very relaxed during training with the emphasis on making sure you can pilot an aircraft, rather than looking like an aircraft pilot. You will however be advised to wear a shirt and tie for your flight test!!

Reputation - AFT has one of the best reputations going. Most of their business is through recommendation and word of mouth. Run a search through PPRuNe and see if you can find any bad posts on both schools.

At the end of the day it’s your decision. I’m sure Bristol is very good, and I think the best way forward for you is to visit both schools, as I did, and then make a choice.

Good luck. :}

So, how is the weather at Bristol or Exeter ? are there any problem doing CPL VFR ? the good périod is June July ?
I live in south of france, so I don't know very well it...

I was reffering to Airways Flight Training, as I stated.
In terms of weather the main advantage of exeter is during times of marginal weather.
Exeter being at only 100ft AMSL where as Bristol is quite often hidden in the clouds.

However if your planning on doing the course in the summer, if you get good weather most likely then haze is likely to be the issue, and it wont be much different at either.

Sorry that does not help much.

Simple answer I would say Late Autumn - > end of Spring Exeter is your better bet for VFR. (not guaranteed)

You pay your money you take the chances.

You don't see Airways Flt Training advertise that much and there's a reason for this: their reputation is so good (especially amongst military fraternity) that they don't need to.

I trained at Airways. CPL in Oct /Nov - wx was pretty good - maybe I was lucky :) 3 wks. Took the IR straight after (Xmas break inbetween), finishing Feb. Don't get too roped into the weather considerations. The previous post highlighting the 100' AMSL at Exeter is helpful.

I have heard good things about Bristol as well as many others posting here. Would also recommend a personal visit to both schools.

I would wholeheartedly recommend AFT based upon my experience. Very good atmosphere, experienced, capable instructors. PM if you like.

All the best for your training, wherever you choose :)


LF

I went to AFT and cannot fault them. In my experience I found Exeter is good to train at as there is low commercial traffic so you don't hang around on the ground or in the air, but busy enough to make you think. As others have said the Duchess is a great stable platform to learn on. The weather at Exeter is generally better than Bristol which will help for the CPL. The instructors are all vastly experienced and they now have a new sim. They are flexible and didn't take my money until the end of the course, and the school has a flying club (rather than school/institue) feel about it so you feel valued and enjoy your time there.

That's what I found, but the most important thing, I think, is pay them each a visit and see which one you feel most at home with.

Based on my own experience, I would recommend considering AFT at Exeter.
I can only reiterate what has already been said. It's a small, friendly school, you get to fly the BE76 Duchess on the MEIR course (much nicer handling qualities then the Seneca), and Exeter Airport is busy enough to be interesting and to give a realistic commercial setting. You pay for the basic MEIR course at the end of your 50 or 55 hours course, with no initial payment or interim payments required. If you require additional training, you pay the outstanding amount when you leave.

I can't think of any negatives. The instructors are very experienced, ex-airline and/or military, and include ex-BA, Virgin and Cathay captains. Exeter ATC|are usually most helpful. The airport has ILS and NDB approaches, and an ATIS. One of the CAA IR examiners is resident. Students sometimes include a high percentage of RAF or Navy aircrew undergoing conversion courses, who can sometimes appear incredibly confident and self-assured to a civvy student!

Why not pay them a visit?

ok thank you very much for replies!

but, I can see lot of replies about AFT and few replies about Bristol...
Ex sutdents of Bristol are not on the Forum or there are few students at Bristol..? :}

could you tell me the price of accomodation near AFT ? and the maximum distance from airport ?

thank's

AFT Accommodation
 

Follow this link and contact them directly. They'll send you an up to date list of local accommodation. :ok:

Hi
It might be a bit early on the course to fully recommend Bristol but so far I can't fault them.
I had some preconceptions before starting, mainly thninking they were larger than they are. Their max student count is 20 which is great. They're in a new building on the airfield with great sim rooms and loads of areas for the pre flight briefings and post debrief.
What I really like about the place is how accessable all the instructors are, including the head of training. At any time you can just call in and speak to them.

I'll post an update when I'm a bit further in the course

Bristol Flying Centre
 

Quick question for all you current or fairly recent ex bristol flying centre students.
Would like to know which instructor you got for your instrument rating/multi/cpl, the quality of instruction and the subsequent result on your final exam. About to start there in a few weeks and would like to know the ins and outs.
Plus any tips would be hugely appreciated

As MP said the standardisation is very good so it does not matter who your instructor is they are all very good. Best advice I can give you is to put a good effort in and they will bend over backwards to help you get through. Great bunch! :ok:

Good to hear and they seem to use well fettled Senecas also (hmmm bigger twin=hmmm good). Think I shall consider, if I get through the theory. The depth of material for the "Aircraft General Knowledge" paper has got me sweating!

Absolutely superb. Would thouroughly recommend them. They are very aware of their students needs at every stage and will react to any problems/queries very quickly. Very customer focused.:ok:

Got CPL/IR first time in min hours so as for their instruction it is second to none. A massive amount of experience and really great guys. :D

Anyway if I go on you'll not be able to train there as the instructors won't fit in the aircraft;)

Hope that helps.
PM me if you want any further info. xx

Bristol Flying Centre
 

Hi guys n'girls.

I finished the CPL/MEP/IR in March from BFC. The place is truely professional. My instructor became a mentor, spending many hours per day with me. I got through first time, minimum hours in everything, and I've subsequently gone on to operate the Airbus A319 with Easyjet (through CTC).

The instructors at CTC were very impressed with my level of procedural and instrument flying and they said it was a testiment to the standards set at bfc.

Going to Bristol Flying Centre was the best decision I could have made.

Obviously a biased opinion, but hope my insight helps. Good luck with whereever you choose. This is without doubt the best job in the world.

I'm also trying to consider BFC...

Can anyone give us the exact price of the CPL/ME/IR inc accomodation?


Thanks

cpl £3,299 IR £11,800 ME £1,999 these are for min hours. As for accomadation a BB will be anything from £20+per night, I rented a small house with someone else and that cost £75 a week with kitchen etc.... Check out the BFC website they have houses to rent on there and B&B's. Count on it taking at least 12 weeks, probably more if you are to do the whole thing. Those costs dont include the test fees which are about £674 now i think for the CPl and IR not sure about the multi. In a nutshell you are not going to get much change from £20K.
Good luck

Dan

tks Dan, did u get any job offers after BFC?

Greetings PPL152,

If you check the BFC website and look up their monthly newsletter it does give updates to where ex BFC students are going. For example last month 1 went to Easyjet no doubt thru CTC and another went to Air Berlin. You will be able to go back through as they do list previous months.
All I can say is I enjoyed my time at Bristol and certainly have no complaints about them,small close-knit group and instructors are all very easy going and open to any questions. Even as has been mentioned both the CFI and Head Of Training don't mind you knocking on their door for a chat.:D



Regards:ok:

EGAC_Ramper,

How long did it take you to get CPL/ME/IR in BFC, and guess you are now looking for a job right?


Thanks,
STO

Hi Steepturnsonly,

Started IR in January finished March 2nd,then straight onto CPL finishing May 3rd. Would note about the CPL I did disappear off and do my MCC from March 23rd to 30th and had particular bad run of weather...:ugh: But alas tis the reason i chose the UK to do it in for the extra experience.
And yep currently in search of job though have been recommended to Ryanair through the link up for MCC with Parc Aviation,however I'm keeping that in my back pocket for later to see how things go.


Regards:ok:

PPL152
Yes I am now hunting for that first job, no luck yet but I think things will pick up from Sept - Dec when all the airlines start recruiting for next summer. But know I didn't get any job offers from having gone to BFC, but I think they have a very good reputation. I tried CTC but unfortunatly messed up the aptitude test at stage 2, but I believe quite a few students from BFC have done well at CTC.
I have no complaints I started on the 6th of March and finished on the 2nd of June, Multi / IR / CPL, and as previously said the instructors are good, laid back and they will pull out the stops, to give an example, the day before my CPL test I still needed to fly 1.5hrs, the aircraft I was due to test on went tech, they swiped a bit from another aircraft and i got to fly and test the next day, rather than having to rely on a courier to deliver the part in time!! There's not many schools that would do that for you. Any other questions just let me know.Good luck with your choice

Dan

I will seriously consider BFC as well.

Thanks for the info.

I will seriously consider BFC as well ;). Nobody seems to have a bad word to say about them. I was looking into training in South Africa recently, and came across Progress Flight Academy. They have an excellent reputation too, and what do you know, when I go on to the BFC website, I find out the two schools have a "Flight Training Alliance".

Cheers :ok:

Yeah it surely is... but it will be a loooooong time since I'll start my professional training.

Quick question: What's the story with the ATPL groundschool with BFC? Do you sort it out yourself with someone like bristol.gs?

do they do atpl gs?

Two websites for you to mull over:

http://www.b-f-c.co.uk/
http://bristol.gs

(both ops are unrelated except my rough location)

Nope, just the fun stuff. :ok:

Whats the social ife like at bristol? Not meaning going clubbing every night. But i do belive that having a good social life at school allows you to be a better pupil.

Regards

edymonster,

I was there at the same time as tablet and the social life was very good. A number of us would meet up weekends or evenings for a bite to eat and a few beers etc..

Katie does organise the odd BBQ when the weather suits, with Bristol and Wessex next door to BFC, and even nights out...!!!!:ok:

All in all, a very good school with great instructors too.

You finished your training at BFC?

What are your job prospects now?

Steepturnsonly,

Yes I have finished my training. All (the CPL/IR that is) with BFC and I would say my prospects are the same as the vast majority of other newly qualified fATPL's, be that modular of Integrated.

It would appear to be a buoyant market at present and we all make our own fortune - some times with a little help from Lady Luck!!

Why do you ask?

It's interesting to try and design a pattern of who gets in a job and who doesn't....

I'm seriously considering BFC and also trying to see which students get into a job easier... if say CTC, FTE guys or BFC, SFC guys

:ok:

I can't see the relevance!

If you feel that attending a specific school will make getting you a job any easier, then I would suggest you have bought into marketing ploys placed by Oxford et al.

The school you train at will not get you the job, it may get you an interview, but if you are poor at that stage you won’t get the job. For sure, I'm still wet around the ears in this area, but getting a job is much more than just about the flight school you paid to be at.

I would say, pick a school where you feel comfortable, has a good reputation, attend every day and work hard.

The schools are there to train you - not get you a job.

Best of luck.

I'd entirely agree here with what Funkie says,like I've mentioned before go visit BFC's website and look through their monthly newsletters where you will find info on students where they have gone after training. More often than not BFC students are ending up either through CTC with Easyjet or recommended to Ryanair through the MCC link up with Parc Aviation. Others have found roads into Air Berlin/Ba Connect etc.

Also just to note, I have a friend who started same time as me with ATPL groundschool etc and we both finished same time.He chose Oxford integrated and albeit he has been placed with British Airways he is only 1 of 2 out of his entire clas of 18 who have jobs as yet.

I'm in agreement with Funkie times are bouyant and certainly go find somewhere you feel comfortable.



Regards:ok:

Yep I got the point...

BFC is my number one choice then so far. The CD and pricelist details are on their way.


Regs to all,

Cheers.;)

I have anoher question about Bristol. Why do they do the ME IR before the CPL. Apart from having to build less hours intially what is the advantage and is it wise going straight to a multi engine aircraft from a PPL stage?

I am just afraid I may have more of a struggle doing it this way than the other way but the pass rates they have published must means it works.

edymonster,

Obviously being a PPL holder you should do some hour building to get to the required amount of hours to carry on with the CPL (you need 150hrs total time, either P1 or P2) to start the training for the commercial licence. BFC begin with the Multi Rating, move onto the Instrument Rating after that and then the Commercial last, however BFC is one of the few schools to do things that way round and you will find that many other places begin with the Commercial.

BFC's route would mean that you must do the 6hr Multi Rating, min 55 hr IR and then the CPL is reduced from 25 hr course to a 15 hr course (if you have passed the IR the CPL is only a minimum 15 hr course). There is no real 'right' or 'wrong' way, it's just different FTO's do things in different ways...you just have to decide which is best for you.

This route is by no means set in stone and they do get a few students at BFC who want to do the 25 hr CPL course first....this is fine with BFC and as it is entirely up to the student. Before you begin the flight training though you must first have passed all 14 ATPL theory exams.....BFC do not offer the ATPL theory so it's recommended that you contact either Bristol Ground School (www.bristol.gs) or Oxford for current course prices and availability.

I do recommend that you start your CPL before ME/IR as the jump from simple 2 seater Cessna aircraft straight into a complex twin with associated applied instrument flying and approaches are vast. It would normally mean that a considerable number of extra hours IR training are required to reach the necessary standard. So although extra hours are required to build up to the 150 hours needed to commence CPL training, experience has shown that the transition from single 2 seat Cessna to simple 4 seat warrior to commence CPL training, the complex 4 seater Arrow to complete CPL training, then onto the ME twin for IR, is a far more achievable option if aiming to train in minimum hours.

I also recommend that you invest in a copy of LASORS 2006, available from the CAA (www.caa.co.uk) which details all requirements for the professional licences/ratings and will tell you what experience is required to undertake the courses.

Cheers Mate :ok: