Re: Falcon Aviation Academy - My Journey (2007-2008 & beyond
Thanks for the updates, you still waiting?
Yesterday was a 3.5 hours systems course my MEI went through with me. Today was a 2 hour multi-engine ground school. Then we did my first flight in the Twin Star.
So it was a good 2 week wait to start. And even though I can fly 7 days a week from 11am until 10pm (pretty open availability), I was only able to be booked for:
* Today and tomorrow this week
* Wed and Thurs next week
* And Mon, Tues, and Wed the following week
That's as far as we scheduled out since there was no more availability after that Wed until probably the mid point of the following week. So this is going to be a six to seven week program, versus two to three if I was able to be scheduled every day.
But remember. I could go fly a Seminole for $100/hour cheaper and get done in 2 weeks or less (so easily a savings of around $1,000 to $1,500 on top of being done much quicker). Why don't I do that?
Well, I'm not in a marathon race to the finish. Of course I'd love to be finished quicker (on schedule per the syllabus would be ideal). But, I am at the mercy of how scheduling works out. To me these delays are acceptable for a few reasons at this point (they use to frustrate me, but I stopped being frustrated about the delays).
* First off, Falcon is still honoring the program price I locked into when I began the professional pilot program, which is important since it's substantially less than the new price structure.
* Secondly, the quality remains very high and very professional.
* Third, I really enjoy flying the Diamond aircraft.
* Finally, I plan to be an Instructor there so if I know how things work from the student perspective, know the planes inside and out, and can relate first hand to the challenges a career student may have... I can ultimately be a better instructor that brings some suggestions for improvement to the table once I learn the business from the instructor side too.
So all those factors are very important to me, more so than being in a rush to the finish. After all, if I was in a rush, ATP would have been where I went since in 3-4 months I would have been done (just not convinced I would get the quality I get at Falcon though, hence why I am not there). Now if someone else is in a hurry and really needs all their ratings in 3-4 months for some reason, I may not advise Falcon from my personal experience. But in overall quality and value, I rate them high.
Guess in my old age of just shy of 35, I learned sometimes things don't go perfectly. And it really is not a race to the finish. So just relax and enjoy the ride. And that's what I am doing. I earned my battle scars to get here, so this is a time in my life I plan to enjoy. Not to mention, my worst day flying is better than the best day running my old business.
And on the most positive note. I am very impressed with my new instructor. He really knows his stuff. Plus seems to have some very solid experience outside of being an instructor (military experience and also flies air charter on contract).
Oh, and on top of the instructor being very good, the Twin Star was great to fly today. Man, I love that plane. Worlds more fun the the DA20 and DA40, even though I did enjoy the 40 a lot too. And a million times better than the C182RG I just got done flying for the commercial ticket. And of course, I won't look at the bill until after my check ride since that could ruin all the fun in flying this machine!
POSTING UPDATE:
I'm not one to post daily progress and such. I'll do as I done for each rating. Once I pass the CMEL check ride, I'll write a gouge on this section of the program in similar format to the others I wrote previous. I'll answer questions in the mean time, but don't expect the gouge for another 6-8 weeks from my estimation.
