This is the most horrible flight training experience I have ever been through in all my decades of professiional flying! Larry promotes his school for his expertise and high quality. His strength is hype and apathy.
Getting sales information or schedule commitments was like pulling teeth. I had to leave several messages before I received a reply. The web contact page forwards to an email address which the school seems never to view. And replies to that address would be lost.
No printed confirmation of training dates was ever received, which resulted in two extra unplanned days to get a check ride scheduled.
I have instructed for almost 30 years - I know standards and best pracrtices. With EFT, no formal syllabus was presented. there was no recognition of the skill level of the customer/student -- I was treated like an ignorant student pilot. Reference material was disorganized and inadequate, and formal lessons were rare and lackluster. High level questions were met with a blank stare. From the start, he was unable to provide simple and specific advice as to the proper operation of the training aircraft. We nearly came to blows just to get information out of him regarding the training environment.
Pre-flight and post-flight briefings were laughable. The simulator is an antiquated piece of junk - we spent more time troubleshootng than actual training on it -- troublehooting which was done while on the clock and billable, I should add.
The multi-engine trainer had multiple items INOP - although recent sales material would lead you to believe everything is functional. The condition of the aircraft was a big sellng point for me and had its condition been honestly represented, I would have gone elsewhere. To complicate matters, the aircraft checklist is amateurish - totally inadequate for the advanced check ride I was preparing for.
Charges are inappropriate, unethical, and unprofessional. For the advanced nature of this training, it was wrong to have to pay for the owner's time while assisting him in unhangaring and hangaring the airplane you are about to rent. At every other school, the equipment is ready on the ramp. Yet, this was a daily routine. Likewise, it was ridiculous to be charged for Larry's full time to loiter during the check ride, when his presence was not required. And one should not be charged for "BS" sessions and coffee breaks! I found multiple billing and logbook errors. Invoices were not provided in a timely manner, and charges were made to my card before they were approved.
Larry Camden may have been a "Flight Instructor of the Year," but that certainly is not the quality of his instruction now. To advertise this as advanced instruction is borderline fraud. This "advanced" ATP program had *ZERO* sophistication, *ZERO* refinement, *ZERO* quality. I felt ripped-off when considering what I thought I was purchasing vs. what was actually received. Had I not been trapped by time and options, I would have terminated the training contract within the first hour.