American Flyers CFI Academy

[Mazdarx7]

Anyone know anything about the cfi academy in morristown new jersey,... Ive got a syllabus from them, looks pretty good....

 

[Way2Broke]

I would recommend the program in Addison. They have a professional career type CFI there named Heath that really knows his stuff. The ground portion of their program is the best in the business, however I can't say the same for their flight training. The flight training is extremely overpriced, but the ground sessions are worth every penny. And be careful what MIKE? tells you about the price. It only includes 10 hours of flight time that must be completed in 30 days, and everything after that is billed out at some rediculious rate. But once again, I will say Heath was the best ground instructor I ever had. That includes instructors that I have had at the airlines! I wonder if there is any way to just do the ground portion at American Flyers?

 

[Mazdarx7]

Hey , Thanks for the reply. IN the info packet I received from them they say that 19.3 hours of flight time in a 172/172rg is included in the 3995. Is that not the case? Thanks..

 

[Way2Broke]

Maybe they have changed it, but I doubt it. Call them and ask.

 

[Microclimates]

My .02.

I have been teaching Academy off and on for about 3 years. As I proof read this post I realized that it sounds very pro AF. Let me say that I think that AF is way over priced and that the value of flight instruction certainly doesn't justify the price premium... except for the academy. The academy still kicks ass and takes names.

A few pointers:

1) flight time is very pricey compared to just about anyone else. the good news is: how much you need depends on you. make sure, MAKE SURE that you are good, (not ok, not a little rusty, I mean you would be proud to show your mom good) on the IFR needles. and for the VFR bit, to CPL PTA standards on your maneuvers. Also, if you can, start the right seat transition before you go to AF, (the picture does change, especially for vertigo in IMC or hood and for precision landings in VFR)

2) Be familiar (and by this I mean study, have a cheat sheet for the frequencies etc) with the approaches of the area you will be training/ testing in. Bottom line is, you need to be able to fly the a/c while talking to atc and teaching your ''student''... talk about multi-tasking! not having to hunt for the atis frequency will make a huge difference in your efficiency in the cockpit.

1) and 2) are really important if you choose a metro area (especially smo) because believe me, you will be worked by ATC. If you are honest with yourself and show up to the academy only when these are your standards, your extra costs will be minimal, possibly none (the academy cost includes a certain number of flight hours, I forget how much). I have seen it happen.

3) I completely agree with the assesment that you go to the academy because you want knowledge. there are a ton of places where you can get the ratings in a week. That is completely your decision. what I can say is that if a friend of mine were learning how to fly, I would rather see him or her with an instructor who believes that knowledge and structure are an important part of flight training.
I don't know what UndauntedFlyer is talking about, we spend four hours a day for 30 STRAIGHT DAYS in class on all the things he/she mentioned in the post. Typically, the ground instructors are people with current/past airline experience, chief pilots, etc etc. not the new kid in the school by any means. Same is true for the flight portion, although you might get a junior guy every now and then, and ironically this may come to your advantage, especially if they went through the program they can relate to your experience because it was theirs not too long ago.

4) attitude: the basic idea is, the academy should be your only concern for 30 days. take it as a job or even more than that, a mission (i know it sounds silly but here is why). you get 4 daily hours of ground school, where you alternate between learning and practicing your teaching (in front of the podium to you your classmates and instructors-- fun but at times brutally honest experience). The rest of the day is yours. flying is integrated in teh rest of the day. When I mean yours, what I mean is that you are still in the classroom until dark, studying your ass off. If you don't, you're cheating yoruself out of the money you spent, and you will go over budget because with all respect I will not sign you off if I don't think you are ready.
A typical academy day is 8am to 6pm or even 8pm. so the question is, are you willing to put that much work into it???

If you are, You'll literally feel the bits and pieces of knowledge clicking together. I guarantee that you'll have a blast... why? Because, most of the time, whoever is teaching is having a blast too, because for them it is really exciting and fun to finally have the time to analyze any flying topic without time constraints (how much time can you spend talking about a stall, and how much time do you suppose you have to introduce stalls to a student pilot, in a normal syllabus?)

so have fun, good luck. and for your money's worth, start only when you are ready! take care

 

[dal757]

DWH and Gary Krueger is the best ground teacher out there. Knows his stuff. If he's still teaching it you can't go wrong at the DWH location!

 

[UndauntedFlyer]

How many locations around the country now have the American Flyers CFI Academy? Which are the current locations?

I only know that the DuPage (Chicago) location closed several years ago.

 

[xshuttlefa]

According to AF, Dupage is still open. Other "academy" schools are: Pompano FL, Addison TX, Morristown NJ, Santa Monica CA. I might have left one out.

I have made the decision to attend AF for the CFI Academy. I live in Pittsburgh, so Morristown is closest. But I am not opposed to going elsewhere and for some reason, I like the idea of going to Texas. But that adds to the cost big time, even if I would drive ( I don't like not having wheels for 30 days and renting a car would be another $500 at least, plus airfare around $400 to DFW)

I decided to do AF just so I could go DO IT, rather then be put off by scheduling conflicts, aircraft unavailability,etc. (and my own laziness) at the local flight school. 30 days of undivided attention to learning to be a CFI just seems to be better for me personally. Luckily, I have money saved for bills, a flexible job and an understanding wife.

Anyone have any reasons for me to go to Texas instead of NJ? And vice-versa?

 

[Mazdarx7]

I am also thinking about going to the morristown location. Question though about the flying, if you do need the extra hours, or for that matter just want to do some exta flying, make a trip home etc, are the planes available to rent and take for a day, or an hour.. Or is it similiar to ATP where you pretty much can only fly with an instructor. Also, how many sims, if any do they have at the morristown location, and lastly, if you have the writtens finished, do you have to attend the written prep class, or can you chill and go home for the weekend. Any info is appreciated.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Regardless of where you get the CFI ratings, you will still be very green when you begin to teach real students. After approximately 100 hours of dual given, you should be a fairly effective and competent instructor. Just understand that regardless, you will make mistakes and be less than perfect no matter where you get those ratings. It's all about experience.

A lot of what it takes to earn the CFI tickets is very dependant on the individual. Study as much as you can before going to these pilot mills. Another idea is to bring a friend along for a few flights and practice on them before heading out to one of these programs. Once you've got the ratings, get a job and it'll all fall into place.

Don't rely too heavily on the program itself. Most of these short, accelerated courses dont teach much other than how to get the rating in said amount of time.

You'll learn it much better by being out there teaching.