This Review Overall Rating
Review for an older syllabus and pre Covid19.
This is a review for the 12-month Pro-Pilot Integrated course which is no longer available which I am glad of since it was in dire need of a reformation.
The course consisted of 3 months in Florida (PPL, hour building and IR) followed by 9 months in Malaga (ATPL theory, Licence conversion, CPL, ATPL completion) then 3 weeks in Madrid for an MCC/JOC.
The course was advertised as the only ATPL integrated programme available for less than £70,000. This was converted from its equivalent cost in USD. The fee was to be paid in instalments which was my first mistake. Through a loan and personal savings, I had the entire course fee available before starting the course and could have paid upfront. However, part way through the course the exchange rate changed significantly, for which there was no financial security, and I found myself unable to pay the remainder of the instalments forcing me to loan more money. I tried to point out that it was sold in GBP but the actual contract that is signed is for USD.
Upon arriving in Florida, it takes a while to process your paperwork as it must be processed by the School, Federal Government and Homeland security. While this is being processed by the school you are shown around the Facilities, Island and then the accommodation. The accommodation was adequate, but I would not have wanted to spend more than 3 months there. While the US government processes your information, you complete the ground school. This is also a good introduction and gives some days to explore the school and meet the instructors. You are also provided with flying manuals and equipment for route planning such as a flight computer, charts, plotters and computers.
Soon after I began my PPL. The instructors were young but very professional and took a personal interest in their students. They were friendly both in and out of the school and strived for the student to always perform to their best ability. They were extremely hard workers with a good work ethic. They were available for both theoretical learning and practical lessons of which they were truly knowledgeable of both. The fleet of Piper PA 28s was older than some flight schools but numerous and maintained to a remarkably high standard. This gave each aircraft its own personality and there was always one available to fly. Florida itself is very flat so there is not much experience with mountain flying but the theory behind it is still learned. The weather, although usually pleasant can bring its own challenges such as ground fog, sudden quick building thunderstorms, virga, hot temperatures and the occasional hurricane. Although I did not enjoy living in the area, the school, views, weather, rocket launches, and instructors made learning and flying there a real pleasure.
The hour building was completed in the same fleet of aircraft as the PPL, so the pupils already had familiarity with the fleet. The instructors were numerous and always on hand at the school to give information and advice. They frequently asked about your progress and flight plans for the day as they had a genuine interest in their students.
After hour building came the Instrument Rating. The ground school and practical instruction was as good and professional as the PPL. This training was completed in a fleet of Cessna 172 fitted with G1000 glass cockpits. There was additional training in Redbird simulators also fitted with G1000s. Once complete the instructors were genuinely happy and proud to have been a part of your training. This was the end of phase 1.
Phase 2 was completed in Malaga. This was an extreme change in professionalism. Before arriving, you are required to email over all your certificates and logbook details form your time in Florida even though this was supposedly sent from the other school. Once you arrive, they photocopy the documents previously sent suggesting they took no notice of it being sent beforehand. I was panicking leading up to this anyway as they seemed to have no idea of my arrival until around a week before my start date. Once everything was photocopied, the agreement for the accommodation was signed and a checklist completed to show the receipt of bedsheets, towels and keys etc. You were also given a flight computer and chart that would be redundant by the time you needed it. The agreement was for €550 per month which I believe is where the school in Malaga make the bulk of their profit. There were local students as well as international students and they informed us just out of curiosity that the apartments were being rented for around €650 per month. Each of which had 4/5 students in paying €550 each or €350 each for a shared room. In addition to this there were cleaners which would come around unannounced. They did the basics but fined heavily if any additional cleaning needed to be done. The requirements to implement fines used to change frequently also.
As for the ATPL theory, it was professional for the first couple of days. After which it became clear that I was not going to be receiving my textbooks for a while and the lessons being taught had been learned by the instructors the night before. The syllabus was supposed to use materials from Cranfield Aviation Training School (CATS) which was barely used. Most of the teaching was from pirated material from Oxford Ground School, unlicensed use of Aviation Exam and Bristol Ground School and personal knowledge. This seemed preferable to the instructors than the course from CATS for which they paid. These were the good days. On the bad days old episodes of “Air Crash Investigation” were played while students did self-study which was made much easier once that the textbooks had arrived. There were numerous complaints in person to the school and to the main recruiter in the UK but these seemed to be largely ignored or acknowledged with no actual reform implemented. This left many students unable to pass their exams on the first attempt or even confident enough to sit them in the first place. It subsequently meant that every student I was aware of had to go home, self-study and book and sit exams themselves. I feel as though I could have accomplished much more by studying in the apartment with the correct material and other students from the course. I feel that is where I acquired the bulk of my knowledge.
In the defence on the instructors this is not what they were hired for. They were hired to be practical flight instructors that got asked to do theoretical training last moment if they wanted to retain their jobs. They also still had to teach their practical lessons. Some of them even had secondary jobs and all were being worked to and perhaps beyond their limits.
At some point towards the end of the 6 months of ATPL theory you had to complete an Instrument Rating “recency” flight. This is to comply with FAA legislation. However, when they looked at my logbook, they informed me that I had not met the requirements and I had to “alter my logbook”. After refusing to do so I demanded that they train me so that I have the requirements for which I had paid. Once they refused, they showed me their requirements. I was relieved to see that they were out of date and printed in 2011. I pointed out that the FAA had changed the regulations since then and showed them the up to date requirements of which I had completed. This is where I realised that there is absolutely no information passed between the 2 schools. Prior to this the amount of night landings required for EASA had increased. This information had not been passed from the school in Malaga to the one in Florida and students from previous years were turning up unable to get a night rating.
Once all ATPL exams were complete I was invited back to complete my practical training. You were provided with PDFs of badly photocopied aircraft manuals. The rumours that you would have to rent a car to get to the airfield turned out to be true. This is an additional expense that was not explained beforehand, even more expensive for the under 25s and near impossible for the under 21s. The airfield was 30 miles from the school. There was an hour-long bus ride followed by a 45-minute walk if you could not drive or get a lift. The airfield is small with few facilities and you need an instructor to get through the barriers. Sometimes you would wait at the barrier only to find out that the instructor had not set off due to the school cancelling the lesson and not informing you.
The lack of aircraft and instructors also became apparent. The 3 main trainers were 1 Cessna 172 and two Piper PA 28. These were being converted to take JetA1 fuel as it is cheaper than Avgas. But the airfield did not supply JetA1 so sometimes a 2-hour lesson would consist of flying to another airfield and back to fill up for the next student with very little if any manoeuvres practiced. There was a lot of time sitting in the apartment for days or weeks without a lesson. There was occasionally bad weather, but the main delay was fully booked instructors and aircraft. Students would complain regularly to the school with to no avail. It was the Integrated students that suffered worst. Since they had paid upfront, they were put at the bottom of the priority list. The modular students paid after they flew so were given lessons first rather than there being an even distribution. This was the theme for the remainder of the training. The FNPTII simulator was more readily available. The IFR conversion was completed in a Cessna 172 RG with traditional instruments or “Steam Gauges”. The multi engine training was completed in a Beechcraft 76 Duchess with traditional instruments. The IFR approaches were carried out at Granada.
There was an MCC/JOC included to be completed in Madrid. Most students decided to opt out, myself included, to complete a shorter and cheaper one elsewhere.
Overall a bad experience that left me out of pocket and very frustrated, but I managed to complete the course and get the licence I wanted.
The programme seems to have changed significantly in 2020 so I cannot comment on their current syllabus. Most of the training is now in Florida. The school in Malaga has moved with potentially new management which would be welcome. I can see that there is a Jet Orientation Course that is not at the end of the course. Although it seems as though the new students get to fly an actual jet rather than have the lessons in a simulator, the JOC is more useful as and end to the course with an MCC so it is fresh in your mind for a job interview. I really do hope the new students have a better time of it than myself.
Course(s) taken:
General
Aircraft
Simulators
Theoretical Training
Practical Training
