I'm at PEA at the minute. Me and my mate did Private, Instrument and Commercial in 6 months. It's true that it will cost more than they say, no matter how good you are! I'm banking on about $8k/20% more than they said and I'm only responsible for about $500 of that!! Damn localisers! There's a number of reasons for this (PM me) but I'm assured it's pretty much the case with any school in the USA.
Aside from the extra expense there's not much I personally can complain about. There's only 1 complex single which is a pain if you want to do single commercial and might make people think twice. It's also common to wait 4 or 5 days for a stage check. Just don't fail them (see paragraph 1!
)!!
The 172's are excellent, I've had 2 flights cancelled, one a broken seatbelt, one a mag dropping 200. The Arrow is old! There seems to be enough Senecas at the moment and a friend has done multi private and multi commercial in 2 months.
Basically from what I have experienced is that if you work hard, annoy your instructor by demanding to fly everyday (4 lessons in one day is my best), and keep your head down you will be able to minimise problems that do arise. Besides, WHEN the Arrow breaks down, you can just enjoy the sun by the pool and study for your ATPL's, you're pretty much useless as a European pilot until they're done anyway.......right??!
I haven't dealt with any of the 'important' staff as I keep my head down so I couldn't comment really. I have heard mixed reports, mainly bad but that's because good stuff probably doesn't make as good gossip.
My instructor is excellent, most are very good, a few aren't. Same as everywhere I would have thought?? I've done RAF EFT so that helped a fair bit and yes you can tell the difference between the quality of instruction but even from the start of Private my instructor insisted on Commercial standards. The only areas where I feel the syllabus doesn't teach you enough is during Instruments and the cross country part in particular. Not helped by a lack of IMC in Florida! Fortunately I ask a lot of questions when I feel there is a gap in my training.
Don't just turn up here though. You have to come and see the place and talk to people. Theres a lot of opinions around. Some very happy. Some very unhappy! Expect to have to play the system a bit, make sure you get an instructor you're comfortable with and you get on with (mine slept through half my commercial), and make sure you demand to fly, chase up stage checks etc. Even though the school does seem to be just after your money (they are a business) they do help you out when you ask politely. Wearing uniform and looking professional also probably helps, as do basic 'people' skills (there's a few t o s s e r s)!
They're my thoughts on the place! I hope they were constructive. My other option was to go to Oxford and I still think I made the right choice, this way is just a bit more of a faff.