dittidano

I would like to hear your input on flight schools or flight academies. If you have the time, please post what flight school you went to and your thoughts about the flight school. Thanks for your time.

Dittidano

1jetpilot

Avoid Diamond Aviation in Statesboro, GA. I went there, they took 5K from me, proved they did not have an up and running program and refused to return my money upon request stating that "the money has already been invested." They are a purely crooked organizaion guided by a crooked owner. However, this was 20 yrs ago so they may not have been.

Chris

I'm a student at Delta. It's acceptable, but there is definitely something better out there.

If I could start over again I would have went to ATP - www.allatps.com - request a free information packet. The training is renowned and the price is right from what I've heard. As others have said take anything from a stranger with a grain of salt and research what school would fit your current situation.

I know nothing of Riddle, UND, Purdue, so I can't comment on those universities. I simply can't afford to go to them.

Good luck, feel free to PM me!

Chris

dittidano

Chris, Have you heard of National Pilot Academy? I was thinking of going there. If you have time would you look at the website and see what you think? Thanks for your input.
www.nationalpilotacademy.com


Dittidano

Chris

Sounds like it could be a decent place, though it doesn't look like it's very established - anyone please correct me if I'm wrong. Personally, I've never heard of this school. If you go into the company history link, the co-founder basically tells his (her?) personal story and history, and not of the company's history. New school maybe?

100% of graduates were hired. That means nothing without accurate figures. I would do some in-depth research, calling, trying to find previous students of the program and get in contact with them. The program could be outrageously expensive, and sounds like it with all the one to one teaching interaction they boast. Also, be wary of any school who guarantees anything - especially a job... an interview would be more realistic.

It doesn't look like they are, but make sure they're not a PFT outfit that charges you for flying right seat in some RJ or turboprop airline.

Chris

Willi364

I recently completed the career pilot training with Pan Am Internation Flight Academy. I don't know if you have looked into them yet. I can say I am satisfied with the results and I feel I got a good of a deal as any of the other schools of that size. Out of all the schools I toured before making my decision I took into account the quality of the facilities, aircraft, classrooms, sims, and just the general vibe of the students and staff. In comparison to most large flight schools I found the Pan Am fleet to be fairly new and all equipped with the necessary equipment and then some. Its gets hot on the ramp in the summer time in AZ and all aircraft had A/C which was a nice luxury. I don't recall be delayed or cancelled for weather. They have a great maintenance department which works 24hrs a day which resulted in no down time due to issues with aircraft. The staff at Pan Am seems to be very knowlegable about the industry and what it takes to achieve your goals. I did some reading about the company before making the final decision and learned that Pan Am's history runs deep within the airline industry as an airline and as a training option. Anyway, Once I completed the program I was hired as a flight instructor and was assigned 2 students. Pan Am does not hire instructors off the street. They must be Pan Am Grads. In closing I will say they did what was advertised to this point. Im not one to bad mouth any other school because I did not go there. It seems no matter where you go guys and girls are ending up with a FO position with a regional the same way. Start training , get all your ratings, build hours through instruction, send resumes and interview. Does one school have an edge on another? I think it all comes down to the individual sitting in the hot seat at the airline interview.

Chris

You hit it right on the nail. For me the decision was based a great deal on location.

pilot4455

I have been looking into National Pilot Academy (www.nationalpilotacademy.com) for some time and have been very impressed with their program. If everything they claim is true, this has got to be the best program out there.

I did call in and speak to somebody to get more information. The cost for their program is around $50K. Much cheaper than I had expected for all the one-on-one training you get. They said that they guarantee you a position as a flight instructor after their accelerated course and let you instruct for another 12 months until you have 1,100 hours logged. They also said that they have placed 100% of there students within their airline careers, most of which go and work for Skywest Airlines.

What do you guys think? Has anyone had any experience with them?

AirWillie

Thanks for the link of NPA, I had no idea that this school existed. The fact that they have many locations is good. But most of their stuff seems too good to be true and the fact that they don't mention prices makes me nervous. Will look into it though. I'm working on my Private license and will probably then move onto ATP or AriBenAviator in Florida that offers 32K for all the training with all multi-engine time.

lancerr

I've looked at several schools and visited couple of them.
I was sold on the 98% grads get jobs at RAA and was planning to attend.
But I did take a step back and really thought about my future.
Sure it is great to have a career in a year but didn't I want to be the best pilot I can be?
So i did more research and saw Mazzei and Ari-ben.
They are no where big as those big academies but I heard some of the best pilots come from the school with excellent flying experience.
You might want to look at them as well.
www.flymfs.com
www.aribenaviator.com/