What do you think of PROIFR?

[gnieto]

Hello all ¡ I’m 99% decided to attend to this school by March 2011, I currently hold a PPL from Mexico and my intentions are , to convert this license to convert this license to the Canadian License, and from there, continue my training to get my multi-engine-commercial-instrument
ratings and maybe I’ll get the instructor license as well, and after that, convert these licenses to the FAA.

My Big question won’t be, what is the best school of Canada, but instead, I would like to know what is your point of view regarding to this school? And if there’s any other
Recommendation for training in that beautiful country, I think that the training in Canada is much better than in the US.

[Bede]

I never went to Pro IFR, but I've seen the material they produce. It is top notch. Perimeter also has a good produce. I heard Harv's is quite poor.

[loopa]

Ya Pro IFR is definitely a good option. But even better than that, I would spend my dollars over at Pacific Rim Aviation Academy if I were you. Excellent CFI, excellent Owner, well maintained aircraft, and you learn skills and habits about "professionalism" that I honestly haven't found elsewhere. I would spend the drive, and set up a time to talk to Alex Denham... what a top notch guy!

Good luck with your training

[trey kule]

Lots of schools have excellent programs....in theory..In practice however it really depends on the quality of the instructor. From what I have seen of the graduates of the different schools is that the "product" is not consistent.

I dont see pro IFR as any different. They advertise alot. Have great weekend ground schools when they were taught by John himself, but many of their instructors were sub standard.
And this is not an issue with just pro IFR.

Solid instruction takes constant monitoring by the CFI. Peolpe are always saying ask questions...but never stating what is relevant.

Talk to the CFI of any school you wish to go to. Ask this question..."How do you as CFI, monitor the instructors to ensure the students are getting value." then ask them to show you an example from a PTI or an instructor file.

A: A good CFI will have a program in place to ensure quality control of training....and there will be written records of it on files....nothing on any files....

the second issue is to ask specifically instructor experience BEFORE the instructor you choose started instructing. IFR is not ab initio, and previous experience actually doing it rather than teaching it is invaluable.

Just my thoughts....hasta luego

[Big Pistons Forever]

Talk to the CFI of any school you wish to go to. Ask this question..."How do you as CFI, monitor the instructors to ensure the students are getting value." then ask them to show you an example from a PTI or an instructor file.
A: A good CFI will have a program in place to ensure quality control of training....and there will be written records of it on files....nothing on any files....
the second issue is to ask specifically instructor experience BEFORE the instructor you choose started instructing. IFR is not ab initio, and previous experience actually doing it rather than teaching it is invaluable.
Just my thoughts....hasta luego

A strongly second the advice in the quote above. Many IFR instructors got their rating and then starting instructing without ever flying any actual real world IFR flights. They will be book smart but training with them means you will miss all the tips and tricks an instructor with IFR line flying experience will give you. They will have no idea what matters for the flight test versus what really matters when it comes to safe IFR flying in a commercial environment. There are schools that have expereinced instructors like the Victoria division of PRO IFR and the training costs the same, so why would you choose a school with an instructor who has no expereince ?

[loopa]

Lots of schools have excellent programs....in theory..In practice however it really depends on the quality of the instructor. From what I have seen of the graduates of the different schools is that the "product" is not consistent.

I dont see pro IFR as any different. They advertise alot. Have great weekend ground schools when they were taught by John himself, but many of their instructors were sub standard.
And this is not an issue with just pro IFR.

Solid instruction takes constant monitoring by the CFI. Peolpe are always saying ask questions...but never stating what is relevant.

Talk to the CFI of any school you wish to go to. Ask this question..."How do you as CFI, monitor the instructors to ensure the students are getting value." then ask them to show you an example from a PTI or an instructor file.

A: A good CFI will have a program in place to ensure quality control of training....and there will be written records of it on files....nothing on any files....

the second issue is to ask specifically instructor experience BEFORE the instructor you choose started instructing. IFR is not ab initio, and previous experience actually doing it rather than teaching it is invaluable.

Just my thoughts....hasta luego

If I may also just add something, while the instructor is key, a school with a well laid out syllabus in comparison to a school with a not so well laid out syllabus can also make the difference. If instructors have some type of standardization and guidance on the content to be trained, it keeps everything more compact and uniform throughout the company.

In addition to BPF's posts, I would also ask the CFI if they have a syllabus that they go by, or if they use something that keeps the training standardized and organized as well.

Good Luck

[gnieto]

Thank you very much for all your answers, i'm a bit confused, but i really take your replies serioulsy !
( I hope i take the best decision)

See you soon in Canada !!

[Big Pistons Forever]

I would suggest you visit all schools in Vancouver and Victoria, look around and talk to the staff and students before you make you final choice.

[AirFrame]

I'm not sure how much this will be a factor if you're just converting a foreign license to a Canadian one, but if you're considering ProIFR at Boundary Bay (CZBB), factor in that all the practise areas in the area are to the east and north, and there are other less busy airports between CZBB and the practise areas. So you'll spend a lot of time getting to your practise area on each flight, that won't always be useful for training purposes.

CZBB is also one of the busiest GA airports in Canada, if not the busiest. Do yourself a favour and at least check out schools at Langley (CYNJ) and Pitt Meadows (CYPK) before you make your decision. And I second all the comments above about interviewing the school first. They will be working for you, it only makes sense to hire the right school for the job.

[square]

Yeah CYPK has a training area that is practically at the airport so you can get more done in an hour.

Regarding the above, it's true, the quality of your instruction depends more on your instructor than your school. Try a few of the staff out and see who's the most robust.

But that being said, the biggest factor in the quality of your training is YOU. A good instructor will get you through the flight test, but a good student will easily get himself through the flight test and focus on learning more than the syllabus. Don't lean on them, use them to supplement all the resources you already have. Study. After about 20 hours dual you're basically teaching yourself, with a safety pilot on the right. The reason fresh CPLs instruct is that it's a pretty basic job, they're there to prompt you when you mess up.

[short bus]

But even better than that, I would spend my dollars over at Pacific Rim Aviation Academy if I were you. Excellent CFI, excellent Owner, well maintained aircraft, and you learn skills and habits about "professionalism" that I honestly haven't found elsewhere. I would spend the drive, and set up a time to talk to Alex Denham... what a top notch guy!

Wow..... I wonder where you instruct at????

[Big Pistons Forever]

Regardless of where Loopa works the fact is that Alex Denham has a very good reputation in the Vancouver flight training community.

[gnieto]

Really? in which school can i locate him?

[loopa]

But even better than that, I would spend my dollars over at Pacific Rim Aviation Academy if I were you. Excellent CFI, excellent Owner, well maintained aircraft, and you learn skills and habits about "professionalism" that I honestly haven't found elsewhere. I would spend the drive, and set up a time to talk to Alex Denham... what a top notch guy!

Wow..... I wonder where you instruct at????

I finished my rating with him. I've been around the lower mainland enough to know all of the school and most of the staff (except for the ones that have replaced the new pool of cma/pasco pilots). All of them are excellent in their own ways, but I just think that Chris and Alex have quite the flight school running. You would have to go there to figure it out for yourself.

Gnieto, Alex is the CFI at Pacific Rim Aviation Academy.

[Freddy_Francis]

Personally, I think the training you get VFR isn't very different from school to school. Typically the biggest problems i've seen is aircraft availability and how the school is run. (yes yes there is always the "useless" instructor factor but usually they become the least busiest at the school, most students figure it out and move on to another, seen it many times)

If you put in the effort required, you'll be fine regardless of where you go.

Having done my IFR with PRO, I can say one thing, their system, seriously works, everything from the written exam to the flight tests for the Multi & IFR were fantastic.

...and no, I don't work for them, but I wouldn't hesitate to do my training with them again.

I never heard any major complaints about the VFR division either, then again, I didn't do my vfr with them.

Just my opinion

[MichaelP]

Websites are a real problem in my opinion because they almost all state unrealistic costs and so foreign visitors get false impressions.
We do our best to put forth real costs on our website but then we're seen as being expensive.
But you do get what you pay for!
Spend a bit more at a good school and you'll probably save money.

ME/IFR.

In most operations the simulator is not the aircraft you are going to fly and so there's a transition required.

One school I know takes the takeoff and landing times and adds 0.4 to every flight regardless of if you only did 0.2 on the ground.

Our simulator is an exact copy of the actual aircraft (D SIM-DA42), it is state of the art with excellent graphics, there's no 'transition' required between ground training device and the aeroplane.
So far our IFR renewals in the sim have been successful with only a couple of exceptions, we have had an excellent pass rate.
The actual aircraft is ready and online, it is state of the art.
So far the aircraft has done one Multi Engine Rating flight test and this was successful, but then we haven't had the twin long!

The Redbird 'motion' simulators can only simulate slip/skid and acceleration/decelleration. Without hydraulic jacks how can you simulate G?
Feedback on these has been very positive for us as pilots prefer our sim hands down.

Whereas it is a good idea for a Canadian to train on an older twin, because out there you may get poor pay flying poor old falling apart equipment with dubious avionics (BYO GPS and ICOM to be safe), the rest of the world tends to operate newer equipment with modern avionics and you should be prepared for these if you are not looking for a first job in Canada.

I second the fact that Pacific Rim are doing an excellent job, it has to be said.
But we try hard too