Euro American School of Aviation....Seem too Cheap.

[PippinNippin]

Hello Everyone...

Need some good advice from anyone who has been to this place. Not someone who knows someone who knows someone who went there. I'm looking for some solid first hand information.

They seem to cheap to be true and on their Facebook page nobody ever answers a question which is worrying.

Get ready for a good laugh.... I'm 40 about to turn 41 and I've wanted to be a pilot for 20 years and not been able to afford it been saving got £40k and want to take my current ppl training further. Trust me no finance company is going to help me so I'm on my own. They seem the only affordable option. My only option at the moment is to go to Florida to take a look myself.

[B2N2]

They had such a bad reputation that they decided to change the name.....alledgedly......:rolleyes:

[alkatifa]

I don't see any reason to laugh.... you have your own reasons to embark on your training, being private or comercial, and I applaude you.

That being said, I would suggest to go down there to FL and take a look around yourself before making any hasty decisions. Also you could consider Aviator/EFT as well.

[kaptn]

I haven't studied there, but I have read many negative posts about this school...the best way is to contact former students who can give you the right feedback

[JDZ1]

Hi there,
I went to that school a few years ago when it was named as Ormond Beach aviation. I'd be more than happy to chat with you about the place. If you want to private message me I'lll send you my number.

[mac81]

I've been there few years ago...great place,good school and good people...Unfortunatly they were involved in some accidents due to a beautiful but difficult airplane to handle:xl liberty. I know in the last years they changed the most of airplanes in Pa 28 , a great trainer plane....finally i suggest you to go there,enjoy your time and fly safely :).
If you are able, sit the theorical exams in uk before you leave to florida....you'll have more time to dedicate visiting Daytona sorroundings area.

[GAZ45]

I went to the school for a JAA PPL - I did my exams prior to leaving the UK and focused solely on the flying when I was there.

I was lucky with the weather, my instructor was decent and luckily the aircraft availability was fine at the time. I popped out the other end (2 and half weeks later) with a PPL.

Yes the planes are old and abit shoddy, but you’re getting what you pay for at the end of the day.

As for the management and business itself I thought it was fine. Yes, they want your money (but they are a business for god’s sake). I found that due to the fact there is no aptitude test or even basic educational entrance criteria, anyone can turn up there with the cash to complete training, irrespective of their actual aptitude for flying.

I found it amazing the amount of guys who took the time, money and effort to travel to the US without even going for a trial flight in a light aircraft at their local airfield - or didn’t bother to go to one of the bigger integrated schools for an aptitude test, just to give themselves some idea of whether they have the aptitude to succeed at flying professionally.

I met many there who were completely illiterate in spoken English (let alone written), who clearly expected to pay for a license and were very angry when the examiner would not issue them one. Also a large chunk of people rock up and spend the whole time in a bar, and not realising there is a large proportion of effort that needs to be invested on your side (it’s not just the instructors responsibility to pass you).

To address TomTomClub’s comments about age. I trained with a few guys there who were over 40 and completed their PPL in minimum hour requirements. You can either do it or you can’t. Some students could not pass the PPL – irrespective of age. I met people who could not bring all the nav, comms and aircraft handling together for the skill test and spent double the hours training for their PPL – unbelievably, most of these wanted to continue onto their CPL/IR.

At this point what does a business do? If the student is happy to carry on paying for training, then surely, as a business, they are going to continue providing the training.

I understand the concerns raised, and the poor reputation the school has – I personally would not continue training onto CPL/IR/ME at the school. It’s just not good enough to provide those levels of training. But, it seems to me that if you have your head screwed on, it’s not a bad PPL factory.