European Flight Training EFT? (2011 merged)
 

All comments and reviews on EFT seem to have stopped somewhere in '08, so what I want to know is what has happened since.

What happened with the people that were waiting on their refunds?

Did they ever expand their SE complex fleet? The general condition of their general fleet nowadays?

What's up with the accomodation? Vero Beach nowadays is it? Any recent experience?

Did they sort out the student/instructor ratio?

I would be interested to know aswell. Heard good things about them, and their Airline Pilot Programme seems very interesting. Also the "internship" which promises up to 1000TT by completion. Appereantly both parts take 18/18 months. Dont know about that....

The price is not bad either. Although you have to pay charges/fees for tests/medical etc and ofcourse IR in JAA land later.

Im a little suspicious about some things they say on their website, such as "95% of students employed by airlines within 6 months after training" Somehow I cant see this being an actual percentage, if they have trained over 2000 pilots during their existance.
"and all exceeded the airline employment requirements summarised in a recent Gapan report."

In any case they seem to be a well established organisation that has been working fine for students.

Please, tell me why people have waited for refunds? Couldnt they keep their promise of fast completion?

http://www.pprune.org/professional-p...viation-4.html
http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/438915-faa-jaa-orlando-flight-training.html
http://www.pprune.org/professional-p...-training.html
http://www.pprune.org/professional-p...ng-eft-18.html
http://www.pprune.org/professional-p...hlight=kash360

There's more than a couple of posts, threads over the last couple of months regarding this.

Thanks mate, it does seem things have shapened up a bit since the last decade.

I'm still looking for more words though, if anyone has anything to say?

true that, and best thing would be to make a trip over there and check the schools out myself, but i'm stuck in sweden for now. my options are limited really so i hoped i could exploit you guys knowledge.

i have read all i could find on pprune, just to find i still dont really feal confident with any of my choices in US. it will be like buying the pig in the bag (swedish saying) either way, so any shared experience, good or bad, would help me make up my mind.

just don't need to get ripped off, like alot of people seem to have been.(but of course i dont put all my deciding out to answers on a forum)

Well I too am from Dublin as is the poster above... apparently.

But just to balance things out. I arrived at EFT on new years day this year. I left on February 1st with everything done as promised. Flew 43.3 hours (bit under those required but i had time done at home so didn't affect license application), did all 7 exams (average 92%... Because of my own hard work and effort, not EFT), RT exam passed no prob and skills test passed first time.

Of course that's just the PPL. I can't comment on the ATPL program itself in fairness. But all the lads doing it seemed happy enough. My own intructor did it himself there and he wasn't cursing the name EFT anyway

Dunno bout that visa stuff tho. Sounds suspicious.. I had zero issues with mine. Except the original I-20 I was sent had the wrong dates on it! Sorted pretty quick tho
Same with any school guys... You get out what you put in.

That would be in accordance with US immigration law which requires you to be at school present for a course whislt on a visa so makes sense.

Can I ask why they cancelled your visa? They can't cancel it without a reason...they have to enter the reason with US Immigration.

I know they so no smoke with out fire but your post seems to make me think it's the other round - i.e you might have been the problem... :\ And yes I am judging you.

I'd take anything this guy says with a pinch of salt...

Money suckers
 

From what I have experienced they are after your money and nothing else matter.
I have paid the $500 deposit fee and gave them the date on which I was planning to come but things has changed and I have told them that I would come at the later stage since something came up at work.
The guy from the reception that always answer the phone call told me OK and was supposed to get back to me with an answer about the validity period of SEVIS fee which I already paid. Of course I never heard back from him, nor he has replied to my phone calls or emails.Down the road I decided to give them a call since I wanted to continue with my training and guess what... They want another $500 from me! :=

I have decided to forget about the $500 rather than giving them anymore of my money as I do not wish to have anything to do with liars and money grabbers.I for certain know that what goes around comes around and they going to pay for all the wrong doing sooner or later. I do know that I am not the only one that was fooled by them.

Look somewhere else, where the first word that is going to come out of school official mouth is NOT dollar/money! :yuk:

Just a little independedent reasearch here.

Ormond Beach Aviation has an "F" with the Better Busines Bureau.
EFT has an "A+" with the Better Busines Bureau.

And GBB - I just read through their contract it does clearly state that you forefeit your deposit if you have to change your dates. I'm not trying to represent their side - but no matter where you do your training you have to do your research. I have trained at 3 flight schools in the UK - every single one had a clause that they keep your deposit if you cancel the course - even if you come back at a later date - the school has an empty spot if you don't attend.
A deposit secures your place on a course for a specific date - that's what a deposit is.

It's not rocket science to confirm these kind of things prior to arrival.

their managment system needs improvement. immediately. for app you need somelike 85% avg in all tests and no fly over 120% of given hours. and than they push you around and talk crap to you in email when you ask something. change school regualtions whenever they want. obvious your PPL so you cnat know. when i got there school ok. but now school worst thing ever. have been to other schools in FL and was impressed. facilities arent so good but training is professional. they say professional FIs there at EFT but no. they teach crap in course and so teachers are crap too. you only been there for 4 weeks??? so you dont know.

That better business bureau is interesting, reading the results for both schools, EFT got an A+ for having 1 complaint in the last 36 months which was resolved, OBA got an F for having 2 complaints in the last 36 months of which one was resolved, so they drop from an A+ to an F for 1 unresolved complaint??

@1sky2
First few posts on pprune simply attacking EFT... Hmm What's the story man? I don't mind anyone expressing their anger at an establishment but please don't insult the instructors with your generalising comments. I considered mine a good friend. One i'll keep in contact with. He was excellent and had a true passion for flying. They all did infact.

And from being there I DO have an idea what the app course is like Because I spoke to many 'diligent' students and lived with one for god sake. Those figures you've mentioned (120% of hours, And test averages) are related to going through the instructor program only. Y would they let an idiot even attempt an instructor rating? Bad student = bad teacher.

Perhaps you were denied a work visa by EFT cause your standard wasnt high enough?

Anyone down at EFT attending now wo can give some " warning " or some positive news ?

I would attend their course this summer.

Regards to everybody here

I was looking at EFT, visited school. And I liked what I saw. New, big classrooms, good airplanes, good instructors.
1 instructor I talked to, said, that if he had to choose school all over again, he would most likely choose EFT. Like everywhere else, it was some minor problems here and there, but overall was very good.

4-5 friends of mine was at aviator college, they share airplanes with EFT.
They said maintenance was amazing, airplanes was always in top conditions. They talked to some guys (both from aviator and EFT) and instructors and it seemed like everyone was happy there.

Orlando flight training and EFT
 

can any one advise on Orlando flight training and EFT, I am planning to do my PPL in US and the UK CAA accept only few schools in US , its very difficult to make any decision not being able to see the school before paying the deposit and process the M-1 visa simply because its far. Any comment and advise will be appreciated.

EFT is a great school. Did everything they said they would. Was very happy with the level of service.

Nuff said.

I'm starting my PPL with EFT on April 21st. So far every dealing I have had with them has been very good indeed. They have been very helpful with all of my queries, have spent lots of time on the phone going through things and have always responded to my emails in good time with thorough information that clearly deals with my query.

I have also spoken to some of their students on facebook which I found on their Facebook page, and those students have all had very good things to say indeed. One person is even going back to start their ATPL ground schooling there after having completed their PPL.

I hope this helps.

I am thinking about starting the APP course around October this year. I haven't seen anyone here who's done that course, only people who got their PPL there.
Does anyone know anything about the APP? Is it recommendable or is there another school which offers a better way of getting my Frozen ATPL (JAA) (Along with PPL, CPL, Ir)

GBB
 

Hey,
I am currently at EFT, and although there have been some problems, they didn't ask me for a dime the first few weeks. Ok I had already put in the 500 deposit, but stayed some time at their housing and flew a few hours ME before they even mentioned money. So to me that is a good sign. On the other hand their campus housing is WAY too expensive considering the standard. That is a bad sign.

They aren't dificult to talk to either, if you have any problems they try to help you out (you might have to remind them a few times), and they have agreed to compensate (give back rent) when we had various problems with the accomodation.

AlfaBravo02
 

I don't like their accomodation (especially on the campus). Their vero beach houses seem better, but for me it's way too much money for what you get. If you're doing heavy theoretical studying, the upside is that you will have fellow students nearby to help eachother out.

After a month here, their multi engines have been on the ground alot (maybe i have just been unlucky, finding problems during preflight, or finding a already squawked a/c?). Other than that the planes are old, but seem allright. I have no idea what's going on on the single engine side though.

The general atmosphere at school is great, ppl are nice and seem happy. The instructor i have is great. All of them are pretty much fresh in their shoes, but seem well trained and mature enough.

I shared house with 2 italians who transfered from OFT to EFT, and seem happy about their new situation in fort pierce.

But I'll say it again, I don't like their houses. For half the price it would be sort of acceptable.