i am looking into flight schools to become and airline pilot. ive been doing a lot of research and reading a lot of forum posting on the subject. ive found that three schools have caught my attention.
-Flight Safety Academy
-Faclon Flight Sanford Inc
-Epic Flight Academy

Are these good choices? What school would you recommend?

In terms of flight school, what certifications are necessary and and which ones arent? is being hired as a flight instructor after you complete training critical? if so, do flight schools hire instructors that didnt attend their school?

what are the most important things to look for in a flight school?

all posts are greatly appreciated.

 

Any school which gets you your ratings with safe and reliable airplanes and instructors. Larger "Glossy-brochure" flight schools usually overcharge by 200%-400%. If they have promotional videos showing beautiful students about to embark on an airline career (even though almost no airlines are hiring), that is a sure sign they are going to rip you off.

The best information is to be had by talking to current students and instructors. The students are usually honest, and the instructors might be although they might also be desperate for work.

These are probably reasonable price ranges, depending on location:

PPL/IR/COMM/CFI/CFII ASEL: $30K-$40K

ME/MEI: $4K-6K

Aviation employers will give you NO, ZERO, NONE WHAT-SO-EVER hiring preference for going to any particular school. They all hire based on experience, measured in flight hours. For this reason you want cheap as possible, but still safe and reliable. You do not need to spend $80K+ for that.

The only exceptions are:
- US Military Flight Training
- Certain internship programs available to students at some aviation universities.

 

I attended Falcon Flight of Sanford, was there from 05-early 08. I took my time on ratings. They treated me very well and the quality of instruction I feel I received was very good, but I only used two of their instructors, they have about 6. I will give you details on them if you care to PM me..... I also did rental check outs at Epic, with a couple of their instructors so can offer some perspective there also.

 

I agree with rick don't go to the fancy flight schools. I like the mom and pop fbos or a small local flight school.

 

I started off by going to a flight school that was owned by a "big" company. The company ran out of business as a result of the economic crisis. I then transferred to a mom and pop place and I absolutely love it. The big companies will only care about money and not quality of instruction. Believe me, I am talking from experience. Do a search in these forums, you will soon find out a common thesis: stay away from those fancy places. Besides by starting off at a small place, you will likely develop an appreciation of what general aviation is all about.

 

local fbo all the way! don't let the marketing department of a major flight school tell you otherwise, they only want your $

 

thank you very much. unfortunately i havent "earned" my PM privileges yet. but any information you can offer me in any way would be greatly appreciated.

As far as epic goes, im really drawn to their program because it is an all inclusive cost to include housing and accommodations. you finish their program with 250 hours and PPL/IR/CME/ATP for 54k. but im worried that without an instructor rating it will be impossible to build flight hours.

But i also REALLY like Falcon Flight's prices. so information on either would be great.


and thank you for the posts everyone!

 

While I usually agree with Rick, we have a difference here. Expect to pay between $40k and $50k for flight training PPL - CFI. Anything less than $40k is very suspect in my mind and anything more than $50kish is unnecessary. I have just gone through this conversation and research with someone else, so I think these numbers are pretty fresh.

I am not promoting this school, but here is a very complete, fair, and I think reasonable cost expectation http://www.ahart.com/newWeb/flightCo...l_Programs.pdf. This is a 250 hour course that I think, based on three years of managing a large flight school, 85% of students can complete. Here is a fair cost for CFI/CFII/MEI http://www.ahart.com/newWeb/flightCo...ITrng07.07.pdf. These costs would be a good benchmark for a small FBO/Academy type school. You will find this school Wright Flyers will show similar costs.

No matter where you go, keep your money in your pocket. If the school insists on the whole check up front, run. They should be willing to accept a situation where you fund the account with $3000 or $4000 and keep a minimum balance of $1000.

 

does anybody know anything about Indy Aero in Greenfield, Indiana?

 

You may also want to look at Crystal Aero Group in Florida. The owner has been in business for 30 years and the man has great integrity. All the instructors are former Military, Law Enforcement pilots including the owner. The school is a part 141 with housing.

Not representing the school, I just went there for my CFI/CFII and everyone was great with no additional cost. As a matter of fact the complex aircraft had a maintance issue before my checkride and we had to utilize a Mooney. He charged me NO MONEY at all to get familiar in the airplane before the ride. He didn't think it was fair!