Find me a School?

[patsac]

hey everyone... i am 31 years old from italy.
looking for a Flying academy in the usa (because i think is cheaper than europe)

I would like a jar/easa license for afutur career in europe!

Do you know any schools in florida/Texas/california which is approved with easa caa etc?

Like everyone else I dont want to spend to much money but there are schools like Aerosim which is very expensive, there are also this schools:

Skymates/Texas
epic/ florida
fly safety/florida
volatus/florida
naples air center/florida
aerosim/florida
fly eft
florida aviation academy....

HEEEELP :ugh:

WHICH ONE IS THE BEST....PRICE/DURATION/QUALITY

[RedBullGaveMeWings]

Cheaper doesn't mean better. I'd go for the European way in Poland (Air Bartolini).

[keith williams]

It is highly unlikely that anyone will have studied/flown at all of the schools that you have listed. The best that you can hope for is that various people will tell you which school they used and whether or not they recommend that school. In all probability some of the people who post will pretend to be student pilots, but will actually be employed by or in some way connected with the school that they are recommending.

At the end of the day you must find the school that best suits your needs. A good starting point might be to check whether or not all of the schools that you have listed are actually approved by EASA.

[RTN11]

As above, noone can give you this answer, as noone will have been to all of the schools.

Some people will rave about the school they went to, others will come out with some crazy horror story which could of been a one off and mostly their fault.

The schools wouldn't stay in business if they were all terrible, so I'd hope most modular schools are of a similar standard.

Visit them yourself and do your own research before you part with such a significant amount of money. Free advice on an anonymous internet forum isn't the best source of info, as you will have flying school owners posting on here with testimonials about how good the training was.

[Wingover85]

I can help you with skymates..PM
ciao

[jez d]

Visit them yourself and do your own research before you part with such a significant amount of money

Sage advice.

[dera]

First go to EASA's website to check who are the approved ATO's who actually can provide that training for you. That should narrow down your list by a few.

[tecbar]

I've heard that Bartolini Air has a Italian native instructor in house. It is worth to check that place in your case also for that reason.

[Halfwayback]

I think you will have gathered from the replies above that this question (which has been asked many times before) requires people to have studied for the same course at different schools before they can make a comparison - otherwise all you will get is subjective responses.

May I suggest that you look through the various threads (Use the Search function with the school's name) and then make up your own mind.

Good luck with your research

HWB

Moderator

[_nova_]

Hey, looking to start my pilot education in the near future and been going over some schools. I've recently registered to this site, but i've been here as a silent reader for quite some time now.

I live in Norway and we do have an excellent flight school programe here, but it costs more than 150 000$, so i'm looking to find something cheaper, and by that i don't mean free. I'm fully aware that cheaper isn't better, but i know i could save some money going abroad as Norways is, in fact, one of the most expensive countries in the world -.-'

I've been looking into their partner school in Daytona, PEA( Phoenix East Aviation) which seems like a good and secure school who offers great training facilities, new aircrafts and experienced instructors. They also offer you a job as an instructor to collect flight hours upon completion of the programe. Norwegian students gets a visa for 2 years, so the faster you're done the more you can work. Now the downside is the conversionpart from FAA to JAR which is kinda expensive, so i'm exploring some alternatives.

I stumbled upon Adria Airways own flight school in Slovenia which also seems to be a great school and i've had some contact with their CEO and it seems like a great school that's not to expensive. Now i don't have any other info but the one he gave me, so i'm not quite sure.

I've also talked to some pilots about a school in Saudi Arabia that would guarantee you 1500 hours (!!) as a FO on an Airbus A320/319(!!) which also seems to good to be true!

Now it's not that important that you have info on one of these schools, but if you do have any info or recomendations on other flight schools anywhere in the world that would be great! Please share!

Europe would be great because of the fact that i actually work as a flight attendant for Scandinavian Airlines, so i could easily work anywhere and travel home and do some work a cuople times a year just to have some income while i'm doing my flight training, but it's not a major factor!

Thanks agaiN! :)

[PigeonVoyageur]

About that school in Saudi Arabia, as you say, it's too good to be true. I'm attaching a list below which can get you started on your search - mind you, it's not exhaustive and I could have missed a few good ones. Most of them have had good reviews on Pprune, so if you do a search for these posts, you should have a fairly good idea. I've included the 3 most expensive also, but you pay a lot for the same kind of training that you'll get elsewhere. I did quite a bit of research myself to find a school for my son, and I can tell you it's a very worthwhile exercise. Good luck in your search.

Belgium
=======
Belgian Flying School

France
======
ESMA (teaching is in english)
Aeropyrenees (teaching is in french)

Ireland
=======
National Flight Centre
Atlantic Flight Training Academy

Poland
======
Bartolini Air

Uk
==
Oxford Aviation Academy (very expensive)
CTC Wings (very expensive)
Flying Time Aviation
Multiflight
Stapleford
PAT Bournemouth
Airways Flight Training Exeter

Spain
=====
FTE Jerez (very expensive)

PS: I forgot to mention that the above list (except for Aeropyrenees) include schools whose medium of teaching is English. If you master another language (e.g. Dutch or German), you can look for a good school in these areas also.

I understand that you are looking for not too expensive schools, but I've included the expensive ones so that you can compare the costs. You will find that the Eastern European schools are much much cheaper than the Western ones because of cost of living there, but make sure that the school (wherever it may be) quotes you for everything - or explicitly mentions that this and that item is excluded from the quoted price - or else you might find additional bills coming out further down your training.

To be able to assess this effectively, you must understand all the modules involved to get to the CPL (and MCC and ATPL if required), and the various costs associated with these modules. That's why when you ask for quotes from different schools and analyse them, you will see that some schools give very detailed quotes and others not so, and you become a bit wiser and your eyes open up and you then try to read the small print to find out if there are any hidden costs. And don't get lured by schools that tell you that they'll get you a job afterwards.

[_nova_]

Ah thank you so much for that answer! Been looking into the Belgian school and Bartolini!
And of course i'm fully aware of keeping an eye out for what hidden costs the various schools may have, as they probably all have some!

The factor that they might tell me they have a job for me won't make my descicion any easier as i'm really not interested in any shortcuts! I'm doing this properly and i have time! I'd rather do this properly and maybe pay some more than being lured into a school that is cheaper, but "offers" me a job, they might or might not have! Unless i sign a contract stating "YOU HAVE A JOB AFTER THE PROGRAME HAS ENDED" ! :ok:

nah, but in all seriousness, thank you for your answer!

have you gone to any of these schools?

[Mark c1]

I completed my CPL and MEIR training at Bartolini in Poland this summer and have no hesitation in recommending them. I don't think I've seen any other school offer the same value for money. By value for money I mean both sides of the equation - the combination of competitive price and high quality service. The instructors are very experienced and highly professional. They are also a thoroughly nice bunch of people and really went the extra mile to get my training finished on time. Anyone thinking of embarking on a course of modular training should give very serious consideration to training at this school. I'm glad I did.

Mark