Have You heard of this FTO? (The CAA Spain)
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Kilkee co clare Ireland
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Have You heard of this FTO? (The CAA Spain)
I heave tried not to start a new thread but I am on the verge of commiting to doing my PPL H with the CAA Civil Aviation Academy Jump Start Your Aviation Career . I never heard of them before but there website seems professional and seems to show that they are approved JAA.
can anybody help.
The price seems very attractive 14270. I would appreciate any help on this
regards
keith
can anybody help.
The price seems very attractive 14270. I would appreciate any help on this
regards
keith
Yea that is a cheesy looking website alrite.. Id def want to be paying them a visit to check them out!
Surely thats not correct? Thought it was 17 now?
To be admitted for training the following requirements must be met:
Min. 15 years of ageLast edited by 206Fan; 8th Oct 2008 at 15:56.
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Hmm...
I want to do a JAR Flight Instructor Licence (Fixed-wing). Spain seems to be the best choice in terms of weather, cost and ease of getting the licence. (I did some training in the U.K. and found it staggeringly expensive plus I lost a lot of days to bad weather so that there was no way I will ever go back there unless it is to use a simulator! Then there was the food... I still have nightmares about that.)
I have some colleagues who recommended a particular school in Spain, when I looked it up on the internet.
The website is fairly impressive, better than this one anyway!
Next I had a bit of back-and-forth on the phone with a guy from the school who seemed to be a native speaker of English and was told that I needed to do a "pre-enrolment test" there in Madrid.
"How odd," thought I, "how can I be tested before having been taught anything?" Oh well, Johnny Foreigner and all that...
The next hurdle was that I was supposed to send my payment for the "test" by using an on-line form where you input all your details and then fire it off as an e-mail attachment for "security reasons," when just authorising credit card payment would not do. The thing was, the field for the amount due, 145 € in this case, could not be changed from 500 €.
The only other way to pay, by transfer, their IBAN would not work with my German bank, when this bod told me, rather huffily, that it was totally correct and that I should use the on-line form. Here he was pushing me a bit but he just had no idea to whom he was speaking...
I went back to my bank and after some work by them I was advised how to correct the IBAN to get the transfer done. (I can count and 145 is not the same number as 500!) I sent the money by transfer and then decided to have some fun with this one win or lose so that I rode my motorcycle to Madrid. (I was stuck waiting on a visa to go back to my day job in Algeria so that I had some time to spare.)
When I got to the site of the school, well... The airport is a ratty dual-use military/civil place dotted with rotting Caribou you have to weave around to get off the school ramp. There is a tiny line shack with no toilet facilities, when I think you are meant to go about 1 km. to the civil terminal. You have to tap-tap on the door to find someone to let you in, since "security" means the door stays locked, plus this was the weekend. There were a couple of people out back that I finally got to come and let me in but there was no doorbell or anything like that.
I was told that my appointment for the next day, scheduled for 1300, would probably be flown closer to 1400. When I said that I really wanted to do my thing and then get back on the road (I needed to hand the passport in back in Bonn, Germany for that visa just a few days later) this news was taken as if I were some prima donna rather than The Customer.
On the other hand, the instructor did show up pretty close to on time, the aircraft was okay, they did scare up a spare headset for me once I asked for one, there was a checklist in the aircraft, albeit one in Spanish for a C-172 when I was in a C-152 and, really, we had a fairly nice time of it.
I have done a lot of bottom-feeder stuff in my own time in aviation so that none of this was a real show-stopper. I suppose that if the aircraft had been a total wreck then I would have just shrugged and turned away but everything was just at the low end of my expectations.
For instance, when I showed up a day early I asked if we could knock this thing out then and there. "No Cessna." Hmm, what about that Bonanza, then, showing nothing scheduled? "Down for maintenance..." Uh-oh; that is the machine you are supposed to do the final test in!
The "test" consisted of a 45-minute local flight when I was showed some of the area and the VFR reporting points. I was Pilot Flying with the instructor as Pilot In Command.
The website was all big-big grammar about Airline Pilot this and Airbus Type-rating that but the reality was pretty average. That is not a big problem as long as I know what I will get for my money. If I had just gone into this blind, well, I would not have been a happy bunny!
I think the smartest thing you could do now is to make a list of the schools there in Spain, especially if you can get some personal recommendations from former students, then hop a cheap flight, get a rental car and drive around having a close look at them. That would be money well spent, given the amount you will be spending for the training. Not least, some places are even UNSAFE, best left alone.
Hey, I worked for a bottom-feeder school in Miami once: "Guaranteed Multi-engine rating $500!" You got 5 hours in a clapped-out BE-95 for that, one of those things that has two engines because it needs two engines. One morning we found a 400-r.p.m. rough mag drop when 150 or so is allowed, so that I scrubbed.
The Boss From Hell went mad! "You young guys! Do you want this job? Do you want to fly or are you just wasting my time?" Then the mechanic opened up the mags, when little bits fell out... Oh. Someone else, a bit hungrier, would have flown that session, I guess.
The moral of the story might be that you get what you pay for and if you are a little bit unlucky you might get more than you pay for! Take a close look at the schools, don't just go by the websites.
I have some colleagues who recommended a particular school in Spain, when I looked it up on the internet.
The website is fairly impressive, better than this one anyway!
Next I had a bit of back-and-forth on the phone with a guy from the school who seemed to be a native speaker of English and was told that I needed to do a "pre-enrolment test" there in Madrid.
"How odd," thought I, "how can I be tested before having been taught anything?" Oh well, Johnny Foreigner and all that...
The next hurdle was that I was supposed to send my payment for the "test" by using an on-line form where you input all your details and then fire it off as an e-mail attachment for "security reasons," when just authorising credit card payment would not do. The thing was, the field for the amount due, 145 € in this case, could not be changed from 500 €.
The only other way to pay, by transfer, their IBAN would not work with my German bank, when this bod told me, rather huffily, that it was totally correct and that I should use the on-line form. Here he was pushing me a bit but he just had no idea to whom he was speaking...
I went back to my bank and after some work by them I was advised how to correct the IBAN to get the transfer done. (I can count and 145 is not the same number as 500!) I sent the money by transfer and then decided to have some fun with this one win or lose so that I rode my motorcycle to Madrid. (I was stuck waiting on a visa to go back to my day job in Algeria so that I had some time to spare.)
When I got to the site of the school, well... The airport is a ratty dual-use military/civil place dotted with rotting Caribou you have to weave around to get off the school ramp. There is a tiny line shack with no toilet facilities, when I think you are meant to go about 1 km. to the civil terminal. You have to tap-tap on the door to find someone to let you in, since "security" means the door stays locked, plus this was the weekend. There were a couple of people out back that I finally got to come and let me in but there was no doorbell or anything like that.
I was told that my appointment for the next day, scheduled for 1300, would probably be flown closer to 1400. When I said that I really wanted to do my thing and then get back on the road (I needed to hand the passport in back in Bonn, Germany for that visa just a few days later) this news was taken as if I were some prima donna rather than The Customer.
On the other hand, the instructor did show up pretty close to on time, the aircraft was okay, they did scare up a spare headset for me once I asked for one, there was a checklist in the aircraft, albeit one in Spanish for a C-172 when I was in a C-152 and, really, we had a fairly nice time of it.
I have done a lot of bottom-feeder stuff in my own time in aviation so that none of this was a real show-stopper. I suppose that if the aircraft had been a total wreck then I would have just shrugged and turned away but everything was just at the low end of my expectations.
For instance, when I showed up a day early I asked if we could knock this thing out then and there. "No Cessna." Hmm, what about that Bonanza, then, showing nothing scheduled? "Down for maintenance..." Uh-oh; that is the machine you are supposed to do the final test in!
The "test" consisted of a 45-minute local flight when I was showed some of the area and the VFR reporting points. I was Pilot Flying with the instructor as Pilot In Command.
The website was all big-big grammar about Airline Pilot this and Airbus Type-rating that but the reality was pretty average. That is not a big problem as long as I know what I will get for my money. If I had just gone into this blind, well, I would not have been a happy bunny!
I think the smartest thing you could do now is to make a list of the schools there in Spain, especially if you can get some personal recommendations from former students, then hop a cheap flight, get a rental car and drive around having a close look at them. That would be money well spent, given the amount you will be spending for the training. Not least, some places are even UNSAFE, best left alone.
Hey, I worked for a bottom-feeder school in Miami once: "Guaranteed Multi-engine rating $500!" You got 5 hours in a clapped-out BE-95 for that, one of those things that has two engines because it needs two engines. One morning we found a 400-r.p.m. rough mag drop when 150 or so is allowed, so that I scrubbed.
The Boss From Hell went mad! "You young guys! Do you want this job? Do you want to fly or are you just wasting my time?" Then the mechanic opened up the mags, when little bits fell out... Oh. Someone else, a bit hungrier, would have flown that session, I guess.
The moral of the story might be that you get what you pay for and if you are a little bit unlucky you might get more than you pay for! Take a close look at the schools, don't just go by the websites.
Makes one yearn for the days of the world acclaimed "Acme School of Aeronautics" in Fort Worth, Texas!
Thread Starter
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Thank you all for the advice
I re- read each page in the website and found many mistakes. As Iam a total beginner I was starting to succumb to all the jargon . I am very lucky in that I found a web forum like this with other to advise newbees like me.
I will take my time and travel to the schools I am interested in, ( The CAA and Fly in Spain) or any others.
Thank you all again.
I will take my time and travel to the schools I am interested in, ( The CAA and Fly in Spain) or any others.
Thank you all again.
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I suggest you try Tiger Helicopters, based at Shobdon, near Leominster, TigerHelicopters.co.uk . I learnt to fly there 10 years ago in an R22. They've got R22s, R44s, B206s, AS350, AS355, A109 and an A109 sim. You can do all your training there including IR. All the best. 
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Visit before you commit
Passed by this school (Civil Aviation Academy) recently while I was in Spain and have seen their operations first hand. I would agree with Vital Actions, visit first and don't part with any money up front.
I also have a contact detail for a student who is there at the moment if you want to speak to someone with first hand experience of the school. PM me if you want his email.
PT
I also have a contact detail for a student who is there at the moment if you want to speak to someone with first hand experience of the school. PM me if you want his email.
PT
Last edited by Plain Torque; 30th Nov 2009 at 09:30.
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They are one of the schools we are confident about taking a student directly without worrying about their level of knowledge. Their instructor is a Mike Green product, and very good. I haven't seen their website, so cannot comment.
The airfield is small, but it has a hard runway and there is a resident 412 belonging to the firefighters and a HEMS 109. It is tidy enough - at least you don't have to weave your way through scrapyards!
I would recommend a visit to any school - the nearest big airfield is Valencia, and they are 60 clicks North, in Castellon. The place itself is a little rough and ready, though no worse than most of Spain.
Phil
The airfield is small, but it has a hard runway and there is a resident 412 belonging to the firefighters and a HEMS 109. It is tidy enough - at least you don't have to weave your way through scrapyards!
I would recommend a visit to any school - the nearest big airfield is Valencia, and they are 60 clicks North, in Castellon. The place itself is a little rough and ready, though no worse than most of Spain.
Phil
