flying schools in USA

[MatthewG-H]

Chaps - I need a quality flying school in USA, dont mind where, to take me from ATPL(A) theory passed,1760 mil helo hours, 96 fixed wing hours, thro to CPL(A) MULTI IR - ANY RECOMMENDATIONS

I have 9 weeks starting in Mid March of leave and I want to use it wisely to get the flying tests in the bag.

Thanks

Matthew Greenhalgh

[email protected]

[Cusco]

Give serious consideration to Naples Air Center, Naples, Florida>

See sticky at the top and website in all the journals.

But you'll get shed loads of opinions:

why not start by looking at wannabees first.

good luck and safe flying

Cusco (FAA/IR Naples March 2002)

[Sensible]

Click on this link MatthewG-H

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...hreadid=116288

You could do far worse I promise you!

[englishal]

MatthewG-H,

What I would do if I were in your shoes, is go to the USA and do an FAA CPL(H), which I imagine you would p*ss through. Once you have this, train for the CPL(A) which will be training as required by virtue of your CPL(H). Once you have this add an FAA IR, depending on your level of Instrument experience (high I should imagine) this could take anywhere from 15-40 hrs. Train for and take the CPL(A) ME (IR). Now you're ready to convert to JAR.

if you need any more details, feel free to drop me a PM....

Cheers
EA

[Charlie Zulu]

I'm going to second Cusco's suggestion to give Naples Air Center serious consideration.

Then again Englishal's suggestion is a good one and NAC don't have any helicopters.

Best wishes,

Charlie Zulu (FAA CPL/IR Naples July 2003)

[B2N2]

Helicopter Adv. in Titusville maybe?

[captain_fantastic]

May I suggest Delta Connection Academy in Sanford?

Delta Connection Academy

The international admissions guys, Chris and Gabe, are very good and they'll answer any of you questions. One thing I'd watch for though is, not necessarily hidden costs, but when they give you the cost of a course it is the absolute bare minimum that they quote you the price for and from my own experience so far it is a little unrealistic.

The JAA programme is a really excellent programme now. There were the usual teething problems when it started, but all is running smoothly. Delta are approved under AFT, Coventry's FTO number 006. All of the ATPL ground school is done by AFT and the flying side is looked after by Delta. You will be able to do up to JAA Commercial Multi with the academy and you can start your IR here, but you need to return to the U.K. to complete the course and do the skill test. You are of course also able to do all of you FAA ratings if you want to.

Hope this information helps.
C_F

[maeshyfryd]

Debenair in Titusville.
Not like the Naples/OFT/Sanford type of school in that it's relaxed and everyone bends over backwards to help you. ( just got back today). It has more of a club feel to it. Also HAI have loads of helicopters approx 100m from Debenair.

[Frank Furillo]

After spending some time in Naples, Florida towards the end of last year and doing my PPL/NR both FAA and JAA, 150 hours so far., i feel i had better mention the other option to NAC, London Aviation. Rex, Sandy and the team are very nice people they have two 172's and a 150 for training and hour building , ALL the planes have TWO comms and only one of the 172's hdoes not have GPS, they all have Mode C Transponders as well. We had a problem with over crowding there too many students not enough planes and we did check out NAC, I would not fly their planes its that simple, although I was stuck in Florida for a few extra weeks than I should and although I wanted to get home as quick as i could there was no way I was going to fly in a old Cessna that was not as well equiped as the ones at London.

[Time to Fly]

Frank,

they have two 172's and a 150 for training and hour building , ALL the planes have TWO comms and only one of the 172's hdoes not have GPS

Are you are saying London Aviation has two C-172s and one has GPS while the second one does not? Since you said "only one does not", I was wondering if they have more than 2 C-172s?

You also mentioned that you did your JAA Training, but I cannot find London Aviation on the CAA web site:

Safety Regulation Group Personnel Licensing Department

I was wondering if this was another of those JAR Compliant License schemes like UKFT offer?

U.K. flight training or EFT??

TTF

[Arrowhead]

Be very careful - if you want to do a JAA IR there are not many schools (if ANY) which are approved to do the JAA IR in the US. I know that EFT in Ft Pierce (supposed to be very good) have a liason programme with Bournemouth.

Also be careful again - 9 weeks may not be enough. The most you are permitted to train is 40hrs per month (really only monitored in your IR). So IR will practically take 6 weeks. CPL 2 weeks. Multi 1 week. These numbers do not leave much/anything for aircraft going tech/weather/etc.....

After I passed my theory, I did CPL and multi with OFT in Kissimmee (very good) in 3.5 weeks. You could do it quicker if everything works, but it also looks like you need 54 more hours (2 weeks?). I am now at EPTA Bournemouth to do IR, which takes 6 weeks.

I dont see you doing CPL, Multi, IR, and 56 hours in 9 weeks - sorry...

[englishal]

I dont see you doing CPL, Multi, IR, and 56 hours in 9 weeks - sorry...

Which is a very good way to bypass JAR until the final conversion. there are no limits on training under the FARs, at it is VERY possibly for someone to get CPL ME IR in 6 weeks in the states, with pervious time under their belt. As MG-H is obviously a competent helo pilot, then there is no reason not to pass a CPL(H), and once that is done, just training as required as I mentioned in my previous post. Bournemouth offer conversions at roughly £7000, and if you team up with the right stateside school you can do:

From any ICAO PPL with ~150hrs to JAA fATPL including FAA ME CPL/IR and ALL JAA conversions (done in the UK) for £13,800, and the quoted time is around 10 weeks...........FLights / accomodation extra.

Cheers
EA

[JABI]

More info

Frank,
Any chance you can elaborate a little more on your experiences in Florida?
Time to Fly what is a JAR compliant license scheme?
Cheers,

[JohnnyPharm]

check out www.usajar.co.uk will get you done in double quick time

[englishal]

Just to revive this old chestnut, after looking at the FARs, and assuming you have 35hrs PIC in an aeroplane this is the best, most economic and fastest way to end up with a JAR fATPL:-

Train directly for the FAA CPL/IR and convert, and this is what you can expect to pay:-

25 hrs Seneca- $5375
20 hours sim- $1800
CLP & IR Test $700
Written tests $180
Books etc $100
Plane for test $380
With written exams out of the way - three weeks in the USA.
This assumes 35 hours airplane PIC. Any shortfall on 35 hrs PIC can be made up in a C152 at $56/hr.

UK conversion £5000-£7000 approx - depends on where you want to do the conversion.

You are excempt from many of the formal FAA requirements by virtue of your helo hours.

Rgds
EA