Hi Guys,

Just to let you know...

I did my CPL in Florida at OBA earlier this year - two weeks, very hard work, great instructors and saved loads of cash. UK CAA examiner so there's no question about the standard - ive done training in the UK as well so I can compare standards - I have nothing but praise for OBA. I will say that no one will spoon feed you at OBA - be prepared to put in the effort yourself and work v hard to get the courses done in time - some expect the quals to be handed on a silver plate after the advertised time frame...

I also did my ME and FAA IR at OBA - once again I had success within the stated cost and time frame - and I saved a huge amount with regards to European prices. I did all my IR training in an aircraft i.e. 42 hours, no sim, at less than half the cost of a UK IR. The examiner was a United Airlines Captain, ex F16 pilot - I promise you he expected a high standard to pass and the training at OBA provided this.

I now have a job flying Twin Turbo Prop in Europe and love every second! I have never felt that the training I received at OBA did not equip me with the necessary skills. I conducted the type rating course on the Twin Turbo Prop in the UK. My examiner was very pleased with my ability and I passed in the minimum required hours. The majority of my flying training was in the USA at OBA up till this point. I had a real emergency shortly after I started work on the Twin Turbo Prop - after dealing with it successfully the response from the aviation world was 'Great flying Great skills!' - the skills all came from OBA!

Good luck

Hi Skyflaps,

Its good to hear a positive report from Oba.

Did having an FAA IR reduce the cpl course to 15 hours?

Hi Moona,

I did the FAA IR and JAA CPL concurrently whilst at OBA. I ended up finishing the IR after the completion of the CPL so I did the full 25 hours. Doing the IR at the same time was in my opinion a worthwhile move. I got valuable instrument training which helped hugely on the CPL course - In addition if there was ever a backlog of students on the Arrow (as mentioned above) or for any other reason I could be getting on with something else.(There was never really a backlog with the Arrow whilst I was there but I flew twice usually, once with the Arrow in the morning for 2hrs and IR in the afternoon for 2 hrs)

To help with your question I understand one needs to do 25 hours training for a JAA CPL of which 15 must be visual flight instruction and 10 Instrument (5 of this 10 may be in a valid simulator). These 10 hours of instrument time may be excluded if you have a valid Instrument Rating or are waiting for it to be issued (PROVIDED THAT THE IR COURSE AND CPL CSE DID NOT OVERLAP). Now here may be the catch... I dont know if the 'valid Instrument Rating' includes an ICAO Instrument Rating such as an FAA IR or if it only pertains to a JAA IR. Check with OBA or even the CAA (sorry I cant help you much here!). One thing I will say though is that 15 hrs is quite a push at getting the cse done (of course it depends on your experience and ability) but I found the 25 hrs were all well used by myself and as I said I was doing the FAA IR concurrently so I had the advantage of 'extra training'

Good luck