My advice is to hire your own car and try and cut a deal on the accomodation. Most of the cars they rent you are wrecks. Two guys here keep complaining that the car they have been given isn't roadworthy but its falling on deaf ears. I rented my own car, any of the big rental firms will give you a good deal if you hire for a reasonable length of time, and cheaper then renting from the school too.

And how is theire opinion about the school?

Going downhill I imagine!

Evidence or arguments for this opinion (wich is without any arguments or examples)

Hi
I went with my husband to FL on M1 and M2 visas. The simple fact that he was on a JAA type course seemed to be enough. When they interviewed us, we just were truthful, said what our plans were and that was that.
We had to prove we had enough money to live on while there and also have all the million and one forms.
Sorry not to be any more specific, but we literally had nothing else to show them either.



This makes no sense now - I'm sure I replied to a question about evidence of returning to the uk!

How was your experience with EFT?

OK - Please bear in mind that I wasn't the one actually learning to fly.

Here we go
He signed up for the APP
Did his PPL, Night rating and something else (can't remember what). He then did his ATPLs via distance learning with Bristol GS, staying in Fl to study and do a little bit of hour building , flying back to the UK for the intensive bit of the course and exams.
He then did his ME/IR between FL and then Shoreham (now at Bournemouth)
Then the FI course.
Due to many circumstances we then came back to the UK and he did his FI exam here and works here as an instructor.
The circumstances were purely personal, things like wanting our daughter to go to school here and not in the US.

All the way through EFT were very up front and honest about costs. He was happy with the instruction he received.
It was a bit more expensive than we had planned, but the costs quoted are for minimum hours and don't take exam fees into account.
We were there during the hurricanes and while alot of damage occurred, they began repairs very quickly and have managed to improve the situation with more briefing rooms and better IT etc.

I can't tell you anything about the accommodation they now use as I believe thay are using the old Pan Am facilities now which are on the airport itself.
We rented a small house in Vero while there which was very affordable compared to rents here. There is alot of rented accom available out there, so people do have a choice. If they are still using the shared housing in Vero for students it was OK, not great, just OK.

You will need a car, so if you don't take their arrangements you will need to either buy or privately hire a car. We bought a car as we were there as a family, took drivers tests etc. (Added adavantage as if you have a Florida lisence you get discounts at places like disney)

As I say I can't tell you a whole lot about the school itself, just generalities, but if anyone wants any other info about the location or anything I will try to answer the best I can

For what company is your friend working now, and what is he flying?

Do you think the staff at EFT Florida (there is no more EFT UK) are honest people?
Are the people happy at EFT and how is the environment in Florida?
Friendly people?

A bit off the topic here, but I head out to EFT on the 13th of March to start phase 1. I was thinking that maybe I will be able to keep a weekly diary of how things go out there.

That would be very nice!

I would be a very interested reader :)


ps: Will you be staying in the lodging that EFT provides?

Ren that sounds good to me :)

There's already two CPL diary's on PPrune both from EFT - can't seem to find the link at the moment though.

I'll edit this post if I find them.

It would be a great source of information if there would be a tirth...

Hi,
I'd be interested to hear from people who completed the Multi/IR with EFT with part of the training completed in the USA and the final part plus test conducted in the UK. Did you find the instruction out in the USA good enough to cope with the IR here, and were the hours spent in Bournemouth enough to get you through the IR comfortably or was extra training necessary-and if so for which particular aspects of the course was the extra training required?
Like most people I am finding it difficult to chose a flight training organisation and would appreciate good honest feedback.
Thank you very much for your help.

Config, there are only a few truly "bad" schools which you should probably avoid at all costs. You can find out which ones they are by researching on the archive for this forum - your question has been asked before many, many times.

The bottom line is that different schools are right for different people - if you want fast and cheap training you will not go to a school where training takes longer and costs more - obvious, right? But in that case you shouldn't expect the training quality to be quite the same. The fact that a bottom-tier and a top-tier FTO provide training towards the same licence is about the only similarity between them. There's no magic formula why some places are much cheaper than others - corners have to be cut to be cheap.

You need to decide what you actually want/need just as you would if you're buying a car. You can buy a Fiat or an Audi, they do much the same thing - get you from A to B - but an Audi buyer won't want a Fiat and a Fiat buyer won't buy an Audi for a number of reasons.

In that sense: EFT offers a product with which many people who go there are happy whereas others might not be - but that's the case at any FTO.

Yeah,

KK

help
 

I heard that it is harder to convert a Canadian licence to JAA, compared of converting JAA to a Canadian Licence. Is that true?

I would like to work in Canada, but realistically, I only have British citizenship. I am thinking of doing my flight training in the US or in Canada as the training in the UK is very expensive.

Anyone with any advise or experience, please let me know.

Thank you

Someone mailed me earlier with a list of questions and I have decided to give my replys here so that you can all read them.

They related to questions I'm sure you all have about EFT - just have a look and decide for yourselves but PLEASE don't flood my inbox with questions. I have a lot to do at the moment workwise.

(Big Grecian might be able to better explain the 200 hours FAA versus 100 hours JAA rules a little better, but below is my take on it anyway - cheers mate and see you for beers in the sandpit soon I hope!)

Cheers.

"Hello
The 200hr ME course is great but remember that if you are planning on using those hours in a JAA environment that you can only count 100 of them.
The reason for this is that the FAA allows BOTH PF and PNF to log flight hours due to the "safety pilot" condition(Big Grecian????) . (All flights are class as IFR and therefore one pilot is always checking the other's progress - however, JAA doesn't recognise that position so therefore you can only log the hours that you were PF or P1 in JAAspeak)

Customer Service - short and to the point; they deliver what they say and contrary to opinions on the forum, they will help you out as much as they can. Mike Cohen is a nice guy but if you whine, he will get annoyed. Just be straight and be prepared for him to be direct with you - but he will help and in particular will go out of his way to help if it is his fault.

You will also have to deal with TJ Mete who is in charge of visas. She will constantly shout at you and treat you like you were five years old. Just shout back - loudly! I think she likes the debate but deep down she's ok.

Efficiency of scheduling vs unnecessary delays - any delay will be necessary. Usually due to something broken that has to be fixed and is on the aircrafts MEL. Remember that as an airline pilot in the future, you will be sitting on the ramp for hours sometimes, usually because of something small.

Probability of finishing the Prof.Pilot program in 6 months - not going to happen. You will probably get all the training done - but it takes a seriously good student to be able to do that. You will fail some stuff and have to retrain but that is just the life of a student pilot. Remember that you will have to instruct there for a year too!

Maintenance practices and aircraft reliabilty - maintenance practice is by the book. No exceptions. I have gone at the throats of other posters on the forum because of stupid claims that Ari's airplanes are not checked. They are constantly. Every hour is logged and then the planes are checked every 100 hours as per FAA requirements. I have seen many a tearful student being told "NO" when asked if they could let the aircraft run to 101 or 105 hours. The guy simply will not take the risk.
The aircraft are as reliable as any other BE76 Duchess. But like all piston craft, they are cantankerous and moody. They don't break down very much but you have to treat them nice. (You'll know what I mean when you start flying them - don't jam throttles forward etc. these are true pilot's planes)

Quality of Instruction - second to none.

Experience of International Students - it varies. Some love the place. Some hate it. It is usually down to culture. And language. The guys I know who like it have a great time. Me included.

The chief instructor is ex-French air force and one of their top instructors is Danish.

Management practices - hardline, but fair and they are very efficient. But don't whine. This is a flight school and whining is a no-no. The more you progress into your training, the more you will realise that some problems and delays are a fact of flying life.
That's it."

Hi
I can also help with any questions regarding Ari Ben. I did their pro course, and instructed. Ended up with 800 hours, 570 multi before leaving.
The FAA/JAA rule for the timebuilding is the the acknowledgement of the safety pilot.
One pilot is under the hood - All this time the other pilot (PNF) log safety pilot.
PNF can only log this when PF is under the hood in VFR conditions (not much use for a safety pilot in IFR conditions).
You can log all the time you are in command under JAA. So if you go there, and want to log the hours JAA, then make sure u dont fly under the hood (ie in IMC conditions)..Then you are the PIC, and PNF cannot log it.. Not your problem though, and most American dont seem to care.

@Farrell
Duchess dont have a MEL...But an AEL..;)

I think that now Thomas is their 2 year instructor (the instructor that fly with other instructor wannabees), It is possible to be done in 6 -7 months.
I loved it there, and would have liked to stay (damn visa people). Mike is a no b......t guy. The price you get is what you pay..
I was told 29.5 usd (back in the cheeper fuel days'), and I finished at just that + test fees (300 + ac pr flight test and 90 usd pr written).

They told me that all timebuilding (ME 100h) will be done as P1/PIC.

It is in a FAA logbook.

You can also do it JAA. See my previous post.

Any students there now?

Captain Relax....

I don't mean to be rude, but you have been discussing EFT and other flights schools for months and months at this stage.

The school is fine. The training is fine. The instructors are fine. The owners are fine. The planes are fine. The accommodation is fine. The food is fine. The airport is fine. The charges are fine. The weather is fine.

There is only so much that you can be told about a school before you have to choose one.

Just go and get your licence mate. Otherwise you will become the "Eternal Wannabee" :}

Good luck

Farrell

Hello,

do someone know cheap accomodation close to the EFT Base? I think i will do my CPL there but $35 per night are a lot. If you compare to Ari Aviation they want about $500 a month.

Thank you
Firegoofy

I think you can get 550 a month at EFT

Hi,
Could any current/recent CPL students let me know how they found the instruction/training at EFT? Is the 3 weeks quoted reasonable? I would certainly be allowing for 4 weeks just in case. I am now in a postition of being able to afford to commence training and would appreciate the current feedback.
Thank you for your help.

Hi Heniriksch,

$550 a month are impossible. Now they've give me a very good price for accomodation with my family and shared car.

I decided now to do my IR and CPL with them in September and October. Is someone else there between this time?

Cheers

Hi

I am not sure what you mean by impossible, cause that is what I paid when I was there.. And 500 at Aviator.

35$ a day, accomodation (electricity, phone, ... included) and a shared car.

Not negotiable.

EFT
 

I have just finished phase 1 of the APP course with EFT. I found the school to be very professional and the level of instruction to be excellent. I completed all my licences - FAA/JAA PPL and night rating in a reasoanble time frame The timebuilding was another matter though, mainly due to the amount of bushfires burning in Florida during the month of May I did not build the time as quickly as I would have wanted.

I will try to talk about the points mentioned in previous posts:
School/Instruction
As I said above I had no problems with EFT. I just kept an eye on my account and everything was pretty striaght forward. No mystery fees. The instuctors are all excellent and go out of the way to help you if you have any questions or concerns.

Aircraft
Like any other school aircraft go down for maintainance and its just one of those things you just learn to live with. Fortunately I was never really affected by the a/c going down. I think i only lost about 4 to 5 slots in total to aircraft going down while I was at the school. So no complaints there.
CPL guys might have a differnet story since there is only one Arrow to cater for the CPL, but that did not afect me.

Accomodation.
The accom. used by the school is about 30mins from the school. The cost is
$35/per day and this includes all bills and a car - one car per apartment. There is a shuttle bus that runs to and from the school 6 days a week. The standard of apartments is ok but when I go back to EFT I will be sorting out my own living arrangements, mainly because there are a lot of apartments to rent in the area for a lot cheaper than $35 a day!

PM if you want any more detailed info

Hi Renright

Sent you a PM

Rosie

One Life....live it

Currently i've applied by EFT for my IR, Night Rating and CPL in September. Is there an other student, too?

What is about uniform? do i have to wear someone?

Thank you renright for the detailed description of this school. I'm looking forward to beginn my training with them.

Cheers
Firegoofy

Cpt Relax - You still due to start flying in Aug?

To the best of my ability yes.

In the process of buying an apartment so the funds I did have have dropped somewhat. But I'll be renting my place when I go to EFT and when I have finished my course (2 years) I'll come back to the UK with the relief that I am already on the property ladder.

I'll remorgauge my place so the payments are matched by the rent money - which should be one less thing to think about when I am studying/flying.

Not really that sure how much the course is going to set me back - that is why I PM'd you. I did have contact with EFT via e-mail about costs/earnings but nothing it all that clear and I want to make sure I don't run out of funds toward the end and can't complete an IR conversion etc.

But I think I'm halfway with raising funds and with a pay rise around the corner Jan/Feb 09 should be a good date to start the APP Multi :ok: ... By which time you might/should be an Instructor.

Thanks Cpt.

You have an e-mail from me.

I have looked at the prices but I am looking to break them down further.

I might buy some $'s when it looks like they might slump, No harm having $10k in my account for the ready.

Thanks

EFT - FastTrack Jet Course
 

Hey Guys

A little help if possible
Reading the thread, EFT are getting positive feed back :ok:
Just wondering has anyone out there done the FastTrack Jet course lasting 12months

If so are your FI all previous students or is this just for the PPL??:confused:

Any info would be great
Thanks
MV

HELLO
 

Choosing a Flight school is a Formidable task.
Helo. I Am From Guatemala. I would like to start my pilot training in USA in 2 months. I dont have any license. and I want to take a professional pilot program from zero to commercial with instrument and multi-engine ratings.

Choosing a good flight school is a Formidable task.
I want a good flight school because I want to become an airline pilot.

flight safety is a good school but it is expensive for me.

please Recommend me a flight school for professional flight training.

I have a list of flight school.

American Flyers in Dallas Forth Worth,
Delta Connection Academy.
ADF Airways.
Orlando Flight training.
Ormond beach Aviation.
Phoenix East Aviation.
Professional flight training. in Ft lauderdale,
Regional Airline Academy.
Kemper Aviation
Europe American Aviation.
West Wind.
Air Safety Academy

please recomend me A flight school.

Eaag

This is a formidable EFT thread and not a US FTO thread :}

There is also no need to ask the same question in 3 threads :rolleyes:

:cool:

Hi everyone,
I am new here and as much as I saw this forum is great so I was hoping you could help me to, I have a few questions.
I am in college doing an engineering course and it will take me a few more years to finish it. Waiting to finish my studies to start flying seems too long, I would be 25 then. I don`t think 25 is too old to start flying, but I am not sure if it would be easy to find a job with all those young people who start flying after high school.
So, I was thinking to start next summer, I will have 3 months off. I think it would be enough time to do my PPL, would it?I would do the rest next summer if it is possible to do the whole thing that way. I see many flight schools offer integrated courses, but could the training be split into 2 or 3 parts?
And does anybody know what kind of licences do you need to be able to fly an air-taxi (it would be a great business where I live)?
I am looking forward to any piece of information you can give me.
Ciao

Did davey147 get back to us on whether you could do all your FAA training at Ari Ben Aviator, (PPL, FI, CPL, MEIR) and convert the PPL, FI, CPL to JAR at EFT? Which he worked out to be $20k cheaper.

I am personally looking at this route, looking to start next year and would like the best bang for my buck.