GL,
Unfortunately for the most part this is an anti-academy forum so it will be difficult, not impossible to find some people with positive things to say about the academies.

I would not pay for it, but now that they mention it i would enjoy a more structured training environment. I love the military and how it works and i like the structured environment. It surprises me when people say a school scares them simply because you have to wear a pilot shirt and khakis. There are worse things that can happen and i would rather be associated with a school that looks professional then the alternative...ive seen what some people consider appropriate civilian attire and it is scary, but that is just my oppinion and to each is own.

As for using your GI benefits...i am a big ATP advocate but they do not accept VA....use them..people have said the savings are minimal..and i assure you that they are not. Debt is the devil more then the devil himself and i will give you this example. Ari-Ben charges roughly 31k for their program, your out of pocket cost will be roughly 18k total (this is confirmed) that is saving 13k and in some cases a little more. That is far from nothing in the long run.

As far as using your GI bill for school...absolutely, do that too. Now factor this, using my above calculation and factoring that the GI benefits equal 36k, subtract 13k from that and it still leaves you 23k for school after you have all of your private pilot ratings. You can absolutely 100 percent get a degree for that kind of money.

Here is what i did. Clep out of the majority of your general education classes, they are roughly 100 dollars per test (if you are still active duty they are free) and if you score well enough you will recieve credits for that general education course at most every accredited college so you will not have to take those classes.

Next..as far as your military training and education. You have credits built into your military training that are universally accepted again at most accredited colleges and these will count towards your electives. I have enough credits through the military where i do not have to take a single elective credit class.

Next..the required courses, you will have to take these but if for some reason you do a degree in aviation the required courses are your ratings that you will get regardless and the groundschool associated with them. It sounds too good to be true but you can achieve a degree for little money for only physically doing a few actual courses from the school, and those can be done online. A degree is much easier then some say and if you go about it inteligently and are methodical in your research it will surprise you how easy it is.

So that is my story. Your GI bill is worth something, you should use it for training to avoid debt and you will still have enough left over for a degree, albeit not Harvard or Yale, but Continental, or Southwest and especially Xjet will not care where it is from, as long as it exist.

Good luck on your research though, i hope you find what you are looking for.

There is ABSOLUTELY a major benefit associated with the airline academy concept...unfortunately that benefit is to the owners of the academies, not to the pilots. The reason there are so many of them out there is that most people new to professional flying don't know any better! That may be changing...today the internet is probably helping to educate a few folks that would have been suckered in the past.

This board is not anti-academy, it is simply a pilot board and academies are not good for pilots. If you want a web site that presents a positive view of pilot academies, check out the academy's own web sites...they will tell you everything you want to hear! :rolleyes: Maybe there is a forum for flight school operators...

Of course somebody is going to mention the 747 captain who sent his daughter to XXX academy...well when I worked for one of the big flight schools, we had a UAL 777 captain come in with his daughter to enquire about training...what ended up happening was we gave her a 50% discount on the "career package" in exchange for using a picture of the two of them in our marketing literature!

BTW, Flight safety is a great operation, very reputable, which used by professional turbine pilots world-wide, including some smaller airlines. It is not to be mentioned in the same breath as all those other "academies". They mainly do turbine aircraft training, but I'm sure their ab initio program is just fine, but I'm also sure it is very expensive. If money is no object at all to you then that would be the place to look at.

ATP seems to have combination of large-organization structure, and a resonably priced al-carte menu of training programs. My experience there is limited though.

Dude, bottom line is that the experienced guys are telling you not to go the academy route. The newbies all think the training will be top notch in 'their opinion' which is based on limited to no flying knowledge. Something to think about.

Shawn,

Got a question for you. Where can I find more detailed information concerning the flight benefits from the VA. Some have said it'll only pay 60% for the COM. I was under the impression it will pay for the minimum required hours for the following: IFR ticket, AMEL, COM, and ATP, essentially all advanced training ABOVE PPL. Is this correct? Could you send me a link from the VA, or any other organization (military.com, etc) that can spell this out a bit better.

Some academies are worth it, some are not. I'm finishing up my Commercial Single here at DCA and I have to say, the wealth of knowledge that is around this school is simply amazing. I've learned so much. There is no way I could have learned what I have from a local FBO back in Nashville. However, I am transferring to Regional because my next 3 ratings (CME, CFI, CFII) will be much cheaper. Plus I can get my MEI much sooner at RAA(after 150 dual given) then DCA(800 dual given). I'm impressed with these flight schools. If you don't care about how much you pay, then go to an academy. Its well worth the knowledge you get. Hope this helps.