Flight Safety

[Ace757]

I want to get some feedback on FSI. I know it is known to be one of the best academy type schools, and has a good relationship with airlines.

 

[flybub]

anything in particular you are curious about?

General overview: Nice aircraft, great maintenance, high quality instruction, very nice facility in a pretty good location. Vero is not known for its party atmosphere which is a good thing so students can keep their mind on what they're there for.

Don't know much about the dorms cause the wife and I bought a house.

The beach is next door along with some pretty good restaurants and nice places to get a few drinks. How I miss Riverside!

If you get with an instructor you get along with, you'll have a blast!! I had a great instructor and an awsome crew partner which made every flight fun. Not a day went by we didn't have a good time in the air. If you can pair up with another student I highly recommend it. It gives you someone to study with and it also gives you the oppertunity to cut a little bit off your cost. With a crew partner, you don't have to pay for a full hour of brief ($53/hr last I was there). If there is 2 of you, you can split the cost of brief so you really only pay $21.5/hr which can save you quite a bit. It saved me about 2 grand.

If you're looking to save money, FSI is probably not your best choice. They are pretty expensive, but in my opinion worth it. I graduated the CIME program last May and if I had to do it all over again, I would go back to FSI. Hope this info helps.

 

[stillaboo]

The real test

$53 an hour for ground?! Wow, I know places where you can get dual time for cheaper than that!

The real test, though, is where 'flybub' is at now. So, you graduated 'last May' (3 months ago, or is that 15 months ago?), what are doing now? 121 flying, CFI'ing, 135 VFR (your profile shows you are pretty short on time), banner-tow, traffic watch, sky dive, what?

FSI is good training, but when you take that 'good realtionship with the airlines' out for a spin, what does it do for you in this industry where jobs are hard to come by? That's the real test.

What's the post-grad situation like outta' FSI right now?

-Boo

 

[bobbysamd]

FSI

I instructed at FlightSafety from 1991-'92. It is one of the best academy-type schools around. It is expensive, but I believe that you get what you pay for in terms of training, facilities and name recognition. I believe the cost is now something like $60K; it might be less if you already have your Private. Facilities and aircraft are first-rate, ground school is adequate, and you get several acro and unusual attitudes flights. I cannot think of any other school that offers acro training. This is good training because it prepares you for recovering from unexpected attitudes beyond spins, graveyard spirals, etc.

Another plus is you earn your initial Commercial-Instrument in the multis. You first earn your Private multi. After that, you take your instrument training in the multis. Since you are rated in the aircraft it can be logged as pilot-in-command. You finish with something like 50 hours of multi PIC.

FSI grads are hired at the school after they finish. The place has had a program in which it will upgrade you to CFI-I and MEI on its nickel if you agree to instruct for something like 800 hours. In all honesty, getting a CFI job at FSI soon may be tough because of the hiring slowdown across the industry. A couple of people have written me, saying that there is a six-month wait. On the other hand, that could change suddenly if the regionals pick up a bunch of FSI instructors.

When you are hired you won't fly right away. I remember that new-hire CFIs worked in Dispatch, taught ground school, and helped in scheduling. They do fly, eventually. The more senior FSI instructors instruct in the foreign airline contract programs at the school. That is fine experience because they teach procedures for the airlines in question.

I recommend FSI as an excellent flight school. You really should look at several schools in all price ranges before choosing one. Best of luck with your choice.

PS-Did I read on another thread that you finished there already? If so, I reiterate what I said there - you made a good choice.