lbell

If there is anyone on here working there as a CFI/CFII/MEI can you please private message me for a few question & answers?

deftone

Jeppesen is what is currently being used, although that will change as they are working on their own in-house program. I wouldn’t spend money to buy in advance. There is no real advantage. If you want to get into the knowledge stuff early go take a look at the PHAK (Pilots Handbook of Aviation Knowledge). It’s a free FAA resource.

85Vette

I started flying with LIFT Academy August of 2019 and was withdrawn late January of 2020. At first everything was okay, but then I started realizing all the flaws this school has. After 1 month, the school changed my instructors and I was now assigned to a guy who was not even an instructor yet. While he was in the process of becoming certified (it took a month), I was in limbo with 4 different instructors who all had different ideas of right vs. wrong, different minimums, and mainly all were there simply to gain hours rather than actually teach. With the weather not being great during the winter months, I wasn't able to fly regularly. With all the different instructors, I failed tests and needed retraining sessions. I was in a cycle of failure and retrain only adding hours to my log book and getting nowhere. I failed tests and was grounded (not able to fly until meeting with administrator). November I flew 3 times and September I flew 5 times. At one point I didn't fly for over a month. This was not just me though, fellow students were going through the same thing I later realized. The school was bringing in classes of 30-40 students a month with only 29 instructors and I'm guessing maybe 30 planes with room for no more. The instructors are there only to be pushed through the course as fast as possible and onto Republic. None of which seemed to want to actually teach anything, but rather just sit there and gain flight hours while I fly the plane (cross countries are their favorite). I have 76 hours and no private pilots license. I soloed in a traffic pattern once, but no cross country solo. Keep in mind, since I wasn't able to fly regularly, this called for retraining sessions (more flight hours = more $ you spend). I was set up for failure and so are other students. I'm now roughly $10k in debt and still... once again... have no private pilot license. I don't recommend going here.

Ciceda

I read elsewhere that the school is closed indefinitely and everybody sent home. Have you heard anything from your contacts there?

Dwwhite06

The school is closed for flying along with the State’s shutdown order. Still doing virtual sessions.

Dwwhite06

No offense here bud, but have you considered maybe flying isn’t for you? I have noticed that there are some students who are fresh out of high school looking to hit it big that really don’t seem to have the mental capacity to fly. Not everyone can do it.

I will say that I haven’t been there long enough to give a full review and I’ve had my shares of winter weather grounding, but haven’t had any of these issues. I’ve flown with several different instructors with minimal issues. All teach a standard lesson but with different styles. If you don’t mesh well then you have to speak up. If you know your stuff and have put in the prep time, and I mean lots and lots of chair flying, memorization, etc, then you shouldn’t have many issues. SOPs are all there to learn. It just takes a bigger time commitment than most want to put in. Nothing great comes easy. I hope things work out for you because flying is great. Good luck.

Air Guitar

https://flywithlift.com/weekly-new-student-email-4-2/

The latest update aside from second second hand information. If you are still interested, a positive guess would be wait until summer.

lightspeed12

I'm in the exact same situation. Im a current studentw about 35 hours with them but no PPL yet, after 5 months. Can you let me know how did it workout financially when you left ? Did you pay money or did they give something back? How does it work? Is it based on hours flown, or calendar days enrolled, or what? Thanks.

deftone

If you quit during your Private then you still need to pay for the entire Private course, anything else is refunded to you. If they wash you out then its calculated on how many flight hours you had, then the rest if refunded.

85Vette

No offense here either buddy, but have you considered maybe you're not eligible to ask me that? A question was asked and I simply answered it with what I PERSONALLY went through. I am going to be a pilot and that's that. I hope your training is going well. Tailwinds.