American Flyers

[mbm]

Anyone had any experience with these guys? Perhaps someone is on the internship at present? Is it a good school? Forgive my ignorance I have no idea about US flight schools.

I'm thinking about it but not sure how genuine the whole thing is. The information I have basically reads like this:

After a student has completed their flight instructor ratings they will then be enrolled into the ATP program. In this program and as part of your course you will instruct other students, not as an employee but as part of the course requirement. This will continue for 9 months of enrolment in the school. A small allowance is paid, not a wage, allowing you to remain on the I-20 (also known as the M-1 student visa).

After this period you may then interview for employment as a flight instructor at American Flyers. If selected you would then be able to work as a paid employee of American Flyers. (Assuming you have a visa that permits employment).
Does this mean that they sponsor Greencard applications?

Any posts good or bad would be appreciated.

[smoothkpilot]

Has anyone heard or been on the pilot internship offered by American Flyers in Florida. I know it runs for a year and I wanted to hear from someone who has been on this program or knows anything about it, any info appreciated be it good or bad.

Thanks
SmoothK

[WX Man]

I didn't go to this, but I heard about the deal they are offering. Don't know what to make of it myself... it could be a blessing in disguise, or it could be the next tactic that the big US flying schools are using in order to get a cheap, steady supply of instructors willing to work for next to nothing. Read on...

The deal is a 'scholarship'. You apply, they create a training programme for you (which you pay for, of course) based on your previous experience. Then, on completing this, you work for them for a 3 month probationary period having been given only a 'housing allowance'. If, after this period, they like you, they will take you on as a in-house trainee. They therefore sponsor you for the H-3 visa, which is valid for up to 2 years.

And that's it. You can extend the H-3 visa if you wish (and if the INS permits!), and also apply for the hallowed green card based upon this visa.

So here's the crux: option 1 (success)- you apply, they accept you, you get FAA licences, and then you end up working for them. You're happy with them as an employer, and they're happy with you as an employee. Happy days.

Option 2(misery)- you apply, they accept you, you get FAA licences, but then they don't take you on. You have FAA licences, and no visa (not even a J-1), and must leave the country pretty soon. Short and curlys? I think so.

Am I being too cynical? Or am I painting a realistic picture of this too-good-to-be-true offer?

[Speedbird48]

You must be from the UK and expect sponsorship for anything or goverment hand outs. There is little if any sponsorship in the US.
In the US it is normal for kids to work their way through college and this is no exception. The program is used by many flight schools and the airline that I work with has many foreign Captains and F/O's that have come up this way.
A different culture does it different ways! Agreed there is an element of risk if you cannot hack it, but who said there are any guarantees in life?

[Kenny]

WX Man,

Just a few points about your post. My flatmate has just been working with a lawyer to get an H-3 and it's been a waste of time aswell as money for him.

Firstly the visa is only valid for a maximum of 2 years, no longer. Secondly, it's ONLY valid for the duration of the training programme. So you cannot work on it after you've finished training. Thirdly, one of the requirements for being granted an H-3 is that the company you are getting an H-3 for has to sign a letter stating that any work experience you do while training in no way implies a full-time job.

The J-1 is still the best train and work visa although there are no extensions after the 2 year period. And you only get 1.

Another thing is that the only visa you can apply for residency on is the H-1B. The only problem with that is that there is a "prevailing wage" requirement. This is the salary that the state thinks you should be paid do that job. Currently in Florida the prevailing wage is $30/hour!!!!!Not a hope in hell of getting that from a flight school.

Hope this helps.

Which F@#ker killed me?

[WX Man]

Speedbird 48- let me put this straight... there is no 'sponsorship' as such- you still pay for your training as anyone else does in the USA. The 'sponsorship' is for the visa, because in order to get a working visa for the USA, you must have a proposer to petition the INS... i.e., a 'sponsor'.

Kenny- Interesting. I am aware that the H3 visa is a training visa, but from the presentation I understood them to be peddling full time jobs to their people on H3 visas. Looks like I'll be giving it a miss then!

BTW, the person who passed me the advert for the seminar was a guy who has worked in the diplomatic service most of his life... that is, the US diplomatic service. His wife still works at the US embassy in London. What is most interesting is what he had to say about my quest for a US working visa. His verdict? Marry an American!

[WX Man]

Kenny- just an afterthought. Can you forward my email address to your flatmate? I'd like to hear his experiences with trying to get a US visa. My email is [email protected]

Cheers!

[eatersmeater]

Has anyone here used the American Flyers On Line Written test prep for the FAA PPL, CPL and MIFR writtens???

It costs $150 US, and I want to ensure I'm not wasting my hard earned money before buying the program.

Thank u.

[weasil]

Please send me a private email with any questions you might have.

[email protected]

[dorosenco]

FAA exams are piece-of-cake. Buy the GLEIM CD-ROM for less than $100 and study by yourself, you don't have to pay a flight school for that.

:D

[weasil]

With Gleim though you have to pay again for each additional test you want to study for. With AF you pay once only and can come back as often as you like for life.

[dorosenco]

point taken !
What I like about Gliem is that their question bank is really up-to-date. American Flyers has questions 20 years old and some of the new questions are not included. I'm not saying that the FAA question bank is evolving too much but there are additional questions (very few) each year. After 20 years you can see some differences.

;)

[moku]

I used AF for the online FIRC. Was actaully very impressed by it. I had one problem with a question missing some of the text but a quick email and all was well.

[weasil]

American Flyers maintains it's own question bank with questions that originally came from the FAA. When you take a test with them you are taking one with the questions from their bank.. not the FAA's.

[AviationMan]

Hi just like to hear Good/Bad about American Flyers....
I am looking at taking their CFI ACADEMY.
So it would be great to hear positive AND negative about the place.
Thanks and merry Christmas

[ciscog4]

Hi
Just wondering if anybody trained with American Flyers and could say what it was like.Someone recomended the school to me.

Thanks!

[kui2324]

There are a few different ones. Which one were you thinking of?

I did my FAA IR @ Santa Monica March 2004. They are a professional organisation, well run, I never had any problems with instructors/slots/aircraft going tech. Flew every day with the same instructor.

Certainly with the exchange rate as it is now (and it was pretty good when I was there) it turned out to be less expensive than I first planned but that was more by luck. And fuel prices have gone up there meantime.

Although I do know there are perhaps less expensive options in the US to choose from. They were able to issue the correct paperwork though and not all the FTOs can.

All depends on what you want to get out of it, what you want to spend and where you want to go!

[ciscog4]

I was thinking of the one in Dallas or Pompano Beach.

[flyingmat]

Hi there!
I was looking for some upgrades about this topic *with special reference to the Dallas and New Jersey facilities.
Have anybody ever had to deal with them? Are these serious guys?
What about the instructors quality and experience?
Thank you for any possible feedback*

[kimsmith]

My brother Went through its program over a year ago. The program varies significantly by location. I highly recommend their course.

[TheBiggerD]

If anybody has any questions about American Flyers, feel free to PM me as I actually taught at one of their locations.
Flyingmat: my advice go to the Florida location at Pompano Beach.


Wow, kimsmith, you are truly a trip.
So based on your posts we have the following, that is your brother completed his flight training at Pathway Flight training. But then you said he went to Charter College. Or is it American Flyers. Or you can't make up your mind when you post drivel.




Pathway flight training: @ herb S
My brother has completed his helicopter pilot training from this college.



I would recommend you Hawaii Flight Academy and Barbers Point Flight School. My uncle has completed his fixed win training from Hawaii Flight Academy before 6 months.



"My dad is Pilot. He took training from Northway Aviation located at Washington. Less than 3 weeks after finishing, He had an interview and was placed with an airline. "


"My brother is getting FAA license training from Charter College Aviation located in CA. Charter College Aviation have 3 academy in California. "


So where did your brother go kimsmith? American Flyers, Charter College of Aviation or Pathway Flight Training. Stop posting drivel.