Selecting a flight school

What should you look for when you choose a flight school? Well to me the most important thing is my own personal happiness. I know that sounds selfish but i'm the one who's going to be there for the next year or so so I should love the place. The two flight schools I had to choose between were 43 Air School in Port Alfred and Aptrac in Port Elizabeth. Let me tell you a bit about the two. We'll start with...

43 AIR SCHOOL

A widely recognized, professional flight school. Airlines from all over Africa send their pupils from their cadet training programs through 43. The school offers training all the way from PPL to ATPL. The campus at Port Alfred has everything built in. Sleeping accommodation, places to eat, gyms, maintenance hangers and more. It's a school most pilots in South Africa would kill to go through. 

APTRAC

Short for Airline Pilot Training Center. Aptrac hasn't been around as long as 43 Air School and isn't as widely recognized. It offers exactly the same training as 43 and at the same standard. The school offers a crew house near the airport and also has their own maintenance base at the airport.

So both schools are excellent. What made me choose Aptrac then?? Firstly was that 43 is,in my opinion, completely ridiculously priced. R500 000+ is ridiculous for a base price of a CPL and they have been known to have hidden costs. Secondly was the vibe. By vibe I mean the atmosphere of the whole place. 43 seemed sterile, like a prison. The instructors are miserable ex-SAAF people who think they are something special and this leads to students who think they're Top Gun. If you ever see a 43 plane land, watch how the students get out and strut from their plane at 1/16th normal walking speed with their sunglasses on, no matter the cloud cover. Aptrac is a happy place surrounded by happy students and instructors who are friends. Now i'm not saying there's is no discipline. There certainly is. Clean cut, uniform, show the CFI the utmost respect but do it all with a smile on your face. Gone are the days of the SAAF route to become an airline pilot. You can get your CPL at any reputable flight school and you will have a shot at becoming an airline pilot. All that's required in this modern day and age is skill and passion. You have those two and you're sorted. My biggest motivation for Aptrac though was the location. A proper international airport. If you want to become an airline pilot then what better place to do it? Be surrounded by the "real thing". Also my mentor lives in Port Elizabeth and it's a short drive to ask him any questions I have. So that's why I chose Aptrac. Comfort before beauty!