fsnoek
22nd Apr 2013, 11:50
I just registered because I thought that maybe some people would like to know my experience about the Euro American School of Aviation in Florida. I just got back with a PPL and am satisfied about my stay there. I have been there for about 6 weeks and spend around 10 000 euro for about 57 hours (airplane ticket and visa costs not included).
I have seen some threads about Fly Easa that made me concerned about the quality of the flight school. I went there because of the price and to to finish my PPL quickly.
Housing:
The housing is what I expected to be. I had a shared room. Dont expect luxury, it is very basic. I stayed at sugar creek road number 7. When I started there were 6 people in the house There are 4 rooms from which one is private I think. In each is a bed and a closet and that is about it. There is also a shared living room. A good thing was the presents of a washing machine in each house (costs one dollar to use it).
Location:
The supermarket is far. The one I went to was wallmart. Unlike in the Netherlands the supermarket sells not just food, but also other products like bikes electronics clothe and even guns. The first time I did grocerys I walked, but it is really far. What a lot of guys did was buy a bicycle at wallmart, use it, and then return it when they left. I didn't feel comfortable doing this, but wallmart doesnt make an issue about it. I have not heared anyone saying they didnt accept it (even with a dirty bicycle and rusted chain). If you want to do other things besides flying some form of transportation is needed cause everything is far (exept for the airport which is 20-25 minutes walking or 10 min by bicycle).
Theory:
I did some studying at the study center. Its just a room with 6 desks and a computer on it. I havent used the computer at all but some werent working. You need to read the books before you come. It is recommended that you finish all the theory exams as soon as possible, just to get it out of the way. I used PPL cruiser to practise for the exams. From all the people who came and didnt read the books before they came, I have not spoken to any who actually read them during their stay. Instead they used PPL cruiser only or similar sites.
If you wanted to do an exam you had to fill in your name on a paper and you could do it the next day, with a maximum of 2 a day. You can try every exam up to 3 times. After that you can no longer do the test at the flight school and you will have to go to england to try it again. I have not heared of anybody who didnt pass it within 3 times during my stay. Resits are 40 dollars.
The Aircraft:
I have had no issues with the aircraft. One thing to keep in mind is that there are only 2 cessna 152's. I dont know how many PA28s there are but I think around 10. Also my guess is that the C152 are harder to fly because they fly more slowly and therefore are probably more sensitive to crosswind. So even though the package is cheaper it might take you longer to complete the whole course. And it will take you longer to make one complete circuit, or the cross countries (1st cross country(ormond, grass airfield west of ormond, flagler) 2nd (ormond, st augustine) and the last (ormond, gainsville, st augustine, ormond)).
The weather:
The weather was very nice, hardly seen any rain and most days were without clouds. The wind is the only thing that is a problem when going solo or doing circuits. You are not allowed to land an aircraft at an airport where it is gusting. I was very lucky and didnt have to wait to do my cross counties but Ive heared some people saying they had to wait a couple of weeks.
Extra costs:
The first day you have to buy some books (flight manual 25 dollar, map 10 dollar, a VFR guide and a fuel sampler). I think they already mention it on their website. Another thing is that they ask you if you want insurance. If you break something and its your fault you have to pay up to a certain amount yourself. I forgot how much it was. For 200 dollar you wont have to pay anything even if it was your fault. I took the insurance to be save. And lastly is the housing. For every extra week you have to pay 200 dollar or 300 if you have a single room. There have been very very very few people who finished the course in 3 weeks. I think 5 weeks is a good number of weeks, and 7 to be on the save side. Some people rented their own place somewhere else for as low as 200 a month. I have not spoken to those people about it, but I believed it was shared as well. Of course if you go past the minimum of 45 hours you will have to pay extra as well, and thats why cost can increase rapidly towards the end. It isnt extra hidden cost, but it is something to keep in mind.
Instructors
I was very happy with my instructor. He wanted to get me finished with as few hours as possible. And he tried to do anything to make that happen. He also expected the same from you, so if you didnt memorised your checklist well enough he would bust your balls for it. Everybody gets his own instructor, and when hes off you get another one. I think I flew around 7 hours with another instructor.
Things that helped me:
When aircraft are on the ground sit in them and memorise the checklists and procedures. I had a piece of paper with all the manouvres on it and all the steps. I think doing this saved me some hours. Also flying with someone else in the back seat can save some hours. For instance learning to navigate is something you can do at the back seat (as well as other things).
Things I didnt like:
One thing I didnt like was that the PA28 information manual was out of stock during almost my entire stay. It was only the last week or so that I could buy one. Luckely enough my instructor borrowed me his. And another thing I would have wanted to buy and wasnt there was a protractor because someone took mine.
Also I didnt have to file any flight plans. I dont know if thats the same with all the other flight schools but I would have wanted to do that at least a couple of times.
The last thing was during my last few days. I extended my stay a couple of times. The housing is 200 dollars a week, but it costs more if you extend it on a daily bases. Since I had to keep extending I ended up with more than a week with the daily price. And they didnt want to give me the cheaper weekly rent. Even though it was not really my fault (I think it is 50 dollar extra or so).
Final things
I did my PPL there, and I dont know how CPL and IR is. I think that the company is focused on PPL, and that they only have one single engine and 1 multi engine CPL aircraft. It is something to keep in mind cause I can imagine that could be a problem.
All in all I didnt have that many complaints and am pritty happy that I went there. The housing is what I expected, even though its might be a bit pricy. I dont share the opinions of many others that the people are unfriendly and management is bad. The instructor I had was very good, because you could notice he wanted to get me finished with minimum hours. Prepare before you go there and read all the books. Dont focus on the 3 week course duration cause its more likely you will spend there twice as long.
Hope this post will help some people making their choise.
I have seen some threads about Fly Easa that made me concerned about the quality of the flight school. I went there because of the price and to to finish my PPL quickly.
Housing:
The housing is what I expected to be. I had a shared room. Dont expect luxury, it is very basic. I stayed at sugar creek road number 7. When I started there were 6 people in the house There are 4 rooms from which one is private I think. In each is a bed and a closet and that is about it. There is also a shared living room. A good thing was the presents of a washing machine in each house (costs one dollar to use it).
Location:
The supermarket is far. The one I went to was wallmart. Unlike in the Netherlands the supermarket sells not just food, but also other products like bikes electronics clothe and even guns. The first time I did grocerys I walked, but it is really far. What a lot of guys did was buy a bicycle at wallmart, use it, and then return it when they left. I didn't feel comfortable doing this, but wallmart doesnt make an issue about it. I have not heared anyone saying they didnt accept it (even with a dirty bicycle and rusted chain). If you want to do other things besides flying some form of transportation is needed cause everything is far (exept for the airport which is 20-25 minutes walking or 10 min by bicycle).
Theory:
I did some studying at the study center. Its just a room with 6 desks and a computer on it. I havent used the computer at all but some werent working. You need to read the books before you come. It is recommended that you finish all the theory exams as soon as possible, just to get it out of the way. I used PPL cruiser to practise for the exams. From all the people who came and didnt read the books before they came, I have not spoken to any who actually read them during their stay. Instead they used PPL cruiser only or similar sites.
If you wanted to do an exam you had to fill in your name on a paper and you could do it the next day, with a maximum of 2 a day. You can try every exam up to 3 times. After that you can no longer do the test at the flight school and you will have to go to england to try it again. I have not heared of anybody who didnt pass it within 3 times during my stay. Resits are 40 dollars.
The Aircraft:
I have had no issues with the aircraft. One thing to keep in mind is that there are only 2 cessna 152's. I dont know how many PA28s there are but I think around 10. Also my guess is that the C152 are harder to fly because they fly more slowly and therefore are probably more sensitive to crosswind. So even though the package is cheaper it might take you longer to complete the whole course. And it will take you longer to make one complete circuit, or the cross countries (1st cross country(ormond, grass airfield west of ormond, flagler) 2nd (ormond, st augustine) and the last (ormond, gainsville, st augustine, ormond)).
The weather:
The weather was very nice, hardly seen any rain and most days were without clouds. The wind is the only thing that is a problem when going solo or doing circuits. You are not allowed to land an aircraft at an airport where it is gusting. I was very lucky and didnt have to wait to do my cross counties but Ive heared some people saying they had to wait a couple of weeks.
Extra costs:
The first day you have to buy some books (flight manual 25 dollar, map 10 dollar, a VFR guide and a fuel sampler). I think they already mention it on their website. Another thing is that they ask you if you want insurance. If you break something and its your fault you have to pay up to a certain amount yourself. I forgot how much it was. For 200 dollar you wont have to pay anything even if it was your fault. I took the insurance to be save. And lastly is the housing. For every extra week you have to pay 200 dollar or 300 if you have a single room. There have been very very very few people who finished the course in 3 weeks. I think 5 weeks is a good number of weeks, and 7 to be on the save side. Some people rented their own place somewhere else for as low as 200 a month. I have not spoken to those people about it, but I believed it was shared as well. Of course if you go past the minimum of 45 hours you will have to pay extra as well, and thats why cost can increase rapidly towards the end. It isnt extra hidden cost, but it is something to keep in mind.
Instructors
I was very happy with my instructor. He wanted to get me finished with as few hours as possible. And he tried to do anything to make that happen. He also expected the same from you, so if you didnt memorised your checklist well enough he would bust your balls for it. Everybody gets his own instructor, and when hes off you get another one. I think I flew around 7 hours with another instructor.
Things that helped me:
When aircraft are on the ground sit in them and memorise the checklists and procedures. I had a piece of paper with all the manouvres on it and all the steps. I think doing this saved me some hours. Also flying with someone else in the back seat can save some hours. For instance learning to navigate is something you can do at the back seat (as well as other things).
Things I didnt like:
One thing I didnt like was that the PA28 information manual was out of stock during almost my entire stay. It was only the last week or so that I could buy one. Luckely enough my instructor borrowed me his. And another thing I would have wanted to buy and wasnt there was a protractor because someone took mine.
Also I didnt have to file any flight plans. I dont know if thats the same with all the other flight schools but I would have wanted to do that at least a couple of times.
The last thing was during my last few days. I extended my stay a couple of times. The housing is 200 dollars a week, but it costs more if you extend it on a daily bases. Since I had to keep extending I ended up with more than a week with the daily price. And they didnt want to give me the cheaper weekly rent. Even though it was not really my fault (I think it is 50 dollar extra or so).
Final things
I did my PPL there, and I dont know how CPL and IR is. I think that the company is focused on PPL, and that they only have one single engine and 1 multi engine CPL aircraft. It is something to keep in mind cause I can imagine that could be a problem.
All in all I didnt have that many complaints and am pritty happy that I went there. The housing is what I expected, even though its might be a bit pricy. I dont share the opinions of many others that the people are unfriendly and management is bad. The instructor I had was very good, because you could notice he wanted to get me finished with minimum hours. Prepare before you go there and read all the books. Dont focus on the 3 week course duration cause its more likely you will spend there twice as long.
Hope this post will help some people making their choise.