ERAU: The other reason to go to school there.

Doug Taylor said:
You know, we literally walked to class, uphill, in the snow both ways, if you lived on campus.

Remember when people were kissing Risely's butt and getting single-engine ATPs to fly that Caravan for Mesa? :)
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LOL yes! That was back when, if you were a Riddle CFI and you "made it" to Mesa as a Caravan Capt, or even better, a 1900C FO (they didn't have 1900D's yet)...you were THE MAN!
 
I still remember Risely at the DLC saying "I wish I could HARE y'all but I got rid o' my Caruh VANS" :)
 
I remember I got to fly shotgun on one of the Mesa Caravan flights out of Prescott. The pilot tells me I can plug my headset in and listen if I wanted to, but I explained that while I was a Riddle student, I was an engineer, and thus, no headset.

He turns to the back and asks if anyone had a headset I could borrow. About six headsets pop up, so I borrowed one.

Bet you couldn't ride shotgun any more after Sept 11.

I used to be into finding old archeological sites - mines, Indian ruins. There was a set of Indian pueblo ruins about 5-10 miles south of Prescott Valley that I was never able to find, but that day, we flew right over the top of them. I'd never find them again in a million years.

Death Pac went bankrupt before I got to fly in the 402. (Actually, I was supposed to fly them once before, but THE airplane was broken. Yes, that's right, their ONE airplane was broken, so I had to take a van. No wonder they went out of business...)
 
I don't really get where all this riddle hate is coming from. I transferred to the Daytona campus this year and I'm having a ball. Everyone here is moving in the same direction, and quickly.

People make it out to be some factory that pumps out sub par pilots with cocky attitudes. I came here because most of the pilots i've met have come from here, and strangely enough I think some of the most respected people on this forum came from riddle.

Truth is, pilots will come from everywhere. Riddle isn't a factory just because it can handle more training than the local FBO and if you burned the place to the ground today, we would all continue our training somewhere else. Most of the people i've met here are all Engineers anyway, very helpful when you have questions on physics.

I can understand why all the old timers give us lip, your replacements can be seen massed together, very disheartening. I'm just glad you cranky old bastards aren't my CFI.

The price is too much for some, good. Less people to take my internship. Those of us who stay love it here, no one would pay 100,000 dollars if they didn't. You're paying for connections anyway, of course you'd be pissed if you didn't complete the program.
 
Nomas said:
I don't really get where all this riddle hate is coming from. I transferred to the Daytona campus this year and I'm having a ball. Everyone here is moving in the same direction, and quickly.

People make it out to be some factory that pumps out sub par pilots with cocky attitudes. I came here because most of the pilots i've met have come from here, and strangely enough I think some of the most respected people on this forum came from riddle.

Truth is, pilots will come from everywhere. Riddle isn't a factory just because it can handle more training than the local FBO and if you burned the place to the ground today, we would all continue our training somewhere else. Most of the people i've met here are all Engineers anyway, very helpful when you have questions on physics.

I can understand why all the old timers give us lip, your replacements can be seen massed together, very disheartening. I'm just glad you cranky old bastards aren't my CFI.

The price is too much for some, good. Less people to take my internship. Those of us who stay love it here, no one would pay 100,000 dollars if they didn't. You're paying for connections anyway, of course you'd be pissed if you didn't complete the program.
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On your bolded part, I wouldn't necessarily say subpar, but the cocky part......yeah, it's even in your post somewhat. My beef is what ERAU claims to be vs what they charge for it. Academics are second to none.....good experience there. Flying is no different than an FBO, but exorbiant rates are charged for it.
 
MikeD said:
On your bolded part, I wouldn't necessarily say subpar, but the cocky part......yeah, it's even in your post somewhat. My beef is what ERAU claims to be vs what they charge for it. Academics are second to none.....good experience there. Flying is no different than an FBO, but exorbiant rates are charged for it.
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To be quite honest, the training at ERAU is somewhat like every other flight school, but the costs aren't higher (to me). I pay about $180 wet for a C172 G1000 with CFI and at home I was paying $195 wet for the same airplane and instruction. $180-200 was pretty common at most places in NE for a G1000 and CFI. So the actual flying isn't expensive unless you don't perform well and have to redo a flight. Luckily, I haven't had to do that because I study and work hard. I am nearly done with my initial commercial multi and only paid about 8k for it...
 
sfzpilot said:
To be quite honest, the training at ERAU is somewhat like every other flight school, but the costs aren't higher (to me). I pay about $180 wet for a C172 G1000 with CFI and at home I was paying $195 wet for the same airplane and instruction. $180-200 was pretty common at most places in NE for a G1000 and CFI. So the actual flying isn't expensive unless you don't perform well and have to redo a flight. Luckily, I haven't had to do that because I study and work hard. I am nearly done with my initial commercial multi and only paid about 8k for it...
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The cost of the overall flight programs themselves, plus the exorbiant tuition (which really has always sort of been there) is what I don't really like about the flight training. That and the fact that is really is no different quality-wise from anywhere else, yet is hyped up to be just due to the name. As I said though, the academics side has a great and vast pool of experienced people providing them; very well done there.
 
sfzpilot said:
To be quite honest, the training at ERAU is somewhat like every other flight school, but the costs aren't higher (to me). I pay about $180 wet for a C172 G1000 with CFI and at home I was paying $195 wet for the same airplane and instruction. $180-200 was pretty common at most places in NE for a G1000 and CFI. So the actual flying isn't expensive unless you don't perform well and have to redo a flight. Luckily, I haven't had to do that because I study and work hard. I am nearly done with my initial commercial multi and only paid about 8k for it...
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Perhaps, flying at ERAU might be cheaper than if you are from the Northeast. But I can assure you, that if you look around in Daytona, you'll find rates that will blow ERAU out of the water. Perhaps not on aircraft cost, but you'll save a ton on instruction. Why pay over 50/hr for some kid who was in your shoes 2 years ago, who only makes like 14/hr or something. You can find places where there are vastly experienced instructors, who charge less per hour, but the instructor still takes home more per hour.

There is only one thing I miss about the ERAU flight department, and that's the sim center. If you train in a G1000 for instrument, it is very difficult to simulate competent failures. That's something the sim's over at riddle do very well.
 
Nomas said:
I don't really get where all this riddle hate is coming from. I transferred to the Daytona campus this year and I'm having a ball. Everyone here is moving in the same direction, and quickly.

People make it out to be some factory that pumps out sub par pilots with cocky attitudes. I came here because most of the pilots i've met have come from here, and strangely enough I think some of the most respected people on this forum came from riddle.

Truth is, pilots will come from everywhere. Riddle isn't a factory just because it can handle more training than the local FBO and if you burned the place to the ground today, we would all continue our training somewhere else. Most of the people i've met here are all Engineers anyway, very helpful when you have questions on physics.

I can understand why all the old timers give us lip, your replacements can be seen massed together, very disheartening. I'm just glad you cranky old bastards aren't my CFI.

The price is too much for some, good. Less people to take my internship. Those of us who stay love it here, no one would pay 100,000 dollars if they didn't. You're paying for connections anyway, of course you'd be pissed if you didn't complete the program.
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:clap: Very well put. :]



:popcorn:
 
I went to the Daytona campus for Riddle and loved it there. Although they do have lots of new CFIs and standards are very high, people are usually willing to give you the extra hand if you need it and the Team Managers are usually amazing people.

Dan Thompson for instance, the team manager for team 2, is a very open and wonderful person who consistently gives good advice, an ear if you need one, and is good for a laugh. The work environment itself also seems very stable.

Personally, some of my favorite times were as a student at Riddle, and if I were to gain the opportunity, I wouldn't hesitate to return as an instructor myself!
 
saria19 said:
I went to the Daytona campus for Riddle and loved it there. Although they do have lots of new CFIs and standards are very high, people are usually willing to give you the extra hand if you need it and the Team Managers are usually amazing people.

Dan Thompson for instance, the team manager for team 2, is a very open and wonderful person who consistently gives good advice, an ear if you need one, and is good for a laugh. The work environment itself also seems very stable.

Personally, some of my favorite times were as a student at Riddle, and if I were to gain the opportunity, I wouldn't hesitate to return as an instructor myself!
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Was Dan the big guy? Always talked about flying the plane under the "barn door" for landing? If I remember right he had a nasty shoulder injury from a hand propping incident :)
 
Well. . .as I review the title of this thread, I'm thinking about all the ERAU grads I know either from Daytona or Prescott. . .who are "engineers" and didn't go through the aviation portion.

They went for the education that prepared them to work in a career where their primary focus wasn't necessarily flying. Understand aerospace and aeronautical engineering leads to a variety of career options with flying not necessarily being one of those. They are engineers working in places doing engineer work.

. . .the "other" reason to go there.
 
jynxyjoe said:
Was Dan the big guy? Always talked about flying the plane under the "barn door" for landing? If I remember right he had a nasty shoulder injury from a hand propping incident :)
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No, Dan Thompson is a little heavyset, but he has no shoulder injury that I was aware of from hand propping a plane. When he did talk talk about hand propping though, it was usually a statement that started out as "Only an idiot would ever..."

Are you currently at Riddle? You sound as though you were around at one time, or that you took a tour.
 
MFT1Air said:
Well. . .as I review the title of this thread, I'm thinking about all the ERAU grads I know either from Daytona or Prescott. . .who are "engineers" and didn't go through the aviation portion.

They went for the education that prepared them to work in a career where their primary focus wasn't necessarily flying. Understand aerospace and aeronautical engineering leads to a variety of career options with flying not necessarily being one of those. They are engineers working in places doing engineer work.

. . .the "other" reason to go there.
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I have to agree with you. The core classes and education that someone receives at Riddle are top notch, and while there, I did pick up skills that would allow to work as more than just a pilot. Many engineers do the same, getting their licenses on the side, and focusing on other career options.
 
I did the online ERAU classes for a reason. The academics were great and I could do my flight training where I wanted without have to pay the huge tuition of a main campus. I have 0 dept as a result of my college education. Wish I could say the same for my flight training though :(
 
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