Private Pilots License

[shdw]

Remember Silver State Helicopters? Regional Airline Academy?

Again we fall back on investing wisely. I did what you said, I spent the last 20 minutes on google, far less time then I would spend if I was actually planning to make an investment. In both the cases you noted I found articles/forums/random sites dating back to 2 or more years before those institutions closed down commenting on their poor quality.

You don't invest until you have researched what your investing in. Thousands of people get scammed buying from sites on the internet each year. Does this mean you shouldn't buy from the internet ever? NO! It means you should spend 5 minutes googling the seller before you make your investment.

 

[titansox]

Here's the responce I got from that company when I asked for more information about their pre paid package. Thoughts?

Chris,

Sorry it has taken me a couple of days to get back to you.

We have four airplanes in which we can offer the private license. We have a Cessna 150M, Cessna150, Diamond DA 20 and Diamond DA 40. The Diamond DA 20 is the most popular and incorporates more rencent technology without the higher cost of the Diamond 40
The private license in the Cessnas will be $5,500, the DA 20 is $6,000 (sale price I offered you, normally $7,300) and the DA 40 is $9,900. All packages include 50 hours of dual flight and 25 hours of ground time. If you exceed 50 flight hours you will pay the hourly rate on the plane (Cessna $80, DA 20 $119 and DA 40 $175 plus instructor time of $45/hour). We also sell blocks of time in 10 hour blocks. When you buy a block of 10 you get 1 hour free. The packages also include the Jeppesen Private Pilot Kit which includes the following:

Private Pilot Textbook
Private Pilot Maneuvers Manual
Private Pilot Syllabus
Private Stage Exam Booklet
Record Folder
Practical Test Standards
Practical Test Study Guide
FAA Airmen Knowledge Test Guide
Presolo Written Exam
Airplane and Helicopter FAA Exam Package
FAR/AIM
E6B Flight Computer
Plotter
Logbook
Flight bag

We have headsets that you can use. We do not charge rent for them, they are free to our customers to use. You might at some point want to purchase your own headset but it is not required.

We are located on the East side of the airport near the end of Wakeman Drive. If you pass the main terminal on your right, we are 2 buildings on the right. We have a blue awning and have signage for American Helicopters and American Aviation.

We want your business and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you receive the highest quality of flight training. We do everything we can to work with your schedule and availability and provide the highest quality of customer service.

Once you are a student, our scheduling is available to you online. You will receive a username and password to our scheduling program and from there you can put yourself on the schedule with the aircraft and instructor. It works really nicely and gives you control of your own scheduling. If you prefer, you can always contact the office and we will be happy to schedule you as well.

Hopefully this answered some of your questions. Please let me know what I can do to help you get started!

Ann Rychlik
American Aviation
703-368-9599

 

[Lima86]

not a bad deal at all, of course I don't know the school's reputation but the numbers look good.

 

[PA44-LUV]

Especially when it comes to a realized cost of $67.50/hr on the plane, if you factored out the 75 hr of instructor time at $45/hr. The normal hourly rates are comparable (within a couple dollars/hr) of the other schools based on the field.

I've never flown with American but I toured their facility and viewed their aircraft and they seemed like a good group of folks. My "tour guide" was actually one of their helicopter students who volunteered his time just cuz he like being at the airport (at least that's what he told me...)

 

[shdw]

Here's the responce I got from that company when I asked for more information about their pre paid package. Thoughts?

I agree with the others, it sounds like a good deal. I would google their reputation before making any investments though. The plane time could be enough if you are disciplined in your training. However, I suspect you will need more than 25 instruction hours. I would plan to spend an extra 1,000 just to be safe. (Not counting headsets/accessories)

Good luck.

 

[titansox]

I agree with the others, it sounds like a good deal. I would google their reputation before making any investments though. The plane time could be enough if you are disciplined in your training. However, I suspect you will need more than 25 instruction hours. I would plan to spend an extra 1,000 just to be safe. (Not counting headsets/accessories)

Good luck.

Hopefully I don't need more than 25 hours of ground school. I've already study and took note of the first 3 chapters of the King text book someone suggested. I have another 8 chapters to go. Then I have the actual ground school part of the class (5 chapters or so). So hopefully I'll have a pretty good understanding of whats going on before I get there.

 

[shdw]

Hopefully I don't need more than 25 hours of ground school. I've already study and took note of the first 3 chapters of the King text book someone suggested. I have another 8 chapters to go. Then I have the actual ground school part of the class (5 chapters or so). So hopefully I'll have a pretty good understanding of whats going on before I get there.

I assumed that 50 hours of dual flight and 25 hours of ground time was a mistake. I would verify that.

At the rates he gave, let's use the DA20

1) 50 hours flight @ 119/hr = 50 * 119 = 5,950
2) 50 flight instructor hours for the dual flights @ 45/hr = 50 * 45 = 2,250
3) 25 hours ground instructor time @ 45/hr = 25 * 45 = 1,125
4) Jep equipment = 259 if 141 and 209 if 61

He said your savings was 1,300 (total 7,300) on the 6,000 dollar course. If we add up columns 1, 3, and 4 we get 5,950 + 1,125 + 209 = 7,284. That sounds about right. But if you add the extra 50 hours of dual given you get 7,284 + 2,250 = 9,534 which doesn't seem right.

Basically I think he means you get 50 hours with the airplane, 25 hours with the instructor, and the Jepp kit. If he really means 50 dual given and an additional 25 ground then that is 75 hours total with the instructor. Hopefully this all made sense. Good luck again.

 

[Nihon_Ni]

The thing I found odd was there is no solo time in the quote. You have to have at least 10 hrs solo. I'd ask them about that if it was me. It does seem like a decent price if it is as stated.

The 10 hr block is a good deal too. Personally, I wouldn't have any problem plopping down cash for 10 hrs of rental if I could get 11 in return. Where else could you find an 10% guaranteed return?