Does Sheble aviation get you done on time?

surfsupbud

New Member
I was thinking about doing my Multi-engine add-on at shebles. I was wondering if they actually get you done on time. I believe it is a 2 day course. I haven't done much flying so I don't know if it would be longer than 2 days? If someone could also provide what there training consist of. (explain the checkride)
 
Re: Does Sheble aviaiton get you done on time?

Sometimes.
You have to have all the ground study done and pretty much be ready for the oral when you get there.
And if your ticket "goes over" the time they told you to expect (such as a two day course turns into 5) or you decide that you do not want to continue with them, don't expect to get your money back.
I have several business contacts who lost money here.
But there are also those who swear by Sheble's, saying it is better than ATP, unless you ask to speak to the owner or want your money back.
 
Re: Does Sheble aviaiton get you done on time?

I've heard nothing but horror stories about Shebles. Did my multi in 2.5 days in Dallas Tx at Clyde Fredrickson's Multi-Engine training. $1395 with a guarantee that it won't cost you any more than that, except for the examiner fee. I had a great experience there, very professional, great instruction and nice guys.
 
Re: Does Sheble aviaiton get you done on time?

In general, the training is done on time but you should plan on an extra day or two for Examiner/plane availability. What matador said is spot on- you need to be ready before you start the course. The Shebles training is intended as a review for your checkride, not primary instruction.
 
In September 2006 I tried Sheble for an “accelerated” instrument rating... I spent two days mainly sitting around all day asking what I was supposed to do. I asked if they had any study material that I could use on my own; but none was available (beside a sheet with aviation mnemonics). Towards the end of the second day, finding nothing to do, I started cleaning the (very dirty) toilet... and realized that that was just too much. I decided to leave and was promised a refund. I called, faxed and sent registered mail repeatedly but somehow there was always an excuse about my refund. Later I called, fax and email daily ... for a very long time before finally receiving a partial refund. To be fair I had one disappointing flight and a very short “ground school” in those two days. My recommendation: Avoid at all cost.
 
First of all, I am sorry to hear about your training experience here at Sheble's, jacquesru. It does not please me when my customers get upset and it isn't because of the money, hell, I'm not the owner. It makes me upset because we have been reliant on word-of-mouth advertising for the past 45 years and when we blow it with one customer, we lose many more. So I am sencerely apologetic.

As far as the training of Sheble's, we will get a Multi Add-on complete in two days. And it will be for the posted price of $2,575.00 (Not including the examiner). It's hard to use the word guanentee anymore, but we used to. With weather and maintanance issues, the worst that I have ever heard someone being off schedule was four days total, from his arrival to his certificate because the weather pretty much shut us down for two days.

Showing up prepared can't hurt, but as far as was mentioned above, the AMEL add-on has very little as far as oral material. Most of it is systems in the airplane and the rest is aerodynamics specific to the multi-engine. All together maybe two hours of ground that you will need to study that night. It isn't too bad at all.

For those of you that see that I work for Sheble's and are worried that my opinion may be biased, you would be mistaken. I was first as student of Sheble's back in 2005 when I picked up my AMEL add-on, CFI, CFII, and MEI after a time build in the BE-95. I was pleased enough with my training to apply to work here and moved to Arizona. It isn't for everybody, but our accelerated school is as thourough as the PTS requires and is geared directly to the PTS.

If anyone has any questions about our programs, they can call me at 1-800-249-6482 and I will be happy to talk to them and answer their questions.
 
It's nice to have a internet voice for Shebles. I had a friend get his CFI there several years back and he's a check airman at Amflight now. Had nothing bad to say about his experience.
 
Believe it or not, most the students that come through our flight school have an enjoyable time. We have been opperated off of word of mouth advertising since the company's beginnings about 40 years ago and, in stating that, we rely hevily on the comments of our students. A good comment may only get us one more student while a negative comment may cost us 20 potential students. So it is in our best interest to follow through, train the students to the best of our ability for the price quoted and in the timeframe advertised. Sure, we might need an extra day here or there, but who else goes from zero to an instrument rating in 10 days?

On the other side, when someone accuses us of not completing the course at the price and the schedule that we advertise, it is rarely because of a maintanance issue or a weather issue. Most of the time when that happens it is an issue with the students primary instruction. Other CFI's may back this up and say that if a student was trained to fly a maneuver incorrectly, and trained repeadedly to complete this maneuver incorrectly, when they come to us and our examiners, we have to spend extra time to straighten out the discrepency. It takes far more time correcting problems that other instructors install in the heads of the students that come here. And the worst part is . . . it's not the fault of the student at all.

Well, I am glad to be well recieved here and hopefully I can answer some questions for those thinking of additional ratings with our company or not.
 
It also could be because you're staff DPE stayed too long in Vegas and blew off the multiple applicants scheduled with him. That's what happened to a friend recently...that 2 day ME add-on took 5 days. I had warned him to plan for 5 days so my friend had a heads-up and wasn't terribly disappointed when what I had warned him of did occur.

But let's count the real costs for my friend:

2 periods of 4 days off from work. Last minute rescheduling to get back on the work schedule for intervening days while waiting for your DPE. Last minute rescheduling to acquire additional time off from work to return to Kingman. Last minute scheduling for transportation back to home because he wasn't gonna' hang around beautiful Kingman on a word and a promise.* Additional costs of air and ground transportation to make a 2nd round trip to Kingman. Actual dollars cost above the initial cost? I don't know.

The point is that these kind of delays happen so often to so many students that I warned my friend that it would happen. And it did happen! As has been said, it's great that you have given Sheble's an internet presence but the question remains: why do you struggle to put out the fire rather than preventing the fire in the first place?

I'm not sure that Sheble's could handle an additional 20 students (if not for that one bad review) so maybe you use the occasional bad review to cull the herd.:laff:

*My friend was told he would get a call from Sheble's to advise when he was rescheduled with the DPE. He was told to stay in Kingman because this call would come soon. Just as it was promised he would require 2 days for the course, this promise also fell through. It wasn't for another week before this call came but it wasn't a call from Sheble's, it was my friend calling and in that call did the school say my friend was on the schedule. Wow, my friend could have spent an entire additional week in beautiful Kingman waiting for a phone call that never came, if he had followed the school's advice. Fortunately for him, he was able to get back on the work schedule and kept his boss at bay.

I personally know several other pilots who've had similar experiences with Shebles. Myself, I have scheduled 3 separate times with Shebles for various ratings. 5 times I had visited in person, all 5 visits were after initial phone calls to schedule to meet certain persons to discuss. EVERY of my experiences with Shebles has been discouraging. Disorganized facilities, vague answers, staff seemingly unconcerned for the commitment in time and money the student was making, etc describe my perspective of Shebles. Hah, the last time I visited Shebles I was more informed by a CFI student than any of the staff.

Yes, the Shebles experience is not for everyone. Yes, it seems the school is successful. But man, I have to ask myself if it weren't for Prozac how a guy could stand being there.
 
I went to Shebles for my commercial single and multi. They initially said it could be done in 4 days. While it is true that if the sun, the moon and the stars line up; it is possible to get this done in 4 days.

However, weather happens. Checkrides happen. Planes sometimes have issues. All of these things are beyond anyones control.

I know how this stuff works and I scheduled for a week. We all need to remain flexible as pilots.

It took me 6 days. That was two days longer than Shebles said and 1 day less than I figured. In my case the weather was the big factor. It snowed 6 inches that week in Kingman. It wasn't anyones fault. Weather happens.

My advise is to not try to cut this so close. Add a few days to your schedule and if you get to leave early then it will all work out. This is true for any flight school!

The DPE's can only do two checkrides per day. So if the weather is constantly pushing everything off schedule then it can be a real challenge to hold a schedule together.

The price that Sheble's quoted was the price that I was charged. There were no extras or add ons. This was the only school that I have ever been to that I can say this about. That gives you some indication of the level of intregity at Shebles.

I would be more concerned that a flight school can get you done for the price quoted. That's the bottom line here.

With that being said, I do recommend Shebles for those of you that are 75% or more through your training. They are a great, no nonsense, place to finish up and take your checkride(s). You will get what you need and you will save some $$$$ in the process.

I hope this helps. I was nervous about Shebles as well, but very happy with the results.
 
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