chancechumley

Hi all,
I recently started flying as a student pilot through a college program working through Aviation Sales Inc flight school in Ohio. I’m in the military and I am using my GI bill to pay for the school. When I received the bill to send to the VA for the private pilot flight lab, it was well over 10k. Seemed high for private pilot, but seeing as how it’s the only school around here I can use my GI bill for, I went forward with the process and my first flight was a couple weeks ago. I have been trying to schedule at least 3 flights a week for the past 3 weeks but most of the time my instructor is booked up. I’ve flown twice in total, and it’s like pulling teeth to get scheduled... seems I have to keep on following up and make sure he puts it on his schedule otherwise he cancels last minute. My question is, is 10k+ an unreasonable price for the service that I’m receiving? Is it reasonable to ask that if my instructor is booked up most of the time that another CFI fly with me that day? I’m trying to be proactive but I don’t get the same feeling from my instructor at all.
Thanks in advance.

rickair7777

Sounds like a high price for Ohio, plus exceptionally poor service. I'd get a new school. You need to fly at LEAST three times/week, not twice a month.

AbbeyC172

I can't speak from personal experience yet, but I am about to embark on the same adventure as you in using my GI bill for my ratings. I do not think it is unreasonable at all to ask for another CFI. I am about to finish my PPL and have had 8 different instructors due to most leaving for the regionals or moving. It is "your money" you earned technically and you should be getting quality training with it. Is there someone at the school you can talk to about it?

Vicente

How much money does the GI bill give out for flight school? I am applying to active duty OCS right now and plan on using the GI bill to help obtain my ratings after

JamesNoBrakes

Depends. It can be different if you are enrolled in a degree program vs. a stand-alone program. The complaints I've been hearing from schools is the VA pays the guys in the degree program the same amount for flight every month while in the program and when doing a certificate or rating stand-alone (without being enrolled in a degree program), they get basically one monthly payment towards the program. I used most of mine while in a degree program, had a few months of GI bill left over and used some of that to get my MEI back in the day.

JohnBurke

Schools and instructors love GI bill money; they soak it up like a sponge, and you may find that they milk it to get every ounce of flight time and money out of it that they can. If the school is jerking you around, they may be the only game in town, but you may be better off going to another town.

If they're playing this game now, don't expect it to get better. Don't expect great maintenance or instruction, too. A lax attitude carries over in all directions; if they can't manage their business professionally, consider it to be indicative of what's under the hood, too.

flyerr

Agree with JB. There are some great people and schools in aviation, and there are some shady characters and money-sinks. Find a place where they treat you like a valued customer. Your CFI is your biggest partner in your training. Many of them - not most, luckily - just want the hours and don't care about whether you learn anything. Try out different instructors until you find someone you click with, and who makes you a priority. If that means a different school, so be it.

Vicente

Thanks for that bit. I was under the impression that the GI bill puts more money into a college program instead of a flight school cause the description says it'll pay full tuition for an in-state college. So say if a college in my state has an aviation program, it'll give more money for that than a local school