Ari ben Aviator Flight School

R

rb3000

Well-Known Member
Hello

I just wanted to know if anyone here has any expereince with Ari Ben. How is the quality of instruction over there? how is the staff? i am interested to get my instrument and multi ratings there. They seem to have a very good price compare to ATP.

Any input is appreciated.
 
rb3000 said:
Hello

I just wanted to know if anyone here has any expereince with Ari Ben. How is the quality of instruction over there? how is the staff? i am interested to get my instrument and multi ratings there. They seem to have a very good price compare to ATP.

Any input is appreciated.
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Run a search here. There's a ton of data already posted in multiple threads.

Lots of people have attended Ari Ben.
 
He will likely chime in here, but BillErvin is a student there right now. He's a stand-up guy and will give you a no b.s. first-hand idea about the place.

I've read positive and negative about them over the last couple of years; Bill is one of the few who seems to be pretty balanced on his assessments.
 
(Gonzo Disclaimer: I do drive the shuttle bus for the school and therefore, according to Gonzo, am subject to Mike's charm and powers of persuasion:D)
I am in the MEI, CFI, II part of the course right now.

My opinion of the school hasn't changed, it is completely what you make of it and like Charlie says, there are lots of posts in the archives.

Airplanes are older and abused daily by students that care less about how they treat them. Despite that, the maintenance guys do an amazing job of keeping them flying. We do, as with any other school, have scheduling issues, multiple airplanes down because some are flown more than others and come up for 100 hr at the same time. This happens because everyone has their favorite planes, mostly the GPS equipped ones (god forbid you'd actually have to track a VOR, or worse, use Pilotage:eek: to fly around central Florida) I don't think anybody can do anything about that, its all about hours flown.

The Instructors are good folks that are willing to help as much as they can, and If you're going to time build in a multi, I don't think you'll ever find a less expensive place to do it.

Now is a good time to fly down here in Florida, not too many Thunderboomers yet and cool temps are nice. (unless of course you grew up down here, in which case you're about to go into hypothermia:D)
 
BillErvin said:
(Gonzo Disclaimer: I do drive the shuttle bus for the school and therefore, according to Gonzo, am subject to Mike's charm and powers of persuasion:D)
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Too funny! So, to clarify further for "our friend" that I've personally not seen in awhile, you're an employee but not a paid spokesperson for the organization?

Semantics Bill! Semantics!

. . .and how have you been? I do understand the school has flourished to the point where you can also be concurrently enrolled in a degree program as well?
 
It pays the grocery bills man:beer:

Had a long vacation at home over the holidays and back at it the end of January. Should have my MEI ride in the next few weeks.

Yeah, we be a college now:D They were accredited by the feds, Florida, and whomever does accrediting for that sort of thing. The non-aviation class work is done through a deal with Indian River College, everything else is done in house.

I understand their working a deal with Riddle so if you want to transfer up there for your BS you can.

If you're talking about Gonzo, he's back flying for Eagle, ATRs out of Miami I think..... FF on the other hand has been MIA for a while.
 
Good to hear; glad you're doing well. STS-130 lands Sunday. I might be in Florida. . .might not. We're massaging the schedule now for who goes where for landing.

I'll PM if my plans send me to the Cape.

Oh. . .our "friend?" FF!:dunno:

Guess the demise of Ari-Ben has been overexaggerated. :D
 
There isn't much movement in the Aviation job market, so most of them have been here for a year or more.
 
It's great that you are missing me Bill & MFT1. With several years hindsight my experience of Aviator was mixed but fairly positive. It was cheap and got the job done. Instruction was okay back then even with inexperienced but motivated CFI's. These days the CFI's probably have the experience but are likely to be jaded with no sniffs of career progression & poverty pay.

The main problem with the school seemed to be getting through the course in sensible time. Student fall behind on their schedule due to dips in their motivation and problems related to the school. Scheduling issues, worn out planes, lack of oversight and supervision on the CFI ratings; just to name a few problems. This all causes the student to bust budget; then they get into the cycle of performing minimum wage work for the schools owner (don't trust this snake) like driving a shuttle bus. Then the student takes even longer to complete the course and many such as Bill take 1-2 YEARS to get done.

Aviator is okay for the instrument, multi, commercials and time building. Anything else, avoid them.
 
Florida_Flyer said:
It's great that you are missing me Bill & MFT1. With several years hindsight my experience of Aviator was mixed but fairly positive. It was cheap and got the job done. Instruction was okay back then even with inexperienced but motivated CFI's. These days the CFI's probably have the experience but are likely to be jaded with no sniffs of career progression & poverty pay.

The main problem with the school seemed to be getting through the course in sensible time. Student fall behind on their schedule due to dips in their motivation and problems related to the school. Scheduling issues, worn out planes, lack of oversight and supervision on the CFI ratings; just to name a few problems. This all causes the student to bust budget; then they get into the cycle of performing minimum wage work for the schools owner (don't trust this snake) like driving a shuttle bus. Then the student takes even longer to complete the course and many such as Bill take 1-2 YEARS to get done.

Aviator is okay for the instrument, multi, commercials and time building. Anything else, avoid them.
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I'm going to agree with pretty much everything FF said in this post. Aviator is the best bang for the buck, but you better be pretty frickin motivated. I got bogged down for 4 months studying for my CFI. After that I went into credit card debt to the tune of about 5,000 dollars because as a CFI I was usually only making enough to pay rent. I wish I had something really cool to show for that debt, but it was just groceries.

Honestly this is more of a reflection on the industry than it is the aviator. You'd be nuts to go anywhere else and pay more than you would at AB. The jobs aren't out there right now, and when they come back you'll barely be able to pay your loan for AB let alone a 100,000 dollar outlet like the one just north of Ft Pierce.
 
Holy smokes guys your mellowing in your old age:cwm27:

As I've said many times before, a lot this stuff is up to you. If you screw around and party down, you'll be here awhile. If you buckle down you'll be outa here in no time.

Airplanes are a problem at most schools (unless the school has 100 planes sitting on the ramp like FS), they break and sometime no matter what the mechanics do the students are one step ahead of them:eek:. The Mechanics here do a great job as far as I'm concerned.

The instructors have been here awhile so most are on top of there game, we just had two leave for American Jets down the road and one other senior instructor flying a Lear part time. There is some movement out there.

I been here about a year (on & off) if you take out the time I had to go home to deal with things, I've been here about 8 to 9 months for the Pro Course and that's probably about average. I'm just about out of here, if I can get my MEI initial done. I busted my oral after about six and half hours, and the worst part, I busted on the easy stuff (my brain was fried).

Do over was quick and painless, but the wind was so high we discontinued and the flight is set up for next Tuesday. I'm working up at Sun & Fun this week and will be back down at the College on Sunday
 
With ATP at essentially the same paper price, why waste two years compared to 150 days? They certainly have the airplanes and in better condition.

Personally I see little reason to go through either program. The small town FBO is still the cheapest and offers a better chance of quality training with the opportunity to alter your plans and change schools if things don't match the marketing.
 
BillErvin said:
Holy smokes guys your mellowing in your old age:cwm27:

As I've said many times before, a lot this stuff is up to you. If you screw around and party down, you'll be here awhile. If you buckle down you'll be outa here in no time.

Airplanes are a problem at most schools (unless the school has 100 planes sitting on the ramp like FS), they break and sometime no matter what the mechanics do the students are one step ahead of them:eek:. The Mechanics here do a great job as far as I'm concerned.

The instructors have been here awhile so most are on top of there game, we just had two leave for American Jets down the road and one other senior instructor flying a Lear part time. There is some movement out there.

I been here about a year (on & off) if you take out the time I had to go home to deal with things, I've been here about 8 to 9 months for the Pro Course and that's probably about average. I'm just about out of here, if I can get my MEI initial done. I busted my oral after about six and half hours, and the worst part, I busted on the easy stuff (my brain was fried).

Do over was quick and painless, but the wind was so high we discontinued and the flight is set up for next Tuesday. I'm working up at Sun & Fun this week and will be back down at the College on Sunday
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Who did u do your ride with?
 
greaper007 said:
Who did u do your ride with?
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Cindy Bourne

I actually had a good time during the oral, Cindy is very easy to get along with and non-confrontational.

We covered alot of material, she was very thorough. I did well on all the tough stuff teaching Vmc and Single engine approach & landing ground lesson etc. I screwed up some easy things on the sectional, and runway incursion things I've known for years and years, but after 6 hours I just couldn't pull it out of my arse when I needed to.

But I look at it like this, with a 20% pass rate on MEI initial I'm in good company:o
 
BillErvin said:
Cindy Bourne

I actually had a good time during the oral, Cindy is very easy to get along with and non-confrontational.

We covered alot of material, she was very thorough. I did well on all the tough stuff teaching Vmc and Single engine approach & landing ground lesson etc. I screwed up some easy things on the sectional, and runway incursion things I've known for years and years, but after 6 hours I just couldn't pull it out of my arse when I needed to.

But I look at it like this, with a 20% pass rate on MEI initial I'm in good company:o
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I had my initial with Cindy also. She gives a good ride but it is very long and through. I remember mine was 8 hours. I did enjoy her stories about people like Chuck Yeager and working on all sorts of advanced equipment. Just get through the rest of the oral and the ride will be a piece of cake. Congrats.
 
BillErvin said:
(Gonzo Disclaimer: I do drive the shuttle bus for the school and therefore, according to Gonzo, am subject to Mike's charm and powers of persuasion:D)

I am in the MEI, CFI, II part of the course right now.

My opinion of the school hasn't changed, it is completely what you make of it and like Charlie says, there are lots of posts in the archives.

Airplanes are older and abused daily by students that care less about how they treat them. Despite that, the maintenance guys do an amazing job of keeping them flying. We do, as with any other school, have scheduling issues, multiple airplanes down because some are flown more than others and come up for 100 hr at the same time. This happens because everyone has their favorite planes, mostly the GPS equipped ones (god forbid you'd actually have to track a VOR, or worse, use Pilotage:eek: to fly around central Florida) I don't think anybody can do anything about that, its all about hours flown.

The Instructors are good folks that are willing to help as much as they can, and If you're going to time build in a multi, I don't think you'll ever find a less expensive place to do it.

Now is a good time to fly down here in Florida, not too many Thunderboomers yet and cool temps are nice. (unless of course you grew up down here, in which case you're about to go into hypothermia:D)
Click to expand...


Is Brian Bell still there?
 
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