flight training in europe

Bobby_1

I'm looking into training for becoming a professional pilot. has anybody here done any training with any organisations, and if so what has your experience been and what can you recomend? i've looked at a few different places now, Flight Training Europe-Jerez and Pilot Training College of Ireland seem most appealing to me. Just want to know what peoples opinions are on them?

Delta Kilo

What is your budget? If you can afford PTC, then I would recommend Oxford Aviation in England. FTE is supposed to be very good aswell but I dont know much about them.

Have you done the medical yet?

It might be difficult get the replies you are looking for over a public forum. I think the mods may have to keep an eye on this one...

Bobby_1

No i havent done the medical yet but i have perfect eyesight, and am in good shape. going to get the hearing checked over the weekend but i'm fairly sure its ok. i wont have a problem with the budget.
if you could pm me any places where i might get assistance i would appreciate it, or any forums that are for pilots/trainee pilots. i would appreciate it thanks

View Profile

Been down here at FTE for the past 13 months. Good quality school with emphasis put on learning the subject rather than passing the JAR exams by memorising answers. (cough * bristol *cough)

The fleet may be old but they're in good nick. The 737-NG sim is up and running for MCC and JOC's now.
The campus itself is the main attraction as everything is situated within 2 minutes walking distance. Nice pool, bar, gym, tv room, etc. Good friendly atmosphere around campus. Everyone knows everyone. Unlike Oxford which I here is more "factory" like.

You'll get to see all this if you come down on selection or for interview. Good luck!

Bobby_1

thats grand thanks i will be applying via their site on monday, may route out the school results over the weekend for the application form.

diverdriver

There is a world of difference between PTC and FTE. PTC hasn't always had good reviews. Have you checked out www.pprune.org. Lots of stuff there on most of the popular flying schools plus a dose of reality.

Which is another point. Have you considered the fact that effectively no or few jobs out there for pilots at the moment? Least of all pilots straight out of a course with less than 300 hours in the logbooks. Qualified airline pilots can't get work at the moment. Ryanair are taking 'cadets' but you need to find another €25k to pay for their training assuming they even accept you or even continue to recruit.

This downturn could go on for a couple of years and anyone graduating soon, sorry viewprofile, is facing a torrid time. So you need to consider even more money just to stay current.

Oh yes and don't believe the flight school hype, they want your business so of course they'll put a positive spin on things.

Good luck.

View Profile

Yeah I know, I'm due to graduate at the worst possible time. :rolleyes:

However I think now would be a good time to start an ATPL course. In 15 months time the recovery should be upon us (fingers crossed) and there's a predicted pilot shortage for 2011-12.
With times being so bad at home and people losing jobs what better time to come down on a course.

diverdriver

there's a predicted pilot shortage for 2011-12.

With a bit of luck, but I've been around for a while and have never seen a shortage of newly qualified pilots, ever. Type rated experienced pilots yes, pilots with specialised experience, yes, Instructors, yes. But newbies, no. But of course there will be jobs to be had. It's just a case of persisting.

When do you qualify, view-profile? Do you have any plans to keep current while waiting?

View Profile

Graduating in early June. I feel sorry for the students I know who graduated 8 months ago and have since been left in holding pools by their airlines (Flybe/BA) or have had no luck with other airlines.
Despite all the doom and gloom there are still jobs out there. Ryanair, Cityjet, and Aer Arann still have type rating courses planned for this summer so there is hope.
Havn't really decided what to do about my currency. Don't want to go down the instructing route quite yet but i'll just have to wait and see how things pan out.
I have qualifications outside of aviation which can keep me employed until a job comes along.
One lives in hope!:D

John_Mc

Was reading up on this over on PPRune and the general consensus is that you'd be mad to pay €100k for a frozen ATPL, plus another ~€25k for type rating in the current climate.

Ryanair have recruited too many FO's and have stopped expanding so wont be recruiting for some time. Even if they are, it's only to get your money and you wont get hours once you've passed line training. I read that Aer Lingus have about 50 FO's in the holding pool waiting to get some hours as well

Have a read through the pprune recruitment forum to get an idea of whats happening out there.

I was seriously considering going the integrated route and taking on the debt, but having read up on what it's like out there I've decided it would be a stupid thing to do. My advice to you would be to seriously reconsider how you go about becoming a pilot

Mr Benevolent

No i havent done the medical yet

Do not do anything WITHOUT a Class 1 medical. Do not pay any money, sign up for any course or do anything that costs money until you have the medical signed and in your hand. Believe me, it's FAR more thorough than any medical you've ever done before. You've been warned. It's by no means difficult to pass, but assuming you can pass can be a very expensive mistake.

View Profile

Pprune is the devils forum.

Full of negative attitudes and mis-information. Loads of desktop "pilots" spouting sh!te and pretending to be senior captains.
Any bits of helpful information or advice are tarnished by drivel written by bitter wannabes would couldn't make it in the industry.

Recession aside, any future pilots would be turned off a flying career by the cynical comments posted by a lot of pprune users.

Best thing to do is avoid the forum.:P

John_Mc

View Profile wrote: »

Pprune is the devils forum.

Full of negative attitudes and mis-information. Loads of desktop "pilots" spouting sh!te and pretending to be senior captains.
Any bits of helpful information or advice are tarnished by drivel written by bitter wannabes would couldn't make it in the industry.

Recession aside, any future pilots would be turned off a flying career by the cynical comments posted by a lot of pprune users.

Best thing to do is avoid the forum.:P

Yeah I'd agree that they're cynical alright, a lot of the time it makes for painful reading!

Still though, you cant overlook the grim stories of fully qualified, yet unemployed, pilots over there.

diverdriver

Ignore PPRuNe at your peril, it may not always be what you want to see but the truth is always there and there are plenty of real experiences to learn lessons from. The simply reality is that this is a very bad time to looking for flying jobs as a new graduate.

Don't count on Aer Arann, they are not recruiting. I know someone who was due to start in April, it's now out to August. It would be no surprise to see it put off further. Ryanair are a possibility but even they are slowing down fast and putting off TR courses. Both of course expect you to pay for the TR.

As for currency, my advice is to try and stay flying in whatever capacity. There are jobs other than airline jobs like Instructing. When the time comes for the interview airlines prefer people who are current rather than someone who has just done enough to keep the ratings valid. The more hours you have the better too. On top of that there's the contacts you make. Many flying jobs are word of mouth and recommendations.

I know several people who did just enough to stay current, even during the better times they struggled to get jobs. It's very easy to lose flying skills when you don't fly enough.

John_Mc

diverdriver wrote: »

Ignore PPRuNe at your peril, it may not always be what you want to see but the truth is always there and there are plenty of real experiences to learn lessons from. The simply reality is that this is a very bad time to looking for flying jobs as a new graduate.

Don't count on Aer Arann, they are not recruiting. I know someone who was due to start in April, it's now out to August. It would be no surprise to see it put off further. Ryanair are a possibility but even they are slowing down fast and putting off TR courses. Both of course expect you to pay for the TR.

As for currency, my advice is to try and stay flying in whatever capacity. There are jobs other than airline jobs like Instructing. When the time comes for the interview airlines prefer people who are current rather than someone who has just done enough to keep the ratings valid. The more hours you have the better too. On top of that there's the contacts you make. Many flying jobs are word of mouth and recommendations.

I know several people who did just enough to stay current, even during the better times they struggled to get jobs. It's very easy to lose flying skills when you don't fly enough.

Once you get a PPL, what's involved in getting an instructor rating from that? Would I need to get Instrument, night rating etc?