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Stephan
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« on: July 27, 2008, 03:22:03 pm »
there are hundreds of flight schools around ... good ones and exceptionally good ones.

may be the following questions/ hints will help you to evaluate the most exceptional one for your training:

- what was your first impression when getting in touch with the flight school (all kinds of training facilities, training aircraft, promo materials, phone, reception, airport and surrounding ...)
- pay attention to ... when visiting the fs personally (class rooms, computerized work places, demo materials and library, usability offsite classroom tutorials, space for learning groups, convenience facilieties to recover during training sessions, number/make & model/ equipment of training aircraft, aircraft hangared/ ramp parkings, own/ 3rd party maintenance of training aircraft, simulator availability (type, make&model), where can I live during training (campus?), etc.)
- earn your wings ... (how many students did that during last 6 month/ year/ 2 ... 3 ... years, at what times/ opening or operating hours, number of fixed employed/ free-lance instructors, ratio students per instructor, who is dispatching students-instructor-aircraft-lesson at what time in advance, availability of training syllabus that will strictly be followed, what happens if student does not perfom according to syllabus (failure policy, repetition and extra costs involved), "class" training or individual training, possibility to have training teams, theory long term planning available, fixed & granted time frame to get your wings (according to license/ rating and respective syllabus), costs involved (training, side costs, etc.// fix price availability or price caps, payment schedule by deposite/ hourly billing/ training success, etc.)
- licensed and then (fs - airline/ employer relationships and will fs "open doors" for their trainees, # students hired by employers during  last 6m/ y/ 2y from respective school, etc.)   

and finally, pls feel free to comment/ amend the list for your/ our future aviator's success
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Mike
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« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2008, 11:10:14 am »
Good information! Yes that first impression is important. I speak from experience...when you first contact a school, either by phone, email, or in person, if they do not get back to you in a reasonable amount of time or if they seem too busy to talk with you, that should raise a red flag. Observe the employees - the person at the desk, the instructors, the linemen...if they seem stressed or unhappy with their jobs, maybe there is something going on there (cash flow problems? bad management?), and they are not able to meet your needs. They should be professional, confident, organized, yet casual enough that you would feel relaxed. Have at least some of the instructors been there a long time? If they are ALL pretty new that could mean the school cannot keep instructors and have to keep hiring new ones. That means the instructor you get may not stick with you for the duration.
Are some of their former students still there, pursing their higher ratings (commerical, multi, CFI, etc.)?  Or do they have a high rate of students quitting and going elsewhere? Will the school allow you to talk to other current/previous students for a reference?
 I have been to several different schools before finding the right one. At my current school, I see students continue on for their other ratings (Instrument, Commercial, etc.) with the same instructor. At times prospective students have asked me and other students for a reference. I see on the bulletin board how many students are soloing, and how many are passing their checkrides. The day I soloed, my instructor soloed 2 other students, and had one or two others pass their checkrides that same week.
These are all things to look for.
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Jason Freedman
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« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2008, 07:20:05 am »
Hi all
does any one have any experience with florida aviation academy in pompano florida i come from germany and this is my first choice until now
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Yogesh
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« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2008, 11:58:07 pm »
Hi,
Thank you Stephan for given this useful information. Please post if you have more this kind information about this topic. Smiley
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