lstorm2003

Can anyone reccomend a good ME Instructor at Daytona Beach's "Air America" flight school? Any comments about this flight school and its staff are welcome...

av8tr_2007

Naaman.

Pm me if you want his number. Oh, and tell him someone on the forum recommended him. I'm sure he'll get a kick out of that.

lstorm2003

Well I can now reccomend two Air America MEIs as I just came back from 4 days there with my new Multi add on to my Commercial rating....

I did my training at Air America mainly with Chuck Stroman and also some with Sean Freeman. I found both of these guys to be excellent. A bit different styles but the combo of the two was great.

I showed up at their school Wednesday and took my check ride on Saturday. They prepared me well for the check ride and I passed with no surprises.

I would have no problem reccomending Air America and Chuck and Sean to anyone else looking to do this. The only problem I really had was with the Aircraft. They had two BE-76 A/C when I was there that I flew and the Avionics aren't great, and the seat backs on both A/C would not stay up so I had to lean forward while flying (not the greatest). But other than that no complaints, they got me done quick in 3 days! :-)

Also interesting to be on the same field with Riddle. Funny to see how Marketing is so important to them, I think thats where most of your money goes if you are a student there! They spend loads on Marketing....

Crism

I've rented out of Air America and I've had a number of people with BAD experiences there...myself included. I will never rent from them again and as you already mentioned and found, the maintenance is sub-par. I don't believe they should be getting anyone's business after what happened to me. PM me if you would like me to elaborate.

RoughLandings

Holy crap, I lived with Sean Freeman in Daytona when he was just a Riddle student. If you see him, tell him his old roomate Mac says hi.

Zeke

I've worked for Air America for two years, and logged nearly 2000 hours in company aircraft (1,950). I can assure you that AA's aircraft are maintained to the highest industry standards. The only incidents that have involved flight school aircraft have been either pilot error or act of God (bird strike), with the exception of a gear failure in the Cutlass. The failure was attributed to a manufacturer's defect in the system, not to lax maintenance.

I personally fly for the imaging department at Air America, and it involves some of the most challenging flying I've ever done in my career. When I step into the aircraft to fly night IFR from Salt Lake City to Denver, or take the runway at Skykomish (S88-look it up, it will raise the hair on your neck, particularly if you've only flown in Florida..ahem), or cross any and every mountain range in the US, the last thing I worry about is whether the maintenance has been performed correctly- I know with absolute certainty that it has.

Beyond that, Air America (IIRC) has one of the best safety records of any flight schools based in the Daytona area. It also has some of the best prices and staff - ok, that last one is opinion.

Anyway, back on topic- I haven't seen his name on here and I'm not sure if he's still around, but check out Scott Penkes. He's a great instructor, period. Sean and Chuckles are good options as well if you have a few extra clams. Good luck!

Crism

I'm not saying that the instructors are bad. I've been there and I've seen the maintenance and I didn't like what I saw. Ex. constant writeups on the 182 for fluctuating tach, duchesses with low oil pressure, seatbacks, this that and the other thing. And you're right about the staff...that's a BIG opinion. Especially with the owner...who I cannot stand. I just don't feel she should be getting any business after the experience I had.

Zeke

Let me preface this by saying that any discussion is kind of a moot point- the guy asking the question has already flown at A.A. and had a generally positive experience, according to the third post in this thread.

Ok- your "problems" with the maintenance at Air America:

The aircraft that flight school operates are not all brand new G1000 172SP's. Yes, they do indeed have brand new G1000 C172's (5, and 2 were actually delivered less than 3 months ago), but as with most part 61 flight schools, they operate a fleet that has aging aircraft. These "major" maintenance items that you list- are either part of routine mechanical wear and tear that is perfectly normal in older aircraft (such as 1970's Duchess's) or, in the case of the tach problem in the 182, is addressed by published Cessna Service Bulletin (SB07-77-01). I'm also going to go out on a limb here and guess that you don't have much flight time in older aircraft. I would bet anybody with a substantial amount of time in an aircraft more than 10 years old will tell you this- things break. That simple.

As for M, the owner. She is one of the best employers that I've ever worked for. If you think you were somehow slighted, let me say this: I've never, in two years of working directly for M, ever seen her treat a client, instructor, student, employee, instructor or contractor unfairly. I've seen her go out of her way (and I mean WAY out of her way) to help people out- and this is from an owner who let her employees, for the most part, manage and run the company while she steers the general direction of the business. I'm not sure what your personal experience with her was, but I would be very shocked to find that what she did was wrong.

BradSliver

Crism,
Could you please elaborate. I sure would like to know your side of the story.

stbloc

I didn't care for the training at this school. after a lessons my instructor would engaged in a ping pong match in stead of a briefings. When trying to ask for help i would get" read the book". I thought that the instructors were more concerned about their social life and didn't care about the student. I was looking for more personalized service. if you just need a cheap place to rent and ready to go then it might be good for you. And to make matter worse they would charge me for.3 of ground for my instructor tell me to read while chasing a ping pong ball across the hanger. I would have finished my lessons with them, but charging for ground that didn't happen made me find a new school.