I'm very disturbed about these accusations that check airmen at Westwind are intentionally failing students during their Progress Checks. I think it’s dubious behavior to call someone’s integrity into question without proof, as CLR4ILS did, even if he didn’t mention the person specifically by name, and it does more to cast a bad light on his own character. Suggesting that someone is so unprofessional as to intentionally fail a student for no reason is a serious allegation.
I’ve been a student at Westwind since early August, and I’m now about half way through my commercial training. That means I’ve been through several of their progress checks. (For anyone unfamiliar with what a progress check is, they do just what the name implies: it’s a way for the school to evaluate your progress and ensures that you’re at a sufficient level of competency for the knowledge and maneuvers/tasks already covered by the course syllabus.) I’ve flown with a different check airman for each prog check except one, and they’ve all treated me fairly…in fact, they’ll play the role of instructor if they see something that they think they can help you improve. I’ve never left a prog check without having learned something new. Have I ever failed a progress check at Westwind? Yes, I failed my first commercial prog. Did I deserve to fail? Yes, because my eights-on-pylons were awful, and my lazy-8s were marginal at best. The rest of my maneuvers were fine. Result: I did an extra lesson or two with my instructor, a solo flight on my own, then up with the check airman again and show him I can do lazy-8s and 8s-on-pylons to at least PTS standards. Those extra flights weren’t mandated by anyone, but that’s what I knew I needed so that I could be sure I was competent with the maneuvers. Yes, it cost me some extra money…but I think I’ll trade the extra cash for the peace of mind that comes with knowing that I’ve mastered the maneuvers I need for the FAA check ride.
I’ve not run across anyone at the school who has believed they were intentionally failed during a progress check. In fact, just like a check ride with the FAA, your instructor shouldn’t sign you off for one until you both agree that you're ready without question. In the case of my commercial prog, I made the mistake of putting pressure on myself and my instructor to have the prog check done by a particular date because I was going away for a week…I won’t make that mistake again.
If anything, I feel like I may have gotten pushed through one of my instrument progress checks…I flew well enough in the check airman’s opinion, but I wasn’t fully satisfied with my performance. Despite passing, my instructor and I continued working on areas where I thought I was weak during the remaining lessons. So the progress check is also a tool for honest self-evaluation, not just a way for the school to track your progress (or make money, as a pessimist might suggest).
I worry about a pilot who’s only concerned with the cheapest way to do this with the least amount of time. While it’s obviously wise to carefully consider how you’re spending your money, there’s also a delicate balance between getting the ratings quickly and doing it safely and truly competently. I mean, I know there are programs out there where you can get an instrument rating in 10 days, but you’d have to knock me cold before you could get me to fly in the soup with a pilot who got his rating that way! Similarly, I’ve seen ads for flight schools that offer training at a flat rate (Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma is one). I’m sure these schools offer fine training, but I’m also smart enough to realize that you don’t get something for nothing. I find it impossible to believe they would sit idly by while a student takes 90 hours to get his PPL, when his quoted price was for 65 hours! I realize that’s probably an exaggeration and an oversimplification, but the point is, there’s probably more to the deal than meets the eye. One drawback I can think of is that since you agree to a set price, if you manage to finish ahead of the schedule they assume for completion, you probably don’t get the remaining money back.
To make a short story even longer than I already have, every school and program is different and it’s up to each potential student to take the responsibility to determine which school/price combination matches his goals and financial situation most closely.