Training in the States or Canada??

[Irishgypsy1962]

I am in the process of getting my PPL and continung till I have my CPL with time on floats and was wondering if it is better to head to the States rather than doing it in Canada? I am only 30% of the way through getting my PLC here in Canada and have been told by a few that I should head to the States and get everything up to the CPL/IFR/MULTI IFR if I needed it. My present job does allow me to take 4-5 weeks off at a time now and then, so I could take one of the fast track course (PPL,CPL,,Floats, etc..) I have seen the ads for the 21 day course for the PPL, 6 days CPL, 7 days for IFR, etc... and was wondering if this is possible. Seems a bit fast, don't you think? I would like to have my CPL with alot of time on floats by the summer of 2010, if not earlier. And, if I did head to the States to finish, can I have my hours transferred to the school there? Anyone have any suggestions, ideas, advice??

And, if done in the States, how hard is it to convert the License to Canada? And yeah, before I forget, if it is better to head to the States, anyone have any suggestions of some good schools that have the floats for training?

Cheers .....

[E-Flyer]

If those are the two choices you have, stay in Canada.

[Strega]

Go to the US, pay less for better training, convert back to TCCA,, the conversion is simple, and you will LEARN more in the same hours as staying in Canadastan

[Irishgypsy1962]

If those are the two choices you have, stay in Canada.

And the reasons would be?

[E-Flyer]

you'll know how to recover from a spin versus learning to pull the chute.

Strega, how is it that the united states have better training? last I checked the only theory you have to know is to learn how to memorize answers - rote learning. Boy, there's a high standard of training. Not saying Canada has high standards, but I think our system actually makes the pilot's work a little bit and earn their licenses versus memorizing some answers and calling them selves a pilot. Strega, if I had a chance to pay 10 000 dollars more but have better material and receive better instructors with a higher standard, I'd take that anyday rather than one day being caught making a bad PDM and then losing my licenses because of a basic knowledge that didn't learn in my training.

If I had a chance to redo it all. I would move to Europe for a year, go to a flight academy, tell them you're interested in taking FATPL ground theory, which if I recall correctly teaches you basic PPL THEORY - CPL THEORY - IFR THEORY - ATPL THEORY. When you have your theory down and set, come back to Canada and start flying.

You'll probably have a good giggle when you find out that your theory is stronger than your instructors - oh well, Canadian instructors are generally good stick and rudder candidates. So you'll get some useful skills that way.


Cheers !

[Strega]

Canadian instructors are generally good stick and rudder candidates

Most Canadian instructors are LOW TIMERS with <500 TT of wich 300 of is "instructing" pic time. I would strongly dissagree with your statement.

In the US, most mom and pop flight schools will have an instructor that has thousands of hours of some sort of real commercial flying. AG, part 135 etc...

[trey kule]

check out Flight Safety in the US. From my experience with their grads, they are , without exception great pilots for their experience level.

I cannot say the same for what I have experienced the results of from the Canadian system or most of the American system.

As to Canadians having better theory.. Have not really seen that either. And I am a little curious as to how someone could make the statement that Canadian instructors have better stick and rudder skills.

If you have time, regardless of where, I think it is important to get a good groundschool. That would be one of the things I would want to know about any flight school. The ones that have "continuous (sp?)admission" are a little dodgy, in my opinion, as groundschool should be a building block situation, something that is impossible without a dedicated course.

Whatever you choose, good luck.

[Colibri]

E-Flyer,

Have you ever done any training in the states??? PPL, CPL, IFR, Multi, Float? If not, then you definitely do not have first hand knowledge of what it's like down there. I did my CPL in the states and I'd say that the standards are the same if not better. Conversion is a breeze as well. Oh and I never had any trouble with theory.

Most Canadian instructors are LOW TIMERS with <500 TT of wich 300 of is "instructing" pic time. I would strongly dissagree with your statement.

That is one of the most accurate statements I've ever read. I don't think it matters how good your Class 1 was, you're not going to be that much more competent a pilot than someone with just a CPL and 30 hours less dual and I've witnessed that firsthand.

The finest instructors I've ever had/seen have been those with real operational flying experience.

Just my two cents.

[Irishgypsy1962]

Well, some good points on both sides! Does anyone know of a school in Florida for floats and also Scotsdale, AZ?

[C-GGGQ]

Well, some good points on both sides! Does anyone know of a school in Florida for floats and also Scotsdale, AZ?

your looking for float time in Phoenix??? the big desert surrounded by hills?

[Hoov]

You'll probably have a good giggle when you find out that your theory is stronger than your instructors - oh well, Canadian instructors are generally good stick and rudder candidates. So you'll get some useful skills that way.

Are you a Canadian Instructor by any chance E-Flyer?

[Irishgypsy1962]

your looking for float time in Phoenix??? the big desert surrounded by hills?[/quote]

Should have been a bit more clear with that statement but it was meant to say "float operator in Florida" and a "regular operator in Scotsdale". Just want to do a bit of research with the operators in these areas!

[E-Flyer]

E-Flyer,

Have you ever done any training in the states??? PPL, CPL, IFR, Multi, Float? If not, then you definitely do not have first hand knowledge of what it's like down there. I did my CPL in the states and I'd say that the standards are the same if not better. Conversion is a breeze as well. Oh and I never had any trouble with theory.

Most Canadian instructors are LOW TIMERS with <500 TT of wich 300 of is "instructing" pic time. I would strongly dissagree with your statement.

That is one of the most accurate statements I've ever read. I don't think it matters how good your Class 1 was, you're not going to be that much more competent a pilot than someone with just a CPL and 30 hours less dual and I've witnessed that firsthand.

The finest instructors I've ever had/seen have been those with real operational flying experience.

Just my two cents.

I'm passing on info that was passed on to me by various candidates who experienced canadian and american standards. The opinion I got was that Canada was better.

So aren't american instructors also 300 hour fresh pilot's teaching flying?

Hoov, no I'm not - why you ask?

[Tango01]

http://www.faa.gov/education_research/t ... 81-14A.pdf

http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/gener ... 3/menu.htm

Those are the standards for both nations for the PPL.

Both have good things and the bad ones. USA offers more affordable training and well structured schools, while Canada's quality has been decaying (in my opinion. Other than that, both are about the same I would say.

Bottom line. ONCE AGAIN. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE INSTRUCTOR!

[Hoov]

E-Flyer,

Have you ever done any training in the states??? PPL, CPL, IFR, Multi, Float? If not, then you definitely do not have first hand knowledge of what it's like down there. I did my CPL in the states and I'd say that the standards are the same if not better. Conversion is a breeze as well. Oh and I never had any trouble with theory.

Most Canadian instructors are LOW TIMERS with <500 TT of wich 300 of is "instructing" pic time. I would strongly dissagree with your statement.

That is one of the most accurate statements I've ever read. I don't think it matters how good your Class 1 was, you're not going to be that much more competent a pilot than someone with just a CPL and 30 hours less dual and I've witnessed that firsthand.

The finest instructors I've ever had/seen have been those with real operational flying experience.

Just my two cents.

I'm passing on info that was passed on to me by various candidates who experienced canadian and american standards. The opinion I got was that Canada was better.

So aren't american instructors also 300 hour fresh pilot's teaching flying?

Hoov, no I'm not - why you ask?

I asked because I was wondering where you got such biased information about our "super" instructors versus the ones in the states.

[C-GGGQ]

your looking for float time in Phoenix??? the big desert surrounded by hills?

Should have been a bit more clear with that statement but it was meant to say "float operator in Florida" and a "regular operator in Scotsdale". Just want to do a bit of research with the operators in these areas![/quote]

ah, i'm no help to you in florida, but in scotsdale they have some of the big ones (embry riddle, etc.) for little schools i'm not sure though.

[E-Flyer]

Hoov, i've had a chance to interact white quite a few in both countries. Don't get me wrong, there are some good instructors that I've flown with in the states too - but I got the general vibe that Canada is better.


As tango said, it really depends on the instructor, but the industry standard in North America (canada/us) does not focus on theory as heavily as it should; it is worse in the states - thus we get guys to come out here who are EXPECTED to know a lot that they have never been introduced to - the whole circle of the unknowns !

In my opinion no body should be able to legally hold their Commercial License until they're introduced to a lot of the realities in commercial flying.

What's the difference between your CPL and PPL flight test? not a whole bunch really. If you can't keep 100 feet on your PPL ride I bet you weren't even recommended for the flight test - so there isn't much to be learned. So why not make the stick and rudder skills good in the early days so that the 65 hours of training can be dedicated to real world type of scenarios. And throughout the training, review the exercises once in a while so they stay fresh.

I really feel that the difference between a CPL and PPL is a rather minuscule difference except for the fact that you have some more privileges to play with so that ACA can see if you even make it to 3000 hrs before dying. Fair enough - but why not train instructors to take advantage of weather and operational circumstances where the 65 hours can be time well spent instead of doing what the student already knows.

All school websites say that the CPL takes you from a hobby type pilot to a professional pilot - what kind bs is that? as far as I see it, a CPL is just a more experienced PPL with more privileges. It seems like the entire CPL course is a review of PPL. Funny how so many people fail their CPL rides though.

Oh well, that's my opinion - I'd love to hear your responses.

[MichaelP]

You have to shop around a bit in Canada, and a bit more in the USA.

At a foreign school I was at it was embarrassing to see the FAA instructors fail the FAA CPL written tests while the Canadian instructors all passed.
There's a difference between studying the questions and answers in the FAA question bank and really knowing your subject.

There are some excellent instructors in the USA but there are some really bad ones too. Look carefully, and when you choose a school do not be afraid to ask for another instructor if the one you get is not so good.
Generally the aeroplanes are to a higher standard than what you often find in Canada.

A problem with the USA is the TSA stuff... You need to be security checked before you start flight training and I understand from people who have done it, they paid $130 USD for each and every rating and licence training they took.
This has been good for business here in Canada.

In Florida you can take your float rating at Jack Brown's. This is not the experience you would get in BC but fun all the same.
In the USA you will have to pay for a check ride with an FAA examiner and you are less likely to find anyone who'll rent a floatplane to you.

[Hedley]

There are some excellent instructors in the USA but there are some really bad ones too

uh, I think that's the case in Canada, too. And probably most
every other country in the world, too.

Similarly, I don't think aircraft maintenance is significantly
better or worse than Canada, south of the border. Just
like instructors, you need to shop around.

[Hoov]

Hoov, i've had a chance to interact white quite a few in both countries. Don't get me wrong, there are some good instructors that I've flown with in the states too - but I got the general vibe that Canada is better.


As tango said, it really depends on the instructor, but the industry standard in North America (canada/us) does not focus on theory as heavily as it should; it is worse in the states - thus we get guys to come out here who are EXPECTED to know a lot that they have never been introduced to - the whole circle of the unknowns !

In my opinion no body should be able to legally hold their Commercial License until they're introduced to a lot of the realities in commercial flying.

What's the difference between your CPL and PPL flight test? not a whole bunch really. If you can't keep 100 feet on your PPL ride I bet you weren't even recommended for the flight test - so there isn't much to be learned. So why not make the stick and rudder skills good in the early days so that the 65 hours of training can be dedicated to real world type of scenarios. And throughout the training, review the exercises once in a while so they stay fresh.

I really feel that the difference between a CPL and PPL is a rather minuscule difference except for the fact that you have some more privileges to play with so that ACA can see if you even make it to 3000 hrs before dying. Fair enough - but why not train instructors to take advantage of weather and operational circumstances where the 65 hours can be time well spent instead of doing what the student already knows.

All school websites say that the CPL takes you from a hobby type pilot to a professional pilot - what kind bs is that? as far as I see it, a CPL is just a more experienced PPL with more privileges. It seems like the entire CPL course is a review of PPL. Funny how so many people fail their CPL rides though.

Oh well, that's my opinion - I'd love to hear your responses.

Yeah, I can't argue with that.

[MichaelP]

Similarly, I don't think aircraft maintenance is significantly better or worse than Canada

I think the difference is that there are more 'newer' aircraft and more up to date avionics in a lot of US aircraft.
A lot of US discarded Cessna 152's seem to end up here

Some of us do something about it though...
It would be nice if more locals were interested in our G1000 DA40-180... In Canada cheap is the number one priority it seems, Zellers mentality!