izanti

If its free, hell ya go for it. Theres no better way to spend uncle sams money than to go to riddle. I would say your A+P would help you out a ton in the real world. A lot of my collegues who fly jets got their jobs just because they also had their mechanics licencs on top of ratings.

If your goal is to fly AND get a degree then I would suggest Riddle in PRC. Otherwise if you only want to fly then Bristol Academy is a good choice. Iv met alot of former marines and navy men who got out and went there to learn how to fly and used their GI bills to pay for it. They are the Riddle of helicopter training typically in the U.S. but Riddles program isnt too bad either.

Climbto450

As a graduate DAB, I can see your point. ERAU tends to isolate the pilots into the Riddle environment (or protect them) but isn't that what an airline does? at least when I was at the airlines they did. Riddle's flight program is intro to Airline Fliying 101 in my opinion. They are not in the business of training non professional pilots. Riddle puts out pilots who have alot of tools and little experience, I know I was one of them. I also flight instructed at Riddle and outside of Riddle, I can say that the education complements the flight training very well. When I taught at Riddle I knew that students were always over prepared and very motivated. When I instructed outside of Riddle I didn't know what kind of student I was going to get (some where as good as Riddle students but most weren't).
The bottom line is Riddle will give a starting student the tools and motivation to do well. It is still up to the student to go from there and take it to the next level.
As a professional pilot (not Flight Instructing) I have flown with pilots from all branches of the military and from various aviation university programs and pilots who didn't even go to college. I can tell you, it is hard to coorilate education level and quality of pilot.
I personally would not have changed a thing about my University experience at DAB ERAU. Good Luck!!

izanti

No dought about it there are a lot of very motivated students who go there. I was one of them and a lot of my friends were as well. But I also had a lot of the over privileged roommates who just got stoned all day and wasted daddies money for 5 years of college and came out with only a private certificate. But as you say Airline Flying 101 your probably right as I have not "Flown" for an airline but corporte side I have. Ill give you an example of a fellow Riddle pilot I knew who I got a job in a right seat of a Citation V. Said person only flew at Riddle. She quit/was fired after the second trip because she couldnt handle flying with the captain because he flew in ways that Riddle had not prepared her or taught her and she constantly questioned him on his flying. (Hes a 767 and Citation Captain) he eventually gave her the boot b/c she couldnt handle flying without a memorized checklist in hand and following the exact procedures she was used to.

The point I was trying to make before is that in my experience in seeing new riddle recruits in the airline and corporate world is that a lot of them were amazed they had to preflight their aircraft in the rain, wind, or snow. Riddle would hardly let their pilots fly in rain and forget even preflighting if it is drizzling. Once these guys get their first job flying a CRJ and have to go outside in the rain to look over the aircraft they are typically blown away that they have to do it. I have heared this countless times from recent grads and I see it all the time if 100% of their flying was done there. Granted I feel riddle management does this because they want to protect their name because if the news catches word that a Riddle plane crashed it would severly hurt their name in the industry. There is nothing professional about taxxiing down an FBO ramp at 2 MPH with your landing/taxi/Strobe lights on blinding the rampers and other pilots. It common courtasy battling their ops specs.


Just thinking back about my Riddle days I remember this one student who taxied out of their parking spot starting a turn but then failing epically and going right into a fence while I sat about 50 feet away watching the whole time. I then walked calmy inside and told dispatch what happend and then the person calls over the ARINC explaining what happend and asked what to do. The first thing they said to do was turn of the engine as the wing got more entangled in the fence.

I have hundreds of stories like this haha. But dont get me wrong, every flight school has some stuff like this. I LOVED my experince at Riddle but many times I couldnt stand the people I went with but I have made many life long friends and collegues.

EAndres1486

Im one of the semi-smart or semi-dumb ones depending on who you talk to. Have a yr left in the AF so i have full GI Bill beneifits. Should have my IR by the time i get ready to go to a residency college. AZ works for the family and i better vs FL. I am close to having a BA degree complete with Riddle Online so most of the classes i lack are going to be upper level anyway.

As for the degrees it one of those i probably wont make a decision until after the college visits. Have a coupel other school im looking at as well, so we will just have to see what happens

pilotgil

I really don't understand the anti-Riddle sediment on this forum. In fact, I'm not logging back in after this post because of the nasty comments. Why would so many want to destroy and attack the institution? My experience was 99.99% flawless. I would "do it again" in a heartbeat. Without my education, I wouldn't be smiling on my way into work each day.

HERE'S THE TRUTH: It doesn't matter where you go. It matters that you went, you worked hard, and you learned. Too many EXPECT a school to shove knowledge down one's throat. A school is an environment for YOU to learn.

Go to UND, FIT, ERAU, or anywhere but go. Fly. Learn. Do what you can afford. Don't take on debt that you can't repay.

I also DISAGREE with the get a "real degree" from someplace else and then learn to fly. ERAU has many degrees but too many just got by on the easy route. Engineering? They got it. Business? They got it. Computer Science? They got it. What did the complainers major in? Probably Aeronautical Science. It's a general degree for PILOTS.

Guess what? a degree in economics after flying for 15 years is WORTHLESS.

I'm guessing the complainers here are the same people who whine because they aren't making enough because of the "airline" and that only a new union contract will may 'em pay. I see it every day. Whining, complaining, and figuring out how NOT to fly.

Saying that ERAU has no credibility is dishonest. So goodbye APCF. I have voted with my last logout.

topprospect16

oh well.....

milehigh1976

How quick? How motivated are you? I recently graduated from Bowling Green State University. In May of 2009 I was a private single and multi. One year later I was commercial single/multi/inst, CFI/CFII...5 written exams and 5 practical exams within a year. That is 3 years of work (as the universities have it designed) completed within 1 year because I busted my behind more than the average 21 year old college kid. I am not 21. How motivated are you?

trackpilot

F ME!!! I went to Riddle right after i got out of the Navy in '03. I had the MGIB that paid like $36k or something like that. And i'm over my head in student loan debt.
But now if you were in the military you get 100% free tuition AND BAH?!?!?!? I can't explain how mad that makes me. I mean good for you guys. But damn i wish they would repay these student loans for me...

erictgill

I got completely lucky. I enlisted in 06 expecting to get the MGIB and out of the blue the Post 9/11 popped out of nowhere. The only reason I joinned the military was for the education benefits, flight training isn't cheap.

clipperskipper

I have steered many young adults in the direction of a recruiter who either want to learn to fly, want a college degree, or both. The opportunities available today are endless, and there is a new program where you can go to school first, making you non-deployable.