Flightsafety? Career Pilot? Parisair?

[franztorres21]

Hi, I am international applicant here from the Phil. I am currently torn between these 3 schools, will be starting flight training Jan 2011? Could you give me some advise and suggestions on which is a better school? I will be taking up PPL+CPL+ME+IR+CFI (possible). Are there a lot of students per school? Ratio of plane per student? Instructor per student? Also, is the M1 Visa only valid for 1 year? Cost of living? etc. Thanks.

[SweWB]

Hello,
I spent about 6 months in Vero Beach last year doing CPL ME/IR training at Paris Air (I already held a PPL with about 100 hrs). During that time I made friends with a few FlightSafety students and obiuosly we compared the training and the costs and a few hard facts are: Paris Air has got better equipped and newer planes, the training is faster at Paris Air and the price is lower. I know that my frinds liked having the "brand name" FlightSafety on their resumes and no doubt the training at FlightSafety is well documented. They fly each lesson until they obtain a pass on that particular lesson. There is a manual with SOP that don't change depending on the instructor and so on. At Paris Air you are assigned with your own instrucor and you will train towards the ultimate goal of passing a flight test rather then each lesson. If I had to do the training over again I would return to Paris Air, but then again I never tried another Florida flight school...

[sunny441]

Hi there:

There are a lot of schools that cater to international students and many that issue M-1 visas. The M-1 visas are typically valid for 1 year and that is how long the ratings you seek, take to obtain. However, if you do not finish your course you can always extend your stay (as long as SEVIS and the flight school are ok with it).

With the current economy - most schools are seeing their business slow down. As far as picking a flight school - that is completely up to you. I would personally stay away from the big academy type places. I would talk to as many schools as possible and see who is the best. Usually smaller schools offer good 1-to-1 interaction with your instructor and also more time. As, I always say to people, watch out for hidden fees and "safety pilot" time, also some schools charge extra for the flight briefing and other things.

Cost of living again depends wether your flight school provides housing and how many people you have to share with. It is hard to put an exact $ amount on your monthly expenses!!

Hope this helps. Feel free to contact if you need anymore help!

Cheers
Sunny

[Northbeach]

I attended this school several decades ago. They are extremely well established and have trained thousands of pilots. I am now a Boeing 737 Captain at a U.S. Carrier, looking back over my career and education Big Bend Community College’s flight training was the best value for education dollar I have received. Further, the aviation foundation training I received has served me extremely well. I was properly prepared!

I do not receive any compensation for recommending this school. The link is listed below. Big Bend Community College is a two year college, issues an Associates in Science or Arts degree (AA) as well as private, commercial, instrument FAA licenses (Flight Instructor and Multi-Engine ratings are available as well). The school is located in central Washington State in the Northwest portion of the United States.

http://academics.bigbend.edu/programs/aviation/Pages/default.aspx (http://academics.bigbend.edu/programs/aviation/Pages/default.aspx)

Northbeach

[franztorres21]

Does Bigbend offer M1 Visa? Right now I am only choosing between those 3 schools? I am considering them because of their planes and quality of instruction.

[SweWB]

I was also an international student, I forgot to mention that in my previous post, from sweden and I got an M1 visa through the school. I think it was valid for a year but I only stayed six months. they give you the details to fll in, send you a document to bring to the embassy where the visa is issiued.

I hope you choose Paris Air, I had a great time there and I wish I could go back.