ERAU & Flightsafeti Intl

[Skaz]

Can some of you enlightened individuals out there perhaps give me an impression of the industry perception on Embry-Riddle degrees?
I am about to enroll in a Batchelors in Aeronautical Science with them so would like to know whats the gen...

Also...a friend who is a regional pilot stateside flying B1900's informed me that if you go do a CFII or similar with Flitesafety and work for them, they have you pushing papers and flying a desk for 6-months or longer? Any truth in this, is it worth going there, there just supposed to be the best training institute aound, not so?

[Oleo]

Skaz - you might have more luck putting your query on this American Flight Instructors Bulletin Board.
http://www.cogweb.com/chode/message/pilot/home.html

Be cautioned: there are some very immature people who frequent this board so word your request carefully.

I have only heard a couple of comments about Embry Riddle and these are a couple of years old. I met one young fellow who was leaving after one year to go elsewhere as they did not have enough instructors and hence you were continually getting mucked around scheduling wise. Of his group of friends, only one was returning to Embry Riddle - all the others went to other aviation programmes. I can only imagine that the situation has got worse as instructors are becoming short on the ground. This is just one comment though. Embry does, or did, have a very good reputation and their graduates (and other Aviation Uni graduates) get hired with lower hours than normal.

Flight Safety I know nothing about, except its good reputation.

There are many, many aviation Colleges in the States: do your homework before you spend your money. Here is an article from AOPA (Aircraft owners and pilots assoc). A very useful organisation.
http://www.aopa.org/learntofly/startfly/whycollege.html

Good Luck!

[Skaz]

Thank you Oleo for the advice, I'll be sure to follow it up. I have been in contact with ERAU re application for their Ba Professional Aeronautics degree, and so far it has been fairly frustrating.
cheers

[Oleo]

http://www.avedc.com/
You may also find this useful: looks like some consultants for helping to select Av Colleges. Probably money well spent...

Good luck.

[AeroBoero]

When I was at the FSI Academy , some three years ago , you finished your course and started CFI. Then you applied to a position as Flight Instructor with FSI. If you did get the position , you would do the job you mentioned during aprox. 6 months while you would also do your CFII and CFI-ME. Your "desk-job" would go from answering the phone as "career counselor" as being dispatcher (yep ,like an airline) but once you got to the flying line , you would build your time in a constant rate.And also multi-cultural as you will have a great rate of overseas students.Wheater like only FL have , and you would be warned about FSI "East" or was it "West"??? Nahh....too many beers to remember....

Please : note that I attended three years ago. I don't know the actual situation there and have seen add's to Flight Instructors.Not a common thing when I was there.
The reputation is true ,ups and downs as well , but every office/school/work do have it.
Summing up is one good school.

Hope it helped!

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Reporte través de XAREO

[LAVDUMPER]

Skaz,

Embry-Riddle is considered the "Harvard" of aeronautical universities in the United States - and in most of the world (or so I have heard). The training is excellent - although the campuses could be improved...

I have two brothers who attended Embry-Riddle - one attended the Prescott, AZ campus and the other the Daytona Beach, FL campus. Both have excelled and are now full-fledged major airline pilots at relatively early ages (early to mid 20s). The Embry-Riddle name undoubtedly aided them in their selection among thousands of eligible pilots when interviewing (the check-pilot interviewers were often Embry-Riddle graduates themselves).

The Embry-Riddle "fraternity" is full of successful airline and corporate pilots from around the world. Additionally, Embry-Riddle offers a number of excellent airline and corporate operator internships that can really expedite your career climb (some corporate interns were hired directly into Gulfstream and Challenger operations upon graduation and accumulation of 800-1000 hours total time). All-in-all, having the Embry-Riddle name on your CV can be a competitive advantage in a competitive job market.

Good luck and happy flying!

[rick1128]

As far as FSI is concerned I have attended several classes at the various centers and have been impressed by the quality of the instruction given. Earlier this year my partner who had previously only dealt with Simuflite commented on how much better the instruction was at FSI.

As for the Academy, the way they are advertising for instructors, I do not believe that they would have you flying a desk very long if at all. It is my understanding that they are extremely short of instructors at most if not all the centers, including Vero Beach.

A personal comment about Emery Riddle and the Flight Safety First Officer Program. My experience with pilots from these programs has been only acceptable up to this point. Flying skills have been good to very good. The problem I have seen is attitude. I have seen too many grads from either program who thought they were too good to have to pay their dues. Most of us 'old farts' worked our butts off to get where we are today. While we do understand that the job market is much better now than ever before, these new kids need to understand that there is much much more to this job than just driving airplanes.