Got a question.......

S

spharrell

New Member
I was wondering i i really needed to schedule a time to visit FSA, because i am driving down there, and I am not sure when i will get there, so I don't really want to set a time with them, i would rather just drop in when i get there. Is that possible?


Sean
 
If you drop in, you will see the school as it is. If you schedule, you will get a tour guide.

It's awfully hard for a school to put on airs no matter if you get a tour guide or not. What you really should do is ask to tag along on a training flight.

Tagging along on a training flight was the deciding factor for me for two flight schools. One I stayed way away from, the other I now manage.

Good luck!

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein
 
Actually, there are tours almost all day every day....no one hides anything. FSI is one of the most open schools....ask to see the maintenance area of some schools and you'll get a scowl and a flat rejection. You'll see the maintenance facilities here on every tour.

I think it would be really unprofessional just to show up and demand a tour. Not a lot of industries would stand for that, and I don't expect flight schools to, either.

If you want to hang around....ask some random student random questions, feel free. Students give the tours here...not the used car salesmen you'll get at some schools. We don't have anything to hide.


Chunk

PS--jedi9....thanks for answering questions in the FSI board... ever been here?
 
Hi shparrell....I'm an graduated FSA student and some of my friends (students) gave tours around the school. They never said anything about being pressured to "show off" the school. I always saw tours taking place and never thought that they were feeding the guests any bull sh#$. Trust me, after you visit some other schools you'll see the difference. On other tours I had contracts shoved in my face at the end of the tour with them saying "sign here, there won't be any space left next month etc..."But like I said, you'll see for yourself and it will be crystal clear.
 
I second what Baronman said. I know a few students who give tours and I frequently see them doing so. The wrap I hear is very straight forward and honest. This matches my experience when I came by to see the school and as mentioned above not even a remote effort was made to convince me to sign up.

As Chunk mentioned above, approach as many students at different phases of training as you can. The cafe, library, and the couches at the flight line are almost always going to have a few students hanging about and I think most of the students here would be happy to share their two cents and answer questions.

As far as scheduling a tour goes I would give marketing a call as soon as you know you are coming just to be courteous. Showing up unannounced wont change what you see here. Tours are always going on and nothing changes when a tour goes by. Even if you only know a day or two in advance give them a call so they can have someone available to show you around.
 
I can agree with these posts as well, my tour in June was punctuated by a lack of any pressure and very straightforward. I stayed in campus housing, and had an opportunity to walk around and meet quite a few people. I took the opportunity to ask a lot of people (who had no idea I was a visitor) how they liked the place. The only potentially negative comments I heard were:
1. It's expensive
2. You have to keep up with studying. Lots of information.

These two would be common to any large flight school.
 
I visited FSI facilities last month and had a nice time in Vero Beach. My flight got in early at Orlando and I arrived at FSI 2 hours early. I did not have to wait around though, and was given the next available tour. The tour was very open and complete with nothing to hide. Was even allowed to go through some of the aircraft maintenace logs in the hangar.

After that some people reviewed my log book and came up with a estimate for the single comm add-on and CFI rating.
There was no hi pressure or marketing speeches...Pretty much what you see is what you get.
 
Thanks for al of the input. I did decide to go ahead and schedule times, i finaly came to, and realized how unprofessional it would be. It makes me feel good to here you guys tell me that the tours aren't a big lie, with "car salesmen". Anyways, Thanks for the info. I got one more question. Could you guys help me out on questions i should ask the schools? I have a few already:
1. Estimate of hours logged.
2. Access to planes.
3. I would like to see the maintenance area. (Heard that was always a good place to look at schools. To see if it was dirty or not. The cleaner the better.)

Thats about all i have come up with. I would really appreciate any help!! I know i could go back and read through all the old posts, and come up with questions, but i am short on time, because i am leaving tomorrow. Anyways, looking forward to the visit!!

Thanks!!

Sean
 
Ask about cost...specifically for your situation. Ask about the ASA program if you're interested. Tell them you wanna see a new seminole and a vfr cadet...you'll get the full range of aircraft "quality" then....newest and oldest.

I don't think anyone can find fault with the maintenance spaces....immaculate. It's quite impressive.

Chunk

PS---jedinein....hello? anybody out there?
 
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