how is Panam (florida) for A320 type rating
 

i am interested in doing A320 type rating ... so i wanted to inquire abut the different TRTO'S specially panam ....

can anyone tell me how is itz training and how good it is?

I did my EASA MCC on the A320 with Pan Am and loved it...lots of experienced instructors,simulators are top notch.Had a friend of mine who completed the FAA A320 type rating and he seemed to be happy too.:ok:

Guys been there and done that.

You get the rating but don't expect great support or customer service. Its cheap for a reason.

That said, the sims themselves seemed good enough and the instructors mostly were very good.

You cant sit back and think the staff will help will through. Your on your own but if you are pro active and stay back every night and study instead of going to the bar, you will get more help than the ones who don't.

I've done it last year and never regret it.
Top notch simulators
friendly instructors and staff
A lot of work to do in 3 weeks but if you put your heads in it you shouldn't be worried

@pilotchute
 

Thanks for your frank and honest reply.

But does the training on Level C simulator instead of Level D affect the learning of the student?

This is what my flight instructors used to say
It all boils down to the student, student has to take the initiative and work it out, no spoon feeding.

You can complete all required training in either D or C sims. I've had experience with these folks, and they're all above board. They've cut it down to only what's needed, but if you want any extra training they will make sure you get it.

With due respect to your instructor I would hazard a guess that he has no real appreciation of what the differences are between the 2. The ONLY differences are within the areas of Sound and Vibration and nothing else.

There are many simulators still in service that cannot be qualified Level D because the aircraft data doesn't support these areas, yet crews are competently trained on them.

"Learning of the student" is a reflection of quality FSTDs, quality training material, quality instructors and of course your efforts.

@ZFT
 

Would PanAm qualify for qualtiy FSTDs, quality training material, qualtiy instructors?

Not for me to comment as no personnel experience of any of their attributes.

Contact the DGCA to ensure that Pan Am is on their approved list of TRTOs. That should be the first step for your type rating.


You can try to obtain a copy of the approval certificate from Pan Am issued by the DGCA.


The certificate will indicate aircraft and simulators authorized for the type rating course.

The only difference in the C and D sims for the 320 at Pan Am is the visuals in the D are better and the D has a slightly different MCDU.

That's it.

There is no point spending thousands more on using the level D for the rating.

Perhaps pilotchute, pilot4eva, tommy4931 may throw more light in this regard.

Hi OP I was there a week ago and this is my take of the place, others may disagree.

Pan Am customer service is bad...They won't let you know who you are partnering up with so you guys can figure out accomodations together, which could potentially save you at least a thousand dollars. First day of ground school was delayed because paperwork issues even though they repeatedly asked for our paperwork in the past weeks, nobody seem to be communicating within each department, one day is accounting, one day is sales, another day would be training dept asking for your files AGAIN. So we wasted 4 hours of the first day doing paperwork that should have been sorted out beforehand.

The groundschool was a total waste of money and maybe that's why you have the option of homeschool, the instructor just clicked through an endless presentation of systems, no practical knowledge of say Overhead Panel (in preparation for the oral) or the MCDU (in prep for the sim), it's basically a whole week of crunching thru a very boring CBT that you could have done at home.

The schedule will be very tight, you will be expected to know your SOPs (flows) by the end of the 2nd sim and be ready for your oral (you are expected to fail one because there's literally not enough time to study both) I suggest requesting a day off BEFORE your oral.

The level D sim (sim 9) is nicer, a lot more room, newer equipment and a whole lot better visual BUT I'd suggest sticking with the level C sim (sim 8) simply because it costs less and still offers all that you need for a TR, I wasn't there for the looks I was there for the training. And that's what Pan Am is strong at, my instructor was very good, he was very strict and demanding but understanding at the same time, the end result was a very smooth checkride. PM me if you want the name of the inst.

If you are indian, then you'd need to use a level D sim, your DGCA requires it (There were a couple of indians and they used leve D sim exclusively which costs 1000 extra).

Overall I would give Pan Am 3.5/5 for bad customer service, very dissapointing groundschool but very good flight instructors, who are dedicated and understanding.

What's the previous poster just said is pretty spot on. The ground school was poor which caused problems at the oral stage. My sim buddy and I were lucky that we had a bit of warning of what standard was required and did many hours of extra study to pass the oral first time.

My sim instructor had been flying buses for 30 years. He was excellent.

As a side note Pan Am was taken over at the start of the year and many old staff were shown the door. Apparently it made no difference to the very average service!

More side note. DO NOT DO HOME STUDY! Persons doing home study will have to sit a 150 question test on the first day. Fail and you do ground school anyway. Just pay the extra 1000 bucks and sit through the mind numbing slides. For those doing in house ground school the test is much easier and a third of the size.

thank you guys for such a honest reply.... i am feeling panam wont be suitable for me... any idea about the high power aviation at dallas for 320 rating????

Aerostar in Orlando Florida.

hw is it for a320 type rating?

Top notch. They use JetBlue's sim center.

You have to way up the cost versus the quality of the training.

Pan Am is cheap but you have to work your guts out. The others can be rather more expensive (up to 10,000 USD) for the same rating. I can't say how much better the training is at other schools as I have never attended them.

If your paying yourself take cheap and difficult. Someone else's money? Easy and more expensive is the go.

I just finished my A320 type rating at Higher Power. My background is 3500TT 2500 EMB 145 regional us pilot.

From start to finish I loved the experience at HPA, the whole staff is always there to help you succeed, it is a very friendly atmosphere and there's emphasis on networking, which always help down the road.

On the training side every instructor I had was very experienced on type, multiple backgrounds, and always available to answer any question/clear any doubts.
The sims are the American Airlines sim so the support is great and you won't have any hiccups, there are 2 available. The sims are also the last generation CAE 7000 sims, visuals are amazing. On top of that the hours in the Fixed Base Trainer are actually spent in the sim itself (without motion on), so you pretty much get additional time in the real thing, no panel mockups. It personally helped me a lot, being able to spend some additional hours in the seat understanding all the switches and flows.
The course is structured around you, they will work with your schedule. It is pretty much 1 week of ground school followed by the FBT and then sims.

For me it was a great learning experience and I enjoyed every moment of it, do not take me wrong, you have to prepare yourself (study your ass off!), as every other training event, it is no piece of cake. But at the end when you get your HPA hat you become part of something that will always be with you no matter what part of the world you'll end up working.

Feel free to PM me if you need additional question.