Flying Schools

Status
Not open for further replies.
I found the GATII trainer to be a total waste of money..

They didn't have it when I went through. I heard it was prett good. I guess you get out what you put in. Those who went through it will know if it was worth the money if/when they ever find themselves disoriented in the soup...

My "mom & pop" school has an areobatic trainer, and all of my students have done spins before I sign them off for the checkride..

What kind and which school?


The chief pilot at my school is also the chief pilot of a Pt 135 operation, and a DPE..

Pretty common. At least you have a Cheif Pilot. Most schools do not and if they do, it is a glorified title for the "most senior" flight instructor there...


Clearly not everyone has a teriffic experiance at FSA, I saw a few pople leave there unhappy when I was there. However I stand by my opinion that it is one of the best schools in the country, but it can't be all things to all people..

Well, considering the number of grads that have gone through, I think their satisfaction percentage is pretty good...

OTOH, I found the whole CFI hireing process unfair, It basicly boiled down to a 15 minute ground lesson.

That is because step 1 is a quick chat with Wakefeild, step 2 is the presentation, and step 3 is the frasca ride which consists of a hold and vectored ILS approach. Obviously steps 1 and 2 are a cake walk, so they put most of the emphasis on your lesson plan and ability to teach.

BTW.... don't forget the guys and ESPECIALLY the gals that walked by the fish bowl to ego stroke the cheifs everyday....

Two more quick things here...

1) I believe that your written, oral, and flight scores should weigh heavily on the hiring. Obviously, the oral and flight more than the written. Weed out those who simply memorized the Gleim...

2) I have noticed two types that complain about FSA. The ones that didn't get hired, and those who got their first student loan PMT statement in the mail.

Still some damn fine pilot training in my eyes...

ILS
 
Well at least you tried. Failed, but tried.

I thought I was pretty civil on that one. I was being nice considering it appears that selection "B" is probably the most likely cause of the $80K...

I still cannot imagine in my right mind that Skovgard would have let this guy continue spending $80K in three and a half steps. They can only "advise" that the student stop their training. I am sure that he "chose" to continue after being advised. If that is the case, I do not feel sorry about the $80K at all... As viper said...... you made a bad choice......



ILS
 
"I'm not talking about rocket science here...mainly talking about the spatial disorientation, aerobatic training, and CRM courses"

LOL. Not sure what to say. I've done none of this yet I somehow reached the level I'm at. Perhaps it's really no big deal that small FBO's don't do this stuff....

You want it, you do it, you pay for it. You feel it's a big deal, then by all means, go to a school that does this stuff. It may be added value but the practical need for it is questionable, I think. It's fluff. But if you think it's a big deal then knock yourself out.

"I have noticed two types that complain about FSA. The ones that didn't get hired, and those who got their first student loan PMT statement in the mail."

I've noticed a lot more than that. It's right here at JC and more so at APC if you wanna include direct track.
 
UND is pretty cool, but I'm kind of biased 'cause I go there. They have campuses all over like in Hawaii and you get to call the planes cool callsigns like kula3 or 4 or whatever number plane your in. Oh and just to clarify "Kula" means school in hawaiian. Plus UND flies pipers with the e-brake style flap levers who doesnt love those?
 
UND is pretty cool, but I'm kind of biased 'cause I go there. They have campuses all over like in Hawaii and you get to call the planes cool callsigns like kula3 or 4 or whatever number plane your in. Oh and just to clarify "Kula" means school in hawaiian. Plus UND flies pipers with the e-brake style flap levers who doesnt love those?

UND is a good school. Great quality instruction and a well put together program. They too have a great reputation in the industry for quality pilot training... I was going to attend, but couldn't bare the thought of Grand Forks in the winter. They do have a nice program set up with Horizon Air though...

Good luck with your training...

ILS
 
I am planning to study aviation, and I am considering the following academies : Pan Am, Regional Airlines and FlightSafety. I will appreciate if somebody who has passed through this experience can give me an opinion about these academies.

Thank you
Kind of sad what this turned into...

I would suggest you go look at as many schools as possible before you throw down your bag of money and start flying.

I went to FSI and later worked there as an instructor. It is a good school, but it is expensive. Think hard about how you are going to pay for it.

I don't have any current info on Pan Am but they were a joke when they were in Florida. The one in Arizona may be better. They hired a manager from FlightSafety who was a great guy. Make sure you ask about any penalties if you leave the program early. Also make sure they don't make you do a Regional Jet course right after you get your instrument rating. They were doing this in Florida because they had initially put it at the end of the program, but people balked at paying for it. Since they already had all their ratings they just left without doing it. To remidy this, they moved it to the middle of the program. Even new hire CFI's from the outside had to pay out of their own pocket for this before they were allowed to instruct.

Delta Connection gives ok training, but their marketing is a load of crap. You don't need them to get an interview.

RAA is a scam. They are selling type ratings as a major part of their training, but this is worthless. If you are going to an airline, they will give you a type rating, so let them pay for it. I can't think of anything that a 250 hour pilot needs less than a type rating, except maybe a social disease.

So if you want an academy type school, I would look into FlightSafety, Pan Am and go to Delta Connection just to say you did. You should also look at Mazzei in Fresno. They are kind of like a scaled down version of the big academies. This includes the price. Of these, I think FlightSafety and Mazzei are the best choices.

You may also want to check out the 10 month self paced program that ATP has. I have never been in favor of the 90 day program, but they have a good reputation and the price is right. I think the 10 month program would give you time to actually learn the material.

If you can fly locally, you may also want to look into this. If you have a decent flight school in your area, you could probably save some cash by staying home. At least for the initial ratings. You can always go to the bigger schools for the multi-engine and instructor ratings.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top