Opinions of current and former students

[blakman7]

Hello all,

I was just wondering how you current and former students feel/felt about your training at Ari-Ben Aviator. Do you feel that it was fast paced, was it worth the money, did you get to travel to some cool places, did you do cross countries and if so where did you get to go, and lastly, do you wish that you had gone to another school for your training? Thanks.

 

[hattrick]

im a former student and instructor there and although i hated florida with a passion(born and raised in alaska) i would go there again in a heartbeat. it does have its issues but i still think its better than most

 

[blakman7]

Are you at liberty to say what issues there are? If not, could you PM them to me.

 

[Mountain Flying]

Hated Florida Im looking forward to the change in scenery, Anyone know if theres any Night Life down there or Minor hockey leagues!

Thanks

 

[hattrick]

lol hockey. thats probably atleast fifty percent of why i hated it. i lived for playing hockey and no i couldnt find any. most people do like florida(not fort pierce) it just wasnt for me.

 

[Mountain Flying]

Oh ok perfect. Ill make my own Ice then to have Ice time haha.

Thanks

 

[maverick2]

I was looking for an ice rink down here, but the closest ones I found are in Ft. Lauderdale or Orlando which are equal driving distance. However, there is an inline hockey league down in Stuart (45 min driving) which looks pretty nice. I might give that a shot after becoming an instructor and if gas prices go lower.

 

[hattrick]

you shouldnt have a hard time making an outdoor rink. i mean conditions are perfect. inline hockey. cant do it. ive tried and i just cant seem to get those d*mn things to do what i want. you can do so much more on ice therefore when i try to do it on asphault i just end up on my butt half the time. then i get mad and start beating everyone else over the head with my stick. not a pretty site.

 

[Mountain Flying]

Ya there really is no replacment for good ole ICE...

Anyone know of anyhting to do in the area tho at night? Meeting people Im coming down feb 1st and I wont know anyone

Thanks

 

[Catherine]

Well, I'm here now...just getting started into the pro-program after doing a finish up on my PPL here. Is it fast-paced? Well...I'd say it's pretty quick, but 2 flights a day isn't bad and studying a few hours a day isn't too bad and I still take a few hours here and there to shop, watch a bit of TV or a movie or whatever. I don't know much about the nightlife (I'm here typing on Jetcareers tonight instead of out partying! LOL) though. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here and glad I chose this place. Did a cross-country to West Palm Beach Intl and that was very cool....in the daylight we got to see some neat stuff there....I dunno....I just like airplanes and the scenery (different than TN in the mountains which have their own appeal!) and everything, too. Right now I'm happy with this place and can't really think of another that I would have chosen based on what I've read and heard about over this one. I know there have been some little niggles (didn't get to make my first Duchess flight as my instructor was grabbed for tour duty and things like that) but nothing that shouldn't be expected or a disappointment. I'm learning a lot, have an instructor that I enjoy flying with (always a big plus!) and am having good time learning to fly here.

You'll get to know people here by hanging out around the school during the day some and just in your time here, I didn't know anyone when I arrived and frankly, although getting out some is nice, I'm willing to sacrifice some of that here to get through these courses and do the best I can.

Catherine

 

[SmitteyB]

205733

Ive been at the Aviator for about 8 months, currently timebuilding, and although I haven't moved as quickly as I want to through my training (car broke down and I lived 25 miles from airport and had no way to go look for a new car), I know my training has been top quality, thanks to an excellent instructor.

There are a few complaints about the school, the biggest thing being there could be a few more Duchesses. That being said, it's not like we miss all of our flights because of there being no airplanes. We do get to fly...ALOT. The airplanes are old, granted, but MX keeps up on them well. If you find something wrong with the airplane, you don't have to fly it. Simple as that.

As always, there are things that make this school great. The people, Mary, James & students all make the experience an enjoyable one. The housing is very nice, both the PanAm and Vero. Vero has TV in every room, PanAm doesn't. My roomate and I got DishNetwork installed in our rooms and it's costing us only $13.00/month. Sure beats rushing out to the TV to get the remote before others. Wireless internet is installed in the PanAm housing now, at night it can get a little slow, but still surfable. Not good for downloading music....etc.etc.

Overall, still glad I made the decision to come here. If you're doing the instrument rating, just hope that the FPR glideslope is up...it's soo expensive when you have to go to MLB/TIX/F45/PBI to get a good ILS in. Not the schools fault though, its the FAA's.

 

[greaper007]

I hate you Smitty.

 

[PilotChip]

When you talk about an instrument approach being too expensive... what types of fees does the primary apt charge? not to the pilot, to aviator right?

jason

 

[ZWflyer]

When you talk about an instrument approach being too expensive... what types of fees does the primary apt charge? not to the pilot, to aviator right?

jason

There are no fees associated with the approaches, he is just referring to the added flight time it takes to get to those places. If the ILS at Fort Pierce is up you can get a lot more done in less time.

 

[maverick2]

Hello all,

I was just wondering how you current and former students feel/felt about your training at Ari-Ben Aviator. Do you feel that it was fast paced, was it worth the money, did you get to travel to some cool places, did you do cross countries and if so where did you get to go, and lastly, do you wish that you had gone to another school for your training? Thanks.

I would highly recommend the Aviator for flight training. I can't really compare it to other flight schools or fbos because the Aviator is the only place I've been. Its fast paced if you want it to be. I have seen a student grab his private multi, instrument, commercial multi in one month, and I have also seen students that have worked on their instructor ratings for over a year. So its really up to you. I've been on cross countries to St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Orlando, Ocala, Titusville, Melbourne, West Palm, Miami, etc. (PIE, TLH, ORL, OCF, TIX, MLB, PBI, F45, TMB). I have heard students taking the planes to Chicago (my roommate), NYC, South Carolina, and Key West before. I also heard the new 141 Pro Course will now have 60 hours of solo time building in the Duchess during the commercial phase of the course instead of the safety pilot deal. No, I dont wish I would have gone to another school. The only thing I wish for is that we get more planes since we just had a flood of new students and timebuilders come in right when the new year began. Good luck!

 

[S.T.Aviator]

Any idea how much the new 141 pro course is gonna be?
ETA?
Thanks

 

[SmitteyB]

no change in price. We're almost all 141 now anyways... actually...maybe it would be cheaper since under the Commercial 141 course you only need 190 hours, not 250TT...this would be nice for incoming students.