andy171773

L.W. is the glorious chief flight instructor now..being gloriously fat at that too

Mr Spooner

He is a genius, he is running all the schools and he has never flown outside of DCA before...born and raised there.

MobiusOne

Hey Spartan07,

I noticed your logo. Your going to Spartan School of Aeronautics right now?

I went there back in 2001/2002 and received my Private rating through them.

How are you liking it so far?

Spartan07

Absolutely loving every minute of it!

So why did you stop attending Spartan after you received your private?

P.S - Feel free to PM me so we don't derail the thread

andy171773

i'm not sure there's much else DCA bashing i can do

MobiusOne

Well, I'm glad your enjoying it so far. I actually initially enjoyed my time that I spent at Spartan. Tulsa Oklahoma was a pretty cool little place, real healthy living and I wish I hooked up with some more of the local hotties running at the Six Flags over Jesus campus, (Oral Roberts University)

That being said, the reason why I didn't continue Spartan was because they had actually U'd me out of the school for a two week absence. I was finishing up with my PPL rating when I had to leave for my two week reserve AT commitment. I left with my unit, and when I returned they had dismissed me out of the school for not attending, and wanted another 2000 up front for me to re-enroll. Of course, they justified it because they said two weeks was the maximum you could be gone before you had to have LOA (leave of absence) paperwork filled out. They never bothered to tell me that when I left however as they assumed I would only be gone for two weeks. Well, when I showed up three weeks later ready to get back into classes, they told me that I was dismissed from the school. Of course, I tried to fight this but I was only 19 at the time, and theres only so much a 19 year old could do. Thankfully, I had the minimums for the PPL so I was able to test with the FAA examiner with a plane I was able to rent on my own coin and get my rating that way.

Was I ****ed at the time? Yes. My parents were ****ed also as it turned into a huge ass fiasco because they couldn't understand why I was making straight A's in all my courses yet I still got kicked out. However, it worked out for the best because I wound up getting deployed a semester later with the military and I spent the next year and a half in Afghanistan.

Student housing was also a nightmare. I'm not sure if they are still doing the Brown & Brown thing, but when I was there it would be nothing to be sitting at your table studying your books and then have one of the Brown Associates knock on your door and drop a letter telling you that you needed to move within three days because they were consolidating the housing. In the nine months I lived there I had to move four times, three due to consolidation and once due to roommate issues. It was the norm for guys to just rent there own apartment on their own coin.

As crappy as the Spartan experience was, ultimately everything worked out. After I got back from overseas I spent another semester at the University of Houston pursuing psychology, then I decided to give the piloting thing one more shot. I went to the program at San Jac and have had nothing but success with them.

Also, here's something you might want to check into. When I went into the San Jac program, none of my academic credits would transfer in from Spartan. Apparently they have problems with accreditation and they tend to slip in and out of status throughout the years. In the time period that I went, (2001-2002) they had slipped out of accreditation so the courses are not worth the paper they were written on. Not a good feeling to be told at 600 dollars per class. If your doing the Associates degree program through them, you might want to seriously look into this. I know their two year program is crazy money, (like 40K-60K) and it would suck if they gave you a Associates degree that wouldn't be transferable.

Other then that, and the fact that most girls over there had absolutely no issues with interrogating you and asking if you accepted Jesus and your lord and savior within 5 minutes of introducing yourself, Tulsa wasn't a bad experience. For a 19 year old living away from home for the first time, it didn't get any better then that.

But Spartan... yeah. If that two week military fiasco hadn't of happened, then I would have probably gone through the program in their entirety and god only knows where I would be now. Makes me wonder.

Pilotpip

I know employers can't do anything to you for military service, does the same apply for educational facilities? I think you could have a legitimate beef with them over a leave for military service.

MobiusOne

Now that I think about it, I'm still not sure how the hell it all worked out and they justified it. All I know is that I had my orders, I did what I was supposed to and somehow I was still sent packing. I guess things would have been easier if I was older, a bit more experienced, and I had my parents input but at the time they were busy doing there thing and I was pretty much on my own at that point.

At the time when it happened, I was between a rock and a hard place. I thought the same thing, but apparently I was wrong.

This is how it worked out. I was gone for three weeks. If I had filled out my LOA paperwork before I left, then I would have been covered for the first two weeks, then when I showed up on the third week, then I would have been one week into the two week "buffer" zone and I would have been okay.

However, since I didn't fill out my LOA paperwork then the first two weeks counted against my attendance, even though I had paperwork and orders to show that I was supposed to be on my two week AT. I didn't even know I had to fill of LOA paperwork. I thought telling them about my AT and giving them my orders would have been enough.

Spartan07

Mobius - As pertains to your military commitment I'm pretty sure it is -EXTREMELY- illegal for anyone to deny you anything when you are called away on a military commitment.

As pertains to the other things that happened - Yeah, I'm pretty sure housing still blows. I don't know for sure though, I live across the river by what used to be ORU. Speaking of 'Six Flags over Jesus' <LOL!> they must have really fallen off over the years because I've met a few of those girls at the club I work at and they are far from the 'Jesus Freaks' you describe. Don't know if you know this but the 'City of Faith' towers are now the CityPlex towers and are nothing more than big, gold, fancy office buildings. And as far as the degree goes, last I checked it was accredited and accepted under the OBPVS but I'll be sure to keep an eye on it.

MobiusOne

Wow, so ORU went under, huh? I remember that University was really milking people left and right. I couldn't believe the number of impressionable young people they were sucking in from all these small, po-dunk land locked towns in the middle of places like Boise, Idaho and stuffing the college core requirements down their throats backed by a heaping helping of Jesus Christ. I had some very interesting conversations with a few of them. When I told them I was going to Spartan to fly, they would get into debates with me about how airplanes really flew "because of the faith and the power of Jesus." and science had nothing to do with it. They would also make comments about how Tulsa was "a big city."

I never really went to the clubs or bars when I lived there, I mostly went to the bookstores and the coffee shops so I think thats a big reason why I always encountered the ORU contingent.

Amazing to run into somebody else from Spartan. Im glad its working out for you, and good luck with everything else.