Which school?

[Thakis]

What schools would you suggest in the States?
I am coming from Europe. I do not search for schools in a specific State,so it doesn't matter where,i just need a good flight school (SEVIS approved)to train for the ppl/cpl/me,ir.

Thank you in advance.

[Mollymatz]

My brother completed his Commercial Pilot Training from Spartan college which is SEVIS approved. Currently he is working U.S. Helicopters.

[Thakis]

Hello,
I sent an email to Spartan College.

About FSA,i used to see only positive reviews about the school. However,there was a thread here in pprune in which many people were complaining that the school is not how it should be,losing its reputation etc. This worried me the most. Can someone confirm this? How is FSA now?


Thank you.

[FSXChicago]

Are you only interested in state schools? Have you tried any private schools?

[RIGHTSEATKC135]

My son went the Embry-Riddle/FSI route, and has been very satisfied with the results. F.I.T. was also under strong consideration, however, student financing was far more available and affordable at ERAU, should this be a consideration.

May you have many successful and happy years in the aviation field!

[JCmonroe]

I just finished my initial training and the fact that I wanted to write a short article about that has been on my mind for a while. PLease post any comments to what I wrote.

Initial Flight Training. (Cloud Dancer Aviation)

Disclaimer: This piece of information is not meant to discredit the training facilities where I did my initial training or the persons involved. Nor is this meant to discourage talented students who are considering becoming a commercial pilot and who are trying to turn this into a serious career. But this is more meant as a warning and preventing students for getting into trouble. This is all based on the personal mistakes that I made during my training.

Before you do your initial training, I would highly recommend you to do research on the flight schools and who you are dealing with. What exactly the costs are from zero to commercial level and how the school is organized. I went to a flight school called Cloud Dancer Aviation based in Deland, Florida. Just after my arrival the school gave me a room in an apartment, where you will live with other students from the school. I quickly noticed that a number of students were not satisfied with the training that they did. Maintenance problems with the aircraft and financial issues with the management is usually a reason for the student to leave the school. (In most cases you will not be reimbursed for the services you did not use or the school will accuse you of material or immaterial damage that you caused to the school)

Please pay attention to what the school is offering you. I paid for a package which is based on minimum amount of hours. But this also includes ground school, 3 written tests,
3 checkrides, 3 TSA application fees, administration fees, books, checklists and additional equipment such as a fuel tester.

The main thing you need to pay attention to is the hours of flight time you will get, since this is the biggest cost factor. I paid for the following amount of hours and I will show you also the more realistic numbers that you need to take into consideration.

Paid for:
Private: 40 hours (30 hours were dual given and 10 hours solo)
Instrument: 35 hours (24 hours were given as actual, 11 hrs were simulator)
Commercial Multi-Engine: 20 hours were dual given

Realistic amount:
Private: 60 dual hrs
Instrument: 54 dual (actual hrs)
Commercial: 30 dual hrs

Type of aircraft used:
Private: Cessna 152
Instrument: Cessna 172
Commercial: Piper Seneca

I am not going to mention anything about time building, since some students will to this shared while others do that alone. But I just want you to realize that you will end up paying a lot more than what is represented in the package that you will purchase.
I remember when I was about to finish I realized that I already spend around 50K.
This is just fine when you are already sure of the fact that you can enrol in a cadet program in your home country in order to pay back your student loan. But that is not really common.
Some students are actually forced to quit their training because they ran out of money.

My biggest concern is how the management is actually dealing with their students. As I mentioned above. You need to find out who you are dealing with. I actually had an awkward situation happened to a friend of mine. One day she was called in by the management of her school and they accused her of giving the school a bad name. They immediately cancelled her I-20 and they took 800 dollars from her account. So she was forced to leave the country.
I am not going to provide further details of this event, since I consider that completely irrelevant to the main issue that I am trying to point out to the reader.

So please educate yourself and find a school where you as a student are not subject to any mismanagement that you will end up paying for.
I am sure that there are experienced pilots who will help you with reaching your goal.

Date published: November 7th 2015
Author: JCmonroe

[LimaHotelFlying]

Hello,

I am in a similar situation as Thakis. I come from Europe and I look for a school in the US where I can do my EASA PPL in an accelerated course. I have already spent a lot of time on learning the possibilities.

In addition, I would like to ask you guys, whether someone has experience (good or bad) with the following flight school:

Name: European Flight Training
Based in: Fort Pierce, FL, 34946, USA

Thank you very much in advance!