Flying In Florida

[Piper Warrior Pilot]

OK. I was wondering if anyone can give me any information about Orlando Flight Training.

I would also like to know how much Naples Air Center pays people to advertise them on here. Do they offer a discount on student's licences if they agree to brag about them on PPRUNE?

any comments would be greatly appreicated.

[onehunga]

do a search and read through the 100's of threads that will appear. general consensus is that the only thing that is consistent is that they are all different.

good luck
:p

[Baldie Man]

You won't endear yourself to the guys who run this site by starting fractious threads on US FTO's Piper Pilot.

I would imagine this one will be closed as soon as they see it.

Silly boy. :o

BM.

[Piper Warrior Pilot]

I think you'll find that quite a lot of poeple on PPRUNE have the same views as me on the matter.

It has been proven that a lot of people do not even post on the PPRUNE forum and only read the posts because they do not wish to be hammered with insults and abuse from others.

Everyone is entitled to their own opnion and im only speaking my mind.

I didnt mean any offence by the comment but i have searched the forum on the topic of Florida Flying Schools for the past week and i cant seem to get anything apart from Naples Air Center being 'the best'.

Surely they are not the only good flying school in florida, i just cant get a straight answer because so many people are only giving one name of a flight school in Florida.

Sorry if anyone who works for Naples Air Center on here, takes offence because there is none being aimed at them.

[Baldie Man]

The owner of this site got some heavy legal threats not so long ago regarding US schools.

Quite understandably any thread on US schools is now, more often than not, deleted unless things have changed.

I am surprised none of this showed up in your search.

BM.

[Piper Warrior Pilot]

I dont wanna kick up a fuss. I have nothing against any florida flight school. Im just trying to find out which ones are any good. If im gonna go out to the US next year and part with a lot of money then i want to know that the flying school has a good reputation.

Im thinking about Orlando Flight Center. Any good?

[spitfire747]

Piper Warrior Pilot

I have posted on both these schools, search and read the facts... I am not paid off from NAC or OFT !!

If a school is good, i tell people its good, if a school is crap, i tell people its crap.... I have nothing to gain or lose. If you have got a bee in your bonnet about the comments posted on both these schools... then AVOID them !

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Piper Warrior Pilot,

If you are worried about offending me, please do not. When I saw your original post I it brought a smile to my face. I had to call my wife in to read it. We work very hard to try and please everyone who comes to our school. We do not please everyone, but we do what we can to learn and keep improving.

If you feel that there are too many positive stories on PPRuNe, Nikki and myself are very happy since it means we are succeeding in our efforts to provide a good learning environment.

I hope you have a good trip to OFT,

Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.

[Limey]

Naples and OFT are both excellent schools so chill out and flip a coin !

[Facts Not Fiction Pls]

How many threads are you going to start on the same subject!!!

Did you finally get an answer that you set out for...

Get back to Private Flying!!!!!!

[concernedparent]

Maybe you should try IFTA they seem to be the kind of school you are looking for, or are you the employee of a not so popular FTO like this one , just a thought....

[Thundercat]

I too was in a similar situation as you a few months back and conducted a search on PPrune. Indeed, exactly as you have said, the majority of the feedback was almost biasly on the side of Naples Air Centre. Suspicious? A little - but then I was ready to accept that maybe, just maybe, NAC was indeed an outstanding FTO.

I was considering 3 training schools in Florida; NAC, OFT, and Great Ormond Beach. I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a decision based on the merits of each.

I looked at the aircraft each offered (how new, what equipment, what type etc), the schools' training facilities, transfers, accomodation, airspace and lastly price. On top of this I spoke with each FTO in person.

I ranked them as follows:
1. NAC
2. OFT
3. Great Ormond Beach

In the end I chose NAC because they went that extra mile that the others did not. Many of the factors I looked at above where very similar between the schools so it was difficult to decide purely on them. I was impressed with the way NAC rang me at home every so often to see how my plans were coming along, they sent me an impressive CDROM of their establishment and facilites so I knew what to expect, and they gave me sound advice (the other FTO's told me I wouldn't need a Visa and could come as a tourist - wrong advice).

I haven't gone there yet - will be over there in about 1 months time, so I can't give you first hand experiance. From what I can see though, FTOs are big business in Florida and it's taken very seriously.Ultimately I believe you will be happy at any of the above three organisations.

Good luck


The Cat

[Dubliner No.1]

Guys,
Wow there are some some suspicous people out there thats for sure! I was having a good laugh at all the people ranting and raving about Naples air center. I am presently a student here ( I promise I am not an employee!). It is a pretty good school, no school is perfect, but they have your best intrests at heart for the most, and are always very honest. If anyone has any doubts contact any of the past or present pupils thats the best way to get feedback.

[kabz]

Here's the factors that really hurt doing my PPL :

- Poor scheduling. I hold down a day job and was just flying at weekends.
- Liked my instructor, but he failed somewhat with me, and was subsequently shown to have failed with a bunch of other students. Bad news.
- Hard to schedule instructor.
- Aircraft down-time.

I ended up quitting for a bit and switching schools. Sadly most of the problems were the same (i.e. my fault) though I did eventually get my private certificate 15 months after I started.

Learning from these lessons, I just did my Instrument in 3 months or so, which has been hard work, but very satisfying. Here's how I did it :

- Lots of studying when not flying
- Scheduled night ifr xc with instructor to meet the 50 hour xc requirement
- Flew couple of regular lessons / xc on the weekends
- Found the money to fly three times a week

The most important things is to find a good instructor, and be able to fly regularly so you don't forget things. 3 times a week is good. Good aircraft and scheduling is good too.

Talk to ex-students of a school. Find out if the instructors are good. Find out whether the aircraft have a lot of downtime.

Good Luck !!!!

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

PWP,

This thread seems to be getting rather long, however, I think I will state the obvious.

Why not go and visit these schools? When I was considering flying schools in the United States, I bought myself a cheap air fare, hopped in a bloody great Dodge Stratus at the other end and drove around Florida looking at the different schools. Check the schools out, look at their aircraft, talk to the instructors, talk to the students that are there. At least then you can obtain your own opinion, and assess whether the school and its environment suits you.

Obviously I do not know your circumstances, whether this is a feasible option for you, however, it may save a rough ride if you bite the bullet this side of the pond.

By the way, I have also been to NAC, and thought it was great :D.

[Cardinal Puff]

There's always South Africa. Somewhat cheaper than the US with comparable conditions but you may have difficulty with the JAR bit. Always good for hour building though and a number of operators doing stuff for ICRC and UN based here. Get some useful contacts, drop off a few CVs and you never know......

Contact me [email protected] if you need a few phone numbers.