Delta Connection Academy...THOUGHTS????

[Sctt@NJA]

Goose Egg, Bridgewater State and Daniel Webster?


Just a wild guess- but I spent about the same for my degree and ratings at Bridgewater State, MA. These threads about the expensive schools make me feel VERY happy about that path I took!

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

Are you DCA fellas allowed to do touch and gos in complex aircraft yet? Haven't seen any pictures of gear-ups lately...

 

[thorrr]

Comments on DCA

I'm presently attending DCA. I've earned at least my private there, and am still enrolled in the program.
First, as mentioned, DCA offers outstanding preparation for the airlines; you will learn far more than a 61 school (I attended one until about 12 hours) and the quality of the instructors, in general, is also superb.
The aircraft suck. straight up, the school would be far better off getting equipment that actually works.
With the private syllabus you will be using Cessna 152s... all are at least 30 years old, and every fourth or fifth flight will have to be incompleted due to maintenance problems. When problems are written up on an aircraft, by my experience, its a toss of the dice as to whether they will do anything about it. I wrote up one airplane for the same problem three times in two days.
The school chages more per hour for these aircraft than Avion, next door, charges for its BRAND NEW cessna 172RG equipped with GPS and all decked out. I am not aware of FSI or ERAUs cost, so i cannot compare to them.
The school charges 60 dollars an hour for any time you spend with your instructor; the instructor gets ten of that. the school pockets the remaining 50.
Ground school costs 60 an hour PER STUDENT. With twelve students in a classroom, thats 720$ PER HOUR the school is making. The groundschool instructor earns ten of that seven hundred. The school pockets the rest.
I am unaware of where that money goes. the learning aids are mostly broken and resemble something found buried deep in the recesses of a ghetto public high-school's basement. The demonstration E6B in our classroom was broken and unuseable for classroom demonstrations; a student had to hold the plate in place while the instructor tried to spin it without dropping it. Their model airplanes used for demonstrating flight principles are basically dollar-store foam toys held together with masking tape. The VHS tapes in the Learning Resource Center are a Joke, the tracking is so far off on them that the TVs are unable to account for it... the pictures skip and jump so much as to be completely useless for instructional purposes, but we are still required to watch them. Most students have given up trying to watch them, and simply sit in front of their TVs reading the Gleim... a practice actually recommended by several instructors.
Required in the school's syllabus is several hours of time on their PCATDs. This is essentially a 386 computer with MSFS 1994 on it and a yoke/simulated radio stack attached. You will see them in the tour. The school charges over a hundred dollars an HOUR to use these.
I will concede that the PCs are somewhat useful for flight training, however, definitely NOT worth $100+ an hour. Maybe ten. The same equipment can be purchased for a home computer for under 1500 dollars. You HAVE to spend over fifteen hours on them for the training. It would make more sense for each student to simply buy his/her own.
The "simulator" time costs only ten dollars less than aircraft time.
The instructors are incredible. Intelligent, well-taught, and proficient, i am convinced that the school DOES hire top-notch pilots as instructors. They are all friendly and have a genuine love for aviation.
I wonder what would happen if the school happened to hire an instructor with enough initiative to start a workers Union. The school stresses that it simulates an airline environment. . . ;-)
There are definitely people i would reccomend this school to... i recommend taking advantage of the free tour and checking it out for yourself. Ask to see the inside of the aircraft. Ask questions. If it sounds like the admissions guy is dodging a question, keep digging. Find out all you can to see if this school is right for you.

 

[SloDoDriver]

Wow a lot of negs on the ol' academy. I hear the same thing about UNDers and Riddlers. If I could have got into the right seat at age 21 like one of my former students I would have been all over it. I would never blame anyone for doin the Com Academy thing. I just would hate paying back those student loans making 20k a year for awhile.

 

[bobbysamd]

CAA (DCA) Review

Good review from thorrr, above. I would bet that the "152" that I flew during my interview in 1991 is among the ones he mentioned - and is probably original equipment from when the school was Airline Aviation Academy.

One thing missing from thorrr's review though. How does the school treat students and instructors?

 

[de727ups]

"you will learn far more than a 61 school"

I think it's interesting you make this statement and then proceed to totally trash the DCA's ground training. There is nothing in part 61 that holds you back from learning whatever you want to. 61 is less structured, so if you wanna learn, you gotta do it on your own. I think 61 with a good CFI, a good airplane, and a student who is motivated, is equal to a 141 school. With 61, no doubt if you have a min standards instructor and you put in a min standards effort, you are gonna get less out of it than 141, which forces you to do more formal work.

"I wonder what would happen if the school happened to hire an instructor with enough initiative to start a workers Union. The school stresses that it simulates an airline environment. . . ;-)"

Sounds like a good idea. They did it at Riddle. Not sure how much it helped but it least they are getting a good indoc into the airline environment you mention.

 

[thorrr]

There is nothing in part 61 that holds you back from learning whatever you want to. 61 is less structured, so if you wanna learn, you gotta do it on your own. I think 61 with a good CFI, a good airplane, and a student who is motivated, is equal to a 141 school. With 61, no doubt if you have a min standards instructor and you put in a min standards effort, you are gonna get less out of it than 141, which forces you to do more formal work.

good point. THe ground training is excellent, but the learning Aids Suck. and it costs too much...

I was wrong to classify all 61 schools into one category. I meant only to compare it with the 61 school I went to. The instructors there came across as more backyard aviators. When i asked WHY they did certain things, more than half the time i would get the response "I dont know, thats just what I was taught." I have yet to hear that statement at DCA.

I will certainly grant that there are hundreds of outstanding 61 schools where the quality of education far surpasses that found at DCA. I meant only to compare it to the one school I had personal experience with.

 

[thorrr]

Oops forgot a question!

One thing missing from thorrr's review though. How does the school treat students and instructors?

hmmm... Okay. we make fun of the admissions guys for only talking to us when they're leading a tour ;-) Those people are SUPER friendly, but only when they're heading a tour group.

The rest of the staff, for the most part, is incredibly helpful and friendly. This is a definite positive aspect of the school I failed to mention during my original review. I could give examples, if requested, but i think my original eight paragraph post wore me out...

The instructors, from what I understand, are treated like slaves. When I ask them, they tell me point blank that they will lose their Jobs and "guaranteed interview" if they say anything negative about the school. this makes it quite hard for me to get an honest answer. I DO plan on going all-the-way through the academy right now, and will be more than happy to report back as an instructor.

please no flaming on my desicion to stay at the academy. As I said, there ARE people I'd recommend it to; the guaranteed interview WORKS. Ask any instructor at the school: their former instructor is now working for an airline.

 

[bobbysamd]

Comair

hmmm... Okay. we make fun of the admissions guys for only talking to us when they're leading a tour ;-) Those people are SUPER friendly, but only when they're heading a tour group.

The rest of the staff, for the most part, is incredibly helpful and friendly . . . .

Very interesting . . . . but, just for fun, if you haven't already, read this link about my experiences with the helpful and "friendly" CAA staff.

The instructors, from what I understand, are treated like slaves. When I ask them, they tell me point blank that they will lose their Jobs and "guaranteed interview" if they say anything negative about the school . . . .

No doubt about that, based on the oppressive atmosphere I encountered at Comair.

Good luck with the rest of your stay at Comair.

 

[thorrr]

Thanks...

Yep.. I read the post. Comair/DCA doesnt roll out any red carpets, thats for sure, unless you're planning on giving THEM money. Don't blame them for not sending you a letter; they were probably trying to save money on paper and stamps... and of course they pass those savings right on to us! (sarchasm)