Hello to all!

I havent 'advertised' on this forum yet, but I did read few topics and looked for great learning info at times...Now that I got my instructors ratings, I'd like which schools are good in GTA...specifically Bramton FTU. They are close to my home and from what I heard very bussy.

If you got any info on them...dont need pay, names or fleet info...just a simple ' how are they?'

Are they fair to their staff, are guys overall a good bunch, are they indeed bussy (even in winter?), how is maintainance and what about Caledon operation? do they let instrucotrs (Class 4) fly twins, do charters, or even train ME/MIFR??

hope I am not asking too much....

All the best and thanks sincerely for info!

They suck the CFI is a loser

If u want to work with dicks, in an unorginized place, BFC is the place. Slowly people there are realising they are going nowhere and are moving elsewhere.

Went there looking for info before I started flying....It seemed to be a puppy mill for pilots. Not alot of direction or personal attention...just get them in the air, bill them and get them out.


-=0=LIR=0=-

My Radio operators certificate was a year late because they didnt even send out my application but let me go solo without it. Infact I didnt even have it for my flight test and my examiner had to get on their tail about it. Had the aircraft documents taken away and changed 3 times during my flight test (ground portion) Thank goodness I left, I probably would have shot someone there.

They seem to be training the next round of terrorist's

Fluckmachine wrote:They seem to be training the next round of terrorist's

LOL I know what you mean this all seemed to happen right after 9/11 too.

"well, thats was a rip off" as Napoleon Dynamite said in the movie!

ok, on the serious side...I really appreciate the info, and I can't tell you how much it helps. More input is wellcomed, even in the PM version if you'd prefer.

Unless, you guys are working there and are trying hard not to get more new instructors on board??? But you guys wouldn't do that, right

Thanks agian to all of you!

I did most of my training there and I really liked it but I don't think the instructors that are there now are too happy with the conditions. If you didn't do you instructor rating there it is next to impossible to get a job there right now. You can only instruct on the twin if you are a class 2 and I don't think Air Caledon really exists anymore.

LostinRotation wrote:It seemed to be a puppy mill for pilots. Not alot of direction or personal attention...just get them in the air, bill them and get them out.

Man that is some analogy I think that the next time I am up there I will go to the Brampton Flying Cluband pick up a couple of pilots. My girlfriend's father has a huge farm that they would love to romp and play on.

Puppy mills aren't funny, but thinking about pilots in this situation is.

i dont know all the inside politics of the BFC. However, what I do know is that when I went there the people behind dispatch were very friendly. Also before embarking on my aviation career i wanted to speak to the chief instructor(Mr. S.) He was very friendly as well and was interested in me and why i was investigating BFC. The place looked professional.

looks can be deceiving, I flew out of there for almost 3 years and it got worse every year.

tusky wrote:You can only instruct on the twin if you are a class 2

Why is this a bad thing? At least they give you something real and concrete to work towards. would you rather suck d*** to get multi time? no? i didnt think so

whatgoesaroundcomesaround wrote:

tusky wrote:You can only instruct on the twin if you are a class 2

Why is this a bad thing? At least they give you something real and concrete to work towards. would you rather suck d*** to get multi time? no? i didnt think so

How many hours for how much sucking?

I was just answering Mig28's question. I did not express any opinion as to whether it was a good or bad thing.

pretty friendly. i don't fly with BFC but i deal with them when picking up the keys to an airplane. all i can say is some of the instructors went out of their way to help me plan a flight knowing that i wasn't one of their students and that i had no potential of flying with them. TAL on the other hand is a real piece of work. a bunch of astronaut/f18/air canada/test pilot wannabe seneca graduates bragging about how well they landed their c-150 in a 5 knot crosswind. and when you go up to dispatch they look at you like your bothering them...but now i'm really going off topic

I can't really say about how things are there now, but I did work there a couple of years ago.

It's true about having a class 2 or 1 to teach on the twin. That is flexible however... if you're a sychophantic little butt-kisser, a 3 or even a 4 is OK. For the majority of us with self-respect, a 2 is required.

BFC was always a bit of a "puppy mill". There are a lot of junior instructors there, most are pretty consciencious and dedicated individuals however like any large centre they have their fair share of arrogant "space shuttle captains to be" types. On the whole, they're a good bunch. Finding a good instructor there would ensure that you don't end up on the "assembly line".

It was always true about preferring to hire their own "home-grown" talent. I didn't do my private, commercial or IFR with them. I only finished my instructor rating after having moved to the area. While doing the rating, the CFI kept dangling the proverbial "carrot-on-the-stick" saying that there were jobs waiting for us..... and I was naive enough to believe him. Upon returning from my ride, the door was slammed in my face. I ended up working at a couple of FTU's away from home and got upgraded to a class 3. Somehow, I was a lot more employable by them and I got hired. The vast majority of the instructors back then were 100% "home-grown", and I imagine it's the same today.

I don't regret my time at BFC at all. I made some wonderful friends for life there; many of which were my students. I live and work in another part of the country now, but occasionally I travel out to Ontario and I try and fit in a visit to see who's still there. Another real plus about BFC is the variety of aircraft (if you like variety). I would be doing circuits in a Supercub first thing in the morning, Katana before lunch, 172RG in the afternoon, and then checking out someone on the J3 cub they just bought.

All in all, it wasn't as bad as some make it out to be.... but then again it
wasn't paradise either.

Luscombe wrote: It's true about having a class 2 or 1 to teach on the twin. That is flexible however... if you're a sychophantic little butt-kisser, a 3 or even a 4 is OK. For the majority of us with self-respect, a 2 is required.

Does a class 2 teach the night ratings, too?

cyyz wrote:How many hours for how much sucking?

LOL exactly! In some ftu's its just like that. Although I fly out of YHM i like BFC rule for teaching twin. Twin trainign is advanced and not just primary stuff like attitudes and movements. "kissing ass" or pretending to work hard to impress the cfi doens't always work if the cfi has an ugly-on for you

But you don't need an instructor rating to teach Multi, floats, or IFR...

That's why I don't get the logic of only a class 2 can teach it.

Fine class 4 he needs the 1 to look after him but the class 3 should just rent the plane on his own then and have the student with him and since instructors are the PICs in every flight so it doesn't really technically need to be rented out by the instructor because they're already technically doing it...