Sunstate Aviation, FL, USA

[SpeedbirdXK8]

Hello All, a friend of a friend is considering learning to fly with Sunstate Aviation, FL, USA. Has anyone used them? Have views about them? Know anything about them? etc etc. Thanks,

[S-Works]

If you mean the guys at Kissimee we were not impressed with them.

Try Tailwheels down the road at Winterhaven.

[enq]

I use Sunstate quite frequently when over there & have always found them very good, decent aircraft & plenty of instructors if learning rather than joyriding. I certainly prefer the class D controlled environment to Winterhaven & the airfield is good & central for the Kissimmee / Disney area.

Horses for courses I suppose but they are very well geared up for training, have been around for years & always seem to have plenty of happy looking students & numerous announcements of student passes on their newsletters when I'm there so I guess they must be doing something right.

If learning, the challenge of a controlled environment (particularly getting used to & regularly practicing the increased radio workload) may be an invaluable experience. I can't fault them at all - a cheerful, well maintained & run flight centre that I don't hesitate to recommend.

That's my twopennorth, regards, enq.

[ivorPhillips]

I have to agree with eng, I have flown out of Kissimmee on numerous occasions’
And Sunstate is a very well run flying school with well maintained aircraft IMHO,

They also have a decent Pilot Shop for all your needs if its your first training sortie,

[gg190]

Affirmative on the two previous replies, did some hour building with them a while back, can't fault them at all.

Friendly atmosphere at the school, very well maintained modern aircraft. Very professional instructors. I would have no hesitation going back to them.

[mrmum]

We had to complete a JAA-PPL(A) here in the UK for a guy who had done about two-thirds of a PPL with Sunstate. From that admittedly single example, they seem to have instilled good habits and attitudes in him, had taught him everything appropriate to the number of hours flown, so couldn't really fault what they'd done. Having said that, got to be careful drawing conclusions from samples sizes of one.

My personal experience with them is purely for rental checkouts and BFRs, rather than training for a licence or rating. I end up in Florida pretty much every year, and always do some flying. For the last few years I've tended to use Sunstate when in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. They have a nice set-up, with a mostly modern, seemingly well looked after fleet of aircraft and I'd no problems with the instructors I flew with.

Most recently I was in FLA at the back end of last year and fancied doing something different. So following a previous recommendation of Tailwheels from bose-x, thought I'd give them a go, can't comment on what they're like though, other than that they couldn't be arsed to answer e-mails, so went elsewhere.

[Roffa]

Another past and satisfied Sunstate user here.

[B2N2]

Try Tailwheels down the road at Winterhaven.

Untill very recently they were not approved to train foreign students.
Everything was done illegally, nice one

Tailwheels etc Inc Winter Haven FL 9/30/2010 (approval date)

Source: Map of SEVIS Approved Schools

[mccourtm]

I have used Sunstate quite a lot in the past both for some instruction and rental. I have also used Tailwheels for the same. Tailwheels are cheaper but the aircraft are much older. They are a nice bunch though.
On the other hand Sunstate a/c are in much better condition, staff are more friendly and certainly IMHO much more professional and experienced. It's two years since I've flown with Sunstate but I paid their shop a visit last summer and was suprised to see that some of the more experienced instructers were still there. To me that speaks volumes about they way ther run their business.
When I'm back next year I will be renting from Sunstate.

[S-Works]

Quote:
Try Tailwheels down the road at Winterhaven.
Untill very recently they were not approved to train foreign students.
Everything was done illegally, nice one
Quote:
Tailwheels etc Inc Winter Haven FL 9/30/2010 (approval date)
Source: Map of SEVIS Approved Schools

So they are able to meet the OP's request. I have rented from them many times and found them to be a great bunch. A group of us went to rent from Sunstate and had less than satisfactory experiences. Others may have faired better. I have never heard bad feedback about Tailwheels.

[jayteeto]

I flew there a couple of years ago, the buildings are quite small, but modern. The staff were very friendly, ALWAYS willing to help and advise me on local procedures. Their shop was very good value for money and the rental was not the cheapest, but still good value. I am a 25-year experienced pilot with 6500 hours, when I go to Florida this November, I will be doing a couple of days flying there. A good school.

[Duchess_Driver]

Did my MEP/IR renewal in Sunstates Seneca a couple of years ago with Keygrip.

All aspects of my (limited) exposure to Sunstate were good enough - and I'm planning on going back later this year to do the same again.

[Paris Dakar]

I was at Sunstate 2 years ago and I'll not be going back - forward planning not one of their strong points (PM me SpeedbirdXK8 if you want specifics).

As I'm stopping just off the 27 near the Davenport area I'm going to try Tailwheels as it's on the doorstep.

PD

[mrmum]

Re post #8

Hi SoCal

Pretty sure it was Sunstate at Kissimmee, however he didn't do training for a JAA-PPL with them, he did training for the FAA-PPL. For whatever reason, did not complete the course with them and came back to the UK with 30 or so hours.

In the UK the CAA will normally allow training towards an unissued ICAO PPL to be credited towards a JAA-PPL, which is what we did, see extract from LASORS below;

In circumstances where previous flying training towards an ICAO PPL(A) (non-JAR-FCL) has been conducted but no licence has been issued, PLD will consider the crediting of such flight time towards the issue of a JAR-FCL PPL(A). In all cases, applicants must apply in writing to PLD enclosing appropriate training records and flying logbooks for the PPL training received. PLD will review the training records to establish a course of training and advise the applicant accordingly.
In addition to any additional training required (where there is a shortfall of requirements), applicants will be required to complete one cross-country flight of at least 270km (150nm), during which full stop landings at two different aerodromes from the aerodrome of departure shall be made, pass
all the JAR-FCL PPL(A) theoretical knowledge examinations and pass the PPL(A) skill test.

Of course that doesn't address the TSA/visa issues.

[SpeedbirdXK8]

Thanks for all your comments which I have passed on. I will post his comments upon his return..

[MaxGAPilot]

Any updated reviews of Sunstate Aviation?

Would you say that it is one of those schools that prefer low class, few students to promote quality or is this one of those factories?

Thanks

[alland2012]

Originally Posted by bose-x

If you mean the guys at Kissimee we were not impressed with them.

Try Tailwheels down the road at Winterhaven.

Actually Tailwheels left Winter Haven in 2012 and are currently based over at Lakeland but they are going through all sorts of in house fighting right now, Father & Son owners have gone their separate ways and this week the office manager resigned.

As for Sunstate Aviation, they lost some credibility over the last year or two, I've no idea why, I used to rent from them and never had any issues.
I see they have now stopped rentals so all aircraft can be available to students at all times.
I flwe in to Kissimee Gateway a couple of weeks back and I did notice they had plenty planes in the pattern and generally looked busy on the ramp.