CFI Program at Aerosim?

Ruben Garay

Ruben Garay

Well-Known Member
Has anyone attended the CFI program at Aerosim in Sanford, FL?

It looks like their CFI-A is Part 141 while the CFI-I is Part 61. Just the initial CFI goes for about $11,000 which seems a bit steep.

I contacted them and they told me it was a 10 week full time program just for the Initial.

They apparently do 1 hour preps and 1 hour debriefs following each flight (which they of course charge you for) but I'm mostly interested in finding out how the ground portion is like and if it's worth giving these guys my money. I've heard they are good and very respected in the industry which could always help a bit on the resume.

It's also a place I'd like to get a job at afterwards in order to build my 1500 hours for the ATP reqs.

Any comments from previous grads, or people currently attending would be greatly appreciated!
 
I know, it's pretty expensive. It does include the exams and the checkride though, which right there is about $1500, and it's also 141 which requires more hours, but, they put you on a Cirrus SR20, and I guess that adds cost too. The price to me is doable if I push it, but I wanted to hear from anyone who's worked there or is currently working there what the atmosphere is like, etc....

Thanks!
 
American Flyers has a one-month long CFI program which many say costs about $6,000. It also includes both the CFI-A and CFI-I.

There are other CFI programs at other flight schools that rest assured, cost by far less than $11,000. Ruben Garay You might want to shop around before you throw out so much money.
 
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FoodStampsPilot said:
American Flyers has a one-month long CFI program which many say costs about $6,000. It also includes both the CFI-A and CFI-I.

There are other CFI programs at other flight schools that rest assured, cost by far less than $11,000. Ruben Garay You might want to shop around before you throw out so much money.
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I think the AF one is less than that, their CFI-A is $2799
 
desertdog71 said:
Your mind sounds made up. I think its ridiculous to spend that much but its your money. That would buy you almost 200 hours of rental time around here.
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No way man! My mind is not made up. I do think $11k is ridiculous, but I do know that it's more expensive because it's part 141 which is usually about twice the hours. I haven't made up my mind yet on anything, and I agree with some posters the American Flyers CFI Academy looks like a good bet.

Whoever asked about the $1500, yeah, wasn't thinking the FSDO route, but here in California, the CFI-A is a $700 checkride, the -I is a $500 checkride plus the $300 for both exams. So, yeah, American Flyers for example advertises $3495 for the CFI academy, but add $1500 for the above and you're already at $5k, then add another $1k for extra flight time (i.e 5 hours on the RG with instructor)

I haven't made up my mind at all :)
 
You have no option here for the ride, FSDO only for the initial.

Why are five extra hours in an RG important to you? I should say, why are five extra hours at a ridiculous price that important to you. The ride isn't likely the place you'll bust this rating.

If you're in SoCal, talk with Krieger, he may have some good options for you
 
The flight portion of the ride is as simple as switching seats and talking through the maneuvers. If you have been taught to talk through maneuvers from day one, like I did with all my students, its a non event. The preparation is all about the oral portion and that costs time of sitting down with the PTS and studying your brains out. My portion of that as an instructor was running through mock checkrides with the students and correcting small things here and there. The flight portion is the easy part.

All the ones I did were also MEI as initial, so we didn't mess around with the RG garbage. If you are a CMEL, I would suggest going this route and then adding the CFI and CFII. It should still cost under $11,000.
 
I think that was just American Flyers saying that due to that they do both the CFI-A and the CFI-I in those 30 days, that it is highly unlikely you'll be able to get both the ratings with only 10 hours of flight time and that the average person finishes both ratings with about 15 hours.
 
I went through Sanford when it was the Comair Aviation Academy in 1993. Back then it was about 23k which got me PVT, Inst., Commercial single, multi, CFI, CFII, MEI, AGA, IGI, all housing for nine months.

It was cheaper back then, even with inflation but it wasn't a place to work. $10 an hour sim/flight, 0 dollars for ground. Midway through my ratings they announced PFT, another 11grand for the privelege to make 17k. That's when I decided to go corporate. The only kids who could do it were supplemented with mommy and daddy's cash. It was the best year of my life however, good friends, good times, drank lots of beer and learned lots about airplanes.
 
Ruben Garay said:
Has anyone attended the CFI program at Aerosim in Sanford, FL?

It looks like their CFI-A is Part 141 while the CFI-I is Part 61. Just the initial CFI goes for about $11,000 which seems a bit steep.
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Wow. That's about $10,000 more than I spent for my CFI-A... Just sayin'. And most of that was for the DPE

I personally would go with a nice, local part 61 school. One that isn't career focused.
 
Thanks for everyone's advice. I've chosen to go to the American Flyers CFI Academy in Santa Monica, CA for my CFI-A and CFI-I.
 
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