Spoke to the Co-owner (Jerry Dilk) on the phone today

[CLR4ILS]

Snow, if you are asking Westwind marketing about there problems and they are blaming it on the old co-owners reputation then they are blowing hot air you know where. One of the original owners is still there and their reputation stayed with him. They have had a lawsuit or two since the owners split.

 

[Snow]

Ok, fair enough, but even with the extra $4000 spent at westwind, I'm sure it's still cheaper than FSA. And does FSI garentee you a job as CFI?

I have no doubt FSA is a good school but I think it will send me to the poor house just attending there. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the price from 0hrs to MEI around $60k plus living expences? so that's what.. $75k? and how long should all that take? And how's the hireing of their graduates?

No offence from my previous post but I'm just getting sick of choosing a place and then finding out it's not what it seems

But I still have almost a year to decide so I guess it's not too late to change, how early do you need to apply at FSA?

 

[CLR4ILS]

Alright this is getting old. The $4,000 was for ONE rating. When this happens on EVERY rating you can expect to spend in excess of 15-20k extra. I suggest you narrow it down to 3 schools here in the U.S. and fly out here from Australia and tour them all. You should get a list of questions made up to ask each school before you arrive. In your bio it says you want to fly for an airline. I am assuming you want to get there as fast and cheap as possible. First you are going to have to get hired with a commuter or regional. To get there at low time then you are going to have to have a lot of multi time and a school with a reputable name on your resume. So you can rule out all schools that do not have a good multi program. Well that pretty much narrows down your choices to FSI and ATP in the U.S.. If anyone out there knows of a school that offers an excellent multi program besides these two then please let snow know. There are a lot of people on this forum that have been there done that including the web owner Doug that can tell you the key things to look for in a school. You are going to spend 45-60k by the time you are finished at any good school. The key word there is good. The quality of training should be your number one priority. The money is important also but the training comes first. Trust me I know I just like many others out there owe 55k. I can tell you this, companies walk in to FSA all the time and take our instructors with low time because they have so much multi time and of course trained by Flight Safety. It really does matter. Good luck ILS

 

[Snow]

well how much is FSA in total and how long does that take?

 

[chunk75]

I started here with my private and I'm almost done my CIME. The curriculum is 6 months, but I know many who have cut that by a few months by working hard. By the time I'm done, it'll be 5 months or so. And I didn't fly through most of my ground schools. You have the option here. They treat you like a customer. It's okay to be sick...you aren't going to get charged for flights missed when you are sick, unlike other places. I couldn't be happier, and I am picky.

Cost for me (I already had my pvt) was about 40 up through CIME. That's with 55 multi hours. The key is that what they quote you is accurate, unlike a lot of other schools. It is possible to be under budget, but you don't need to add the 10-15% like most other places.

Chunk

 

[CLR4ILS]

I spoke with Snow on the phone today in Australia. He is a nice guy with a lot of ambition. We cleared up some confusion he was having about schools. I think the main confusion was what to look for in a school based on what the regionals are looking for and how to build the resume. I believe he now understands what it is going to take to get hired with a regional with the lowest possible time. Lets face it, flight instructing is a good thing but nobody wants to be a 2000 hour CFI if we can help it and your airline bound. I think he will do well.
Good luck Snow

CLR4ILS

 

[Snow]

Yeah thanks for the call ILS, that definatly cleared some stuff up. I think we covered over then phone stuff that might have taken weeks on here. You definatly seem to know what your talking about having trained at FSA, Westwind and FBOs.

So I'm seriously looking into FlightSafety right now, I'd rather be in AZ but I'll go where I need to go to get the best training that I can, that's what matters. Besides I don't know anyone excipt for Doug who lives in AZ anyhow! :grin:

 

[chunk75]

Snow....call the marketing dept 1800 800 1411 and ask for an info packet. You can ask any question that you'd like...and get this, NO USED CAR SALESMEN! Students who work part-time in marketing give the tours and answer the phones.

Good luck no matter what you decide.

Chunk

 

[pavelump]

Snow, I feel for you. I was in the same position as you. I flip flopped from so many schools and pitches that I was about to go crazy.

I don't know anything about Westwind, but I do know that people tend to tell you what you want to hear. Before you commit to any of the schools, you should really make an effort to vist them and speak to the students candidly. Not the marketing department. Don't hesitate to stop somebody and ask them if they have a few minutes.

There are so many factors to be weighed... money, fleet, location, connections (are they real?)...etc., etc. All I can say is good luck.

I finally settled on FlightSafety.

Later,
Dave