Delta Connection Academy...THOUGHTS????

[mnixon]

i completed my double i in november of 2003 and am preparing to go back for standz class....while i may agree with yall that the advertising may be off at times...the training that i recieved at dca i believe is second to none...i am biased considering the amount of money that i gave them but i feel more than prepared. I just think its funny that all the people who cant hack it at a particluar school, feel the need to come back with a vengeance to bash it....and not just DCA, all academy's. Best advice to potential students....when you go on the tour, talk to students and for the most part youll find they like it. If you bust your rump you can do it...bottom line....while nothin is guaranteed in life, Interviews included, i felt and still do that this is the best way to break into aviation. Crucify me because i had a good time and busted my ass to get a double i with well under 250 hours and 10 months. oh yea thats right experience? you need 250 just to get a commercial ticket? yea because drivin a 52 all over gods green earth is such great experience! just my two cents! peace, Im out

 

[de727ups]

Well...

Sounds like you don't put much value on flight experience. Glad you worked hard and got your ratings but I put a high value on the learning experiences one can get by flying a 52 around God's green earth. I think it's a shame you'll be allowed to teach the next round of DCA students with such a lack of flying time and experience...but I guess that's how it works there. You think "the program" makes up for a lack of real would experience? Give me a break....

I've seen academy types and 61 types. They both have their strong points and their weak points.

God help us if the airlines start hiring from only one type of background....whatever that may be. The best thing we have going for us is the mix of academy guys, Alaska bush pilots, military, freight, corporate, ect...we all bring valuable experiences to the cockpit.

By the way, I'm not "bashing DCA" as some guy who couldn't hack it at some other school. I leave for 757 school at UPS this week and I've been a CFI since 1981. I don't mean to bash anybody but I see DCA's marketing and hear statements like yours bragging about not needing flight experience to be a CFI and....I just gotta say something

 

[mnixon]

first off let me congratulate ya on class...thats great....and second....i totally agree that diversity in flying is a great thing....the guy next to me might be taught in a different way that helps me see the issue at hand more clearly....im not saying that academy grads are better....it just worked for me

 

[de727ups]

Glad to hear you say so

'im not saying that academy grads are better'

That's not the impression I got from your first post.

 

[The_Russian]

mnixon,

What do you have to compare DCA to? Have you been to FSI or Pan Am, etc? Two out of few of the schools that I went to was DCA and FSI. FSI was a college of aviation. DCA (then Comair actually) was a joke. Who would you rather have teaching ground school, 230 hr. CFI or St. George? (you FSI guys know who I'm talking about) The aircraft at FSI were maintained properly with a progressive mx program. DCA leases a bunch of planes with horrible equipment and does the minimum FAA mx required. DCA's proceedures are "kick the tires, light the fires" compared to FSI's flight ops. Just read the briefing page on FSI's checklist. Those are just a few examples.

 

[mnixon]

i dont have anything to compare it to except a few fbo's that ive rented aircraft from where the instructors were subpar. like i said before i think a different mix of educations is good....DCA just worked for me!

 

[The_Russian]

Was just interested and looking for a basis of your statement. Not trying to put you down or anything. Good Luck!

 

[mnixon]

its cool brutta...it just irritates me when people, by no means im pointing at you ruskie!, all of a sudden jump on academies for no reason...i dont jump on all fbos because i had one bad experience! your training is what you make of it no matter which route you go!

 

[The_Russian]

YEAH!

Thats a good attitude and you are absolutely right!

Ruskie! I love it. One day I will own a Mig I swear it. Ebay anyone?

 

[bobbysamd]

What?? They let commies in FSI?

Just kidding. I hope you accept it as such. And, I will interrupt some of your comments, but I don't think you'll mind.

Originally posted by The_Russian
What do you have to compare DCA to? Have you been to FSI or Pan Am, etc? Two out of few of the schools that I went to was DCA and FSI. FSI was a college of aviation. DCA (then Comair actually) was a joke.

Having instructed at FSI in 1991-'92, I second Russian 100%. While I thought the place could have provided more in-depth ground school, the ground school was adequate and the flight training was second to none. FSI has been doing it for years. The place is organized, the equipment is first-rate, and the facilities are excellent. It really is organized something like a college campus, with the flight line at one end and the dorms and school buildings a walk across a field.

On the other hand, having interviewed at Comair three months before I was hired at FlightSafety, the difference is like night and day. I traveled two-thousand miles two separate times for my FSI interview and Comair interview. Comair gave me about fifteen minutes with the Chief Instructor, a 1.5 flight, if that, in a 152, and no rejection letter. Compare that with FSI, which rolled out the red carpet for me, put me up in one of the bungalows on campus for four days, and which interviewed me over three days. There was no comparison whatsoever.

The aircraft at FSI were maintained properly with a progressive mx program. DCA leases a bunch of planes with horrible equipment and does the minimum FAA mx required. DCA's proceedures are "kick the tires, light the fires" compared to FSI's flight ops. Just read the briefing page on FSI's checklist.

Russian is absolutely correct. FSI's checklists were very much airline-oriented. So were its flight profiles. I instructed in the Alitalia program, and the Chief Instructor was so impressed with how Alitalia taught precision even in non-precision approach procedures that he adopted them school-wide.

FlightSafety is expensive, but I feel you really do get what you pay for in terms of quality training.

I don't recall "St. George" when I was there; he must have come later.