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Training for a Job - rather than a License.
When we looked at the traditional way of commercial flight training in Canada, we noticed a few disturbing facts:
To earn a commercial license one has to prove 200 hours of flight experience. There is no quality control that would assign a higher value to purposeful , task oriented flight training versus just flying around the home base in circles for 200 hours. In fact most graduates from flight schools have done very little cross country flying – the required 300 NM flight is for most the one outstanding cross country experience.
For reasons of economy most schools have a standardized fleet of one or two types of aircraft only. Students often earn a commercial license and have only experienced one aircraft type – probably a Cessna 152 or 172. Since it is considered a higher insurance risk, very few schools offer training in tail wheel aircraft despite the fact that it creates better pilots.
Training in marginal weather conditions, flying into unimproved or short airstrips, landing on grass, gravel or beaches is often avoided to minimize any risk of damage to the propellers.
Students are often being trained inefficiently, leading to high flight hours. Requiring 80 hours and more for a Private Pilot License is excessive, and some schools graduate their students with more than 100 hours – in fact doubling the training cost from a normally anticipated budget.
At Canadian Flight Centre we realized that, in order to train students for their first job, we have to enable them to deal with the challenging flying environment that Canada stands for. More than most schools we expose our students to a challenging training syllabus. Our cross country flights include ocean flying, mountainous terrain, desert climates and cold winters. Students experience the kind of landing strips that prepare them for flying in the Canadian wilderness.