If you want to learn how to fly, it's probably best to go somewhere where the weather is conducive to flying. What they fail to tell you is that you have essentially un-flyable weather from about October to June. To get your private pilot licence, you're going to need a lot of money, time, dedication, and you're also going to have to start right at the beginning of the flyable weather period and just hope you can finish up by October. If not, you'll have to wait all of Fall and Winter until you can get flying again. By that time you will have become rusty and will have to do a lot of review which is very time-consuming and expensive. It's not reasonable to get your private pilot licence in only half a year anyway, unless you just happen to be a natural and everything just happens to fall right into place. If you have a great instructor, be prepared for them not to be around more than a few months. Instructors are not paid properly. Talk to an instructor who is willing to tell you the truth, and they will tell you that it has been extremely expensive for them to get to the point of being an instructor. These are people who need to pay off a lot of debt for their training, and yet they're paid quite poorly. July to September at PFC you will see a bunch of instructors who work all day. The way they are paid is basically illegal. If you compare the money that they actually make compared to the hours they're actually at the airport, they're making less than minimum wage. PFC knows that no new pilot is going to challenge the legality of this, risking the loss of a career in aviation, so they sit back and watch the instructors come and go. An instructor may have 2 or 3 lessons a day. Looking at one lesson, they're probably on the phone with the student discussing the weather and possibility of doing the lesson a couple of hours before the flight, then they're preparing for the lesson, checking the weather continually, talking with other pilots about weather, the condition of planes, amount of air traffic, etc. A student comes in, then they get to some ground instruction. The student goes out and does a walk-around of the plane, paperwork, etc. Later the student and instructor get into the plane and it's not like they're suddenly in the air, off flying to do the tasks for the day. They get back, the student does their post-landing checks, etc. So, basically the instructor has been working with a student for 4 hours, yet is paid for maybe half an hour of teaching on the ground and one hour of flight time. They're paid for less than half of the time that they're actually working. And of course the instructors have to be around the airport ready for anything, and are not paid for that time. Although PFC seems to hire a good mix of interesting new pilots, there is definitely favouritism towards the monied instructors who went through the BCIT programme and did their training at PFC. I think it's a great thing to be hiring the people that you taught, but unfortunately this preference keeps things a bit sheltered. Some of the instructors are pretty amazing, being from other parts of the country, multi-lingual, top grads of other good flight schools, experienced flying in different places, education and experience in other fields, etc. They come all the way to Boundary Bay just to basically be turned away at the end of the season that they didn't even know existed. PFC is taking advantage of the fact that the instructors are relatively fresh pilots who love flying and need to build flight hours to move on to other flying work. They're not looking out for their instructors' well-being and they can afford not to because there's always a stream of new pilots desperate for an instructing job. There's also the motivation problem when you see that others who have spent so much time, effort, and money on this career aren't really going anywhere. Do you really want to go through all it takes to get your PPL, CPL, IFR rating, and instructor rating, only to end up, if you're lucky, working for one of the biggest schools in the country, yet not making enough money to pay your rent for the cheapest apartment available in the area, while you've got a massive debt on your shoulders? In 2011 a PFC instructor and student died in a collision near Harrison Lake. It was later reported in the news that PFC made new formal requirements for mountain flying for its instructors, but not all instructors actually go through these procedures. In 1999 a PFC instructor and student crashed into another plane in broad daylight near Pitt Meadows Airport, dying along with the 2 occupants of the other plane. read more

If you want to learn how to fly, it's probably best to go somewhere where the weather is conducive to flying. What they fail to tell you is that you have essentially un-flyable weather from about October to June. To get your private pilot licence, you're going to need a lot of money, time, dedication, and you're also going to have to start right at the beginning of the flyable weather period and just hope you can finish up by October. If not, you'll have to wait all of Fall and Winter until you can get flying again. By that time you will have become rusty and will have to do a lot of review which is very time-consuming and expensive. It's not reasonable to get your private pilot licence in only half a year anyway, unless you just happen to be a natural and everything just happens to fall right into place. If you have a great instructor, be prepared for them not to be around more than a few months. Instructors are not paid properly. Talk to an instructor who is willing to tell you the truth, and they will tell you that it has been extremely expensive for them to get to the point of being an instructor. These are people who need to pay off a lot of debt for their training, and yet they're paid quite poorly. July to September at PFC you will see a bunch of instructors who work all day. The way they are paid is basically illegal. If you compare the money that they actually make compared to the hours they're actually at the airport, they're making less than minimum wage. PFC knows that no new pilot is going to challenge the legality of this, risking the loss of a career in aviation, so they sit back and watch the instructors come and go. An instructor may have 2 or 3 lessons a day. Looking at one lesson, they're probably on the phone with the student discussing the weather and possibility of doing the lesson a couple of hours before the flight, then they're preparing for the lesson, checking the weather continually, talking with other pilots about weather, the condition of planes, amount of air traffic, etc. A student comes in, then they get to some ground instruction. The student goes out and does a walk-around of the plane, paperwork, etc. Later the student and instructor get into the plane and it's not like they're suddenly in the air, off flying to do the tasks for the day. They get back, the student does their post-landing checks, etc. So, basically the instructor has been working with a student for 4 hours, yet is paid for maybe half an hour of teaching on the ground and one hour of flight time. They're paid for less than half of the time that they're actually working. And of course the instructors have to be around the airport ready for anything, and are not paid for that time. Although PFC seems to hire a good mix of interesting new pilots, there is definitely favouritism towards the monied instructors who went through the BCIT programme and did their training at PFC. I think it's a great thing to be hiring the people that you taught, but unfortunately this preference keeps things a bit sheltered. Some of the instructors are pretty amazing, being from other parts of the country, multi-lingual, top grads of other good flight schools, experienced flying in different places, education and experience in other fields, etc. They come all the way to Boundary Bay just to basically be turned away at the end of the season that they didn't even know existed. PFC is taking advantage of the fact that the instructors are relatively fresh pilots who love flying and need to build flight hours to move on to other flying work. They're not looking out for their instructors' well-being and they can afford not to because there's always a stream of new pilots desperate for an instructing job. There's also the motivation problem when you see that others who have spent so much time, effort, and money on this career aren't really going anywhere. Do you really want to go through all it takes to get your PPL, CPL, IFR rating, and instructor rating, only to end up, if you're lucky, working for one of the biggest schools in the country, yet not making enough money to pay your rent for the cheapest apartment available in the area, while you've got a massive debt on your shoulders? In 2011 a PFC instructor and student died in a collision near Harrison Lake. It was later reported in the news that PFC made new formal requirements for mountain flying for its instructors, but not all instructors actually go through these procedures. In 1999 a PFC instructor and student crashed into another plane in broad daylight near Pitt Meadows Airport, dying along with the 2 occupants of the other plane. read more

This is not where 99% of people should pursue their fight training. Flight training is an incredibly simple and straightforward experience. It is flight instruction and lessons. Each one builds on the other, you move through it. You'll be going to your first flights here from different flight schools and wonder why this seems to be a popular flight school. Their top management, Paul Harris is a dinosaur and the king of PFC. Paul is a tense, bitter, old man who has had a good run at flight training(where you don't want to stay in the aviation industry) but he has now turned into a businessman. He has a strong passion for making money. I'm sure it would be for flight training 20 years ago, not anymore. He has lost his passion for flying. Hes truly led this flight school into a miserable place to be doing something which is incredibly exciting, rewarding, and unique but also challenging. Unfortunately, Paul is in a prestigious position at the club and those who are in this position will greatly impact the club and its culture. - He rushes students and wont tolerate a student who needs extra attention - He likes student who are easy to train - Extra time for students means the student will be there longer, doing less profitable things like ground school and work with instructor. Also meaning planes aren't being used and all the maintenance costs are going to waste. - He leaves it up to the instructors to provide supplemental training/instruction in ground school in addition to each flight lesson. Whoever you end up with as an instructor will likely have a huge impact on your training since they have little guidance from PFC(good luck, because just like how Paul wants your money, most flight instructors want flight hours and aren't incredibly passionate about training you to the best.). Flight instructors float from student to student almost every 3 months on average. - The flight instructors are forced to supply their own additional training material and often lead lesson on a whiteboard with old, outdated, poorly presented and photocopied pages taken out of a book from 1950. - All of the newest flight training material is incredibly innovative and can have an amazing impact on your progression through flight lessons. They do not use any of it. This is not what Paul used when he was 25 in 1930. - He cant work with the younger generation. He feels he is the king of them and that hes accomplished more than they ever will in their lifetime. - He has anger issues. There is no denying this. People say he is just a tense guy. Why do professional people under 5x as much stress never have fits of rage and explosive reactions to young and bright students trying their absolute hardest. - Many people say he is a ticking time bomb, constantly on edge. Imagine getting into a C152, shoulder to shoulder with this guy and taking your first flight test. - He will yell into your ear at the top of his lungs when he feels like it, after you did something you could improve on. Just ask anyone around the club, I can guarantee you they know someone who has had to experience this. It is unheard of, there is probably no place in North America with such a person in the position that he is in at a flight school. Bottom line is Paul is Pacific Flying Club and this is why you should not choose this club. Go to Langley Flight School, Pacific Professional Flight centre, or Pacific Rim. read more