Originally Posted by njd1

I trained at Republic prior to coming to C5 so I have something to which I can compare C5's training.

Training was equally well organized and the ground instructors were great at both places, but where C5 excelled for me was sims. Republic had 7 instructional sims, whereas C5 has 10 with an additional 3 built into the schedule if you need them. Instructors at Republic admitted that 7 sims is too few considering all the extra requirements the FAA has forced them to add to the curriculum lately but no one there seems ready to do anything about it (i.e. increase the number of sims).

Having just gone through 175 training at Republic and paired with a direct entry captain we found the 13 sims at C5 unnecessary but we were still told to use the extra sims for mock checkrides so that's what we did. We were practically yawning due to boredom during the actual checkride, and that's exactly the way it should be. For anyone starting out in 121, even if you consider yourself well prepared for the rigors of a 121 training program, consider the extra sims as an insurance policy against a training failure.

The most annoying thing about Republic's training, aside from their propensity to schedule a single crew consistently for the late night sim slots vs. spread the pain around to all crews, is that while the instructors were excellent and very experienced, they were specifically prohibited from correcting any mistakes in callouts, etc. made by a student that could ultimately cause a checkride bust (as it did in my case).

C5, on the other hand, subscribes to the philosophy of "train as we fly, fly as we train", which means crewmembers are allowed and encouraged to correct another's mistake well before it snowballs and affects the safety of the flight. That correctly reflects the realities of life on the line -- as I can tell you from experience that no one, even captains with thousands of hours and multiple type ratings, is perfect at 2AM after being up for 12+ hours. I have certainly caught my share of captains' errors.

The small class sizes (typically 14 or less) at C5 are also a huge perk. There is generally more time available to ask questions and keep the entire class moving forward as a team. At Republic it was more of a "you're on your own -- be sure to keep up" vibe.