Flight Safety Academy

[nosehair]

It's really sad that there is so much community agreement among instructors about how RIGID & INFLEXIBLE the 141 programs in these "Pilot Mills" are.
They don't have to be that way. Poor pilot training management and ill-prepared, inexperienced instructors make them seem that way. Pilot schools with 141 programs can be flexible and conform to the needs of the student. As a matter of fact, that is the way they are supposed to be. The FOI teaces that.
We (CFI's) should be screaming about these schools rigid adherance to a training outline that does not recognize the uniqueness of each individual student. Learning cannot occur unless the student is receptive. You can't make a person learn.

 

[bobbysamd]

FSI

I always know when I see your name under training it's going to be about FSI.

Not always. I think I've put up more than my fair share of Mesa and Riddle posts on this forum as well as FSI.

[W]ith the amount of a/c alone I was flying sometimes three times a day. The point being, that's all I was doing, flying and hanging around people who were flying, I did my PVT, COMM, SE, ME, Instr., there in under 6 mos

This is an important point, and one $0.02 reason why I like flight schools. Their only purpose is to train pilots. The only reasons why people are there are to train pilots or be trained. It is a nourishing environment for all.

By the way, according to this article in the Treasure Coast Business Journal (correction), FSI recently won the Excellence in Pilot Training Award from NATA. The place must be doing something right.

 

[flybub]

Started CIME program at FSI in Sept. 2001, graduated in April 2002. Very good school and facilities. I have no regrets attending there, eventhough I do not have a flying job now, it was great training (thanks to a great instructor). If you do attend I recommend getting hooked up with a crew partner. My crew partner and I flew together from day 1 and finished together and really made things easy. We blew away the classmates we started with time wise. When we finished our CIME program, our classmates were just getting into the middle of their instrument. Very helpful and beneficial.

 

[CFI'er]

Sorry to burst your bubble, nosehair, but the FAA are the ones that make a Part-141 program so rigid. It is designed with the purpose of training for a Certificate or Rating with the least amount of hours. A lot has to be covered in a short amount of time. In today’s flying environment, there is just too much information to cover. I would like to see the hour requirement increased for safety purposes.

 

[nosehair]

No, CFI'er, the FAA does not tell you how to construct your program. As long as all 141 rules are complied with, it will be approved. You may experience some difficulty geting the approval from an Inspector who is not flight-training savvy, which most of them are not, but if you educate him/her/them, and it is clear that the basic outline in 141 is followed, you can write a very flexible program. Mine is.

 

[sheps]

help for a newb

I have seen a lot of discussion on here about FSI. Can someone talk about FS Academy? I mean, I've only heard about it, and am just curious as to how everyone got there start in here. Who did you tlak to, how did you hear about the schools and whatever. thanks a lot guys.

 

[jetalc]

I have seen a lot of discussion on here about FSI. Can someone talk about FS Academy? I mean, I've only heard about it, and am just curious as to how everyone got there start in here. Who did you tlak to, how did you hear about the schools and whatever. thanks a lot guys.

That's what this discussion is about - not FlightSafety International, FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, FL.

I also went to FSI Academy/VRB, and found the training to be excellent. Yes, the procedures can be a bit demanding, but I wanted the structure of such a program. I ran out of money, and felt what it was like to instruct elsewhere - I quickly went back to FlightSafety and became an IP and eventually an Assistant Chief. Don't regret a day of it, and the training (and subsequent instructing there) forced me to show discipline in studying and make sure I knew what I was supposed to know in order to teach it to others. I would highly recommend FSI/VRB to anybody looking for a structured environment with a school that doesn't put up with slackers or those that aren't serious about flying for a living. FlightSafety and the "fish bowl" were responsible for kicking quite a few people out of the program who were either not cut out for flying or didn't take the program seriously. Kudos to them for that.

As for the "hacks" at ASA...pretty broad term. Something about glass houses...there are hacks at all airlines.

 

[sheps]

so Jetalc, how did you first get involved with Flight Safety, was it a word of mouth thing or were you just really impressed with what they told you? how do most students end up finding out one school is better than another and subsequently attending, because it seems like there are a hell of a lot of choices out there...

 

[jetalc]

so Jetalc, how did you first get involved with Flight Safety, was it a word of mouth thing or were you just really impressed with what they told you? how do most students end up finding out one school is better than another and subsequently attending, because it seems like there are a hell of a lot of choices out there...

You're right - there were/are a ton of choices. Believe it or not, after my list of 100+ schools, I whittled it down to FSI, Comair Academy (now DCA) and a couple of other schools. The list was derived from word-of-mouth stuff as well as thumbing through flying magazines and looking at everybody's flashy little ads. When I got the list down to three schools, I sucked it up for a couple airline tickets and visited the schools. Was very impressed with Comair Academy, but more impressed with FSI. You could eat off of the maintenance hangar floor, and there was no hesitation when I asked to see the syllabus. The weather pretty much guaranteed that I could fly every day, and sometimes twice per day (for example, one dual, one solo). I didn't know at that point (I already had my PVT) what I was looking for in the syllabus, but it looked logical to me and the total package at FSI seemed like something that was right up my alley.

At that point, FSI was just starting the PFT thing with Chicago Express, ASA, ACA, and a couple others, but that's not why I enrolled. Never did do the PFT thing, although I do know quite a few people who did. It seemed like a good foundation for my flight training, and I don't believe I made a bad choice. Not every school is for every body, so make sure you shop around and look past the ads. Be VERY leary of all flight schools that have some sort of "informal arrangement" with airlines - aviation is a slippery business, and there are a lot of crooks that would LOVE to take your cashola. I found FlightSafety to be upfront, honest, high quality and tough. Would do it again in a heartbeat.