My experiences at Ari Ben

[The_Russian]

The Russian,
I'm confused too...my former employer was a 121 carrier, and their maintenance was pretty good. It was at least 10x better than the maintenance I experienced at Ariben Aviator.
My current job is 135 and has crappy maintenance, but I'm not paying them for the privilege of flying their airplanes. I am not giving my employer $5000 out of my own pocket.
I would still say that my current job has better maintenance than Ariben did.

What I am trying to say is that pilots have to deal with maintenance issues everywhere you go. And, pilots need to be professional about it.

When I refer to "maintenence sucking", I meant that the frequency of write-ups is greater in 121 flying than 61. But, this is a generalized statement and my personal experience is with older aircraft such as the E-120. Some of ours have 30,000 plus hours on the airframe. I should have been more clear in my post.

 

[Daytonaflyer]

Damn, now I confused myself. Yes, I mean the oil temp gauge is required. Those gauges were continually not working at Ariben even though they are required.

 

[IFollowRoads]

Aren't you a little old to still be flying props?
I guess a Beech 1900 would be a step up from anything on your list. JK. I KEED too.

How'd you know how old I am?? STALKER!!

 

[dogismycopilot]

Really? Because the maintenance at my last 121 job was fantastic. Don't tell me Gulfstream is cutting corners! Surely with all that seat-rental revenue from the FOs, they can afford to maintain the equipment.

Tom Cooper makes John Sullivan look like a saint.

 

[minitour]

dang, now I confused myself. Yes, I mean the oil temp gauge is required. Those gauges were continually not working at Ariben even though they are required.

Yeah that changes things.

While a temperature gauge is not requiredan oil temperature guage most certainly is and better be working. (in the Duchess anywho)

-mini

 

[avmaviator]

I'm sure their airplanes are safe and legally maintained or they'd be out of business.

There are so many places that operate with unairworthy planes and are still in business, and that is a big problem in this industry. A perfect example is Palwaukee Flyers (Refer to the thread "Beware of this flight school").
Its a shame that people have to cut corners, just got to look out after yourself.

AM

 

[38tango]

I suppose you guys never picked up on the real issue Flyn was bringin up in the first place which was....

the jack@ss that was on here ripping on Ari Ben is the type of moron we come across on a regular basis in this industry that has little more than a rote understanding of how aviation work, but tries to make everyone else look bad so nobody notices how bad he sucks. The scary thing about that is morons like him usually end up gettin ahead faster than the rest of us in this industry somehow. I just hope for anyone that has to fly with him's sake he doesn't kill anyone...including himself. Ignorance is the most dangerous thing in an airplane.

As far as maintenance. Becky (the russian) was misunderstood. What she meant was in 121 there are more frequent maintenance issues, not that it's worse. Is it really surprising? Look at the abuse our planes take on a daily basis. It's amazing they keep em flying everyday as well as they do if you ask me. Flame away.

 

[IFollowRoads]

So "The Russian" isn't really Russian?

Screwed by the internet once again...

 

[SAAB Driver]

Former Aviator Instructor

I Instructed at the Aviator for about a year and a half and was a student there as well, by my screen name you can tell who I work for.

Overall the posts here have largely been honest and fair. Mike tries to run a good show, but the planes are old and flown alot. There are people like the guy who started this thread who had a bad expeirence. In my time there, every issue that was brought up on this thread happened. But for others the school worked out, and Aviator instructors were hired by regionals and made Captain, just like guys who spent $20,000 more for the same ratings at more expensive schools.

The bottom line is this, aviator runs a spartan operation, but a safe one. The housing is good, the qualtiy of the students is good, the instructors care, and the airplanes are old. If you want lots of good approaches, lots of great night flying expeirence, and the type of flying that will make you think, then the aviator is for you.

I hope that sums it up, and brings about a fair and realistic description of what you can expect at Ari-Ben Aviator.

 

[FrozenPilot]

Show me where the OP ripped Ari Ben? Its a negative experience, yes. I dont see any libelous statements. The OP could have done more to make his experience better, even positive. I don't believe from these posts that Ari Ben operates unsafe aircraft. Things that would fall under unsafe would be things you'd NEVER see on a preflight inspection. Only hanging out in mx, talking to mechanics, observing annual/100hr inspections would you tell for sure. If you're flying part 91, as PIC you have a lot of responsibility for determining airworthiness, for example- mx log entries, AD compliance, required equipment, deactivating/placarding inop equipment, etc. A broken plane does not equal poor maintenance. Many low time pilots are spoiled with newer, well maintained equipment. They rarely get challenged with mx problems to determine corrective action and go/no go.

 

[IFollowRoads]

Bottom line ladies and germs, if you think something is wrong with any outfit you can contact the FSDO. They'll go out there and have a look.

But I'm sure Ari Ben is already getting drop in inspections by the FSDO staff. All the flight schools around these parts do. And I can say with complete confidence that Ari Ben is required to operate a legitimate and safe operation or they would be shut down until they comform to standards. Or they will be finished. Simple as that.

You might have learned to fly in a G1000 172, got your commercial in a Entegra Arrow, and your multi in a brand new Seminole somwhere. Will an Ari Ben aircraft be a bit of culture shock to you? Yes, definately. But since I got my multi in an old Aztec D I'd probably feel right at home. I never flew anything that had matching avionics until the first King Air I sat in.

Keep in mind that there are processes in place to address safety issues with the feds. And remember that your first step in the process isn't to jump on FI and female dog about it. Sack up and call the FSDO. Then keep your yap shut about it as things take the natural course. If you think it's so unsafe you owe it to the rest of the people who fly there.

And my rib at Gulfstream was good natured, I've talked with Russian about street captain before

 

[dcramer16]

Wow! It's been over a month since I viewed this thread. I had forgotten all about it till I got a private message today about it.

Since this time I have been time building somewhere else. Because I am not about "blasting" one school and promoting another, I will not mention the name. I have done just about 200 hours in the last month (one of the reasons I forgot about this thread, just too busy). In the last 200 hours, I haven't even come close to having the experiences I had at Ari Ben. It cost me a bit more (and not much) but as it's been said already, you get what you pay for.

As I said in the past, I'm sure some people have had a great time at Ari Ben, thats great, I wish I would have too.

To respond to the comment made that I'm not a good pilot and I complain to cover that up, I did all my other training at another flight school, and didn't have ONE SINGLE NEGATIVE THING TO SAY ABOUT THEM. So did I all of a sudden become a crappy pilot from the time I graduated flight school and went to Ari Ben? Not likely.

To Ryan, concerning the conversations we had about systems, I did appreciate that, and I enjoyed flying with you, sorry you had such a tough time "putting up with me".

About the student I was flying with who grabbed the controls. It was an approach in to Craig, and there was nothing wrong with my approach, as it was said, he was a CFI and probably used to grabbing the controls out of instinct. Since my Ari Ben days, I have done 4 approaches (at the controls) down to bare minimums with gusting winds, and another student with me, and he never felt the need to grab the controls.

The place I'm at right now is the third flight school I've been too. The first I got my training at. The second was Ari Ben. This third is where I'm doing time building. Out of the three, Ari Ben has been the only one who basically lied about their opperation. The only one where I had a negative enough experience I decided to post about it. The only one where I felt my safety was compromised. The only one where I only got 20 flight hours done in two weeks because of maintenance issues.

As someone else earlier pointed out, I didn't say anything libelous. I knew that Ari Ben would eventually see this post so I reported it exactly how I saw it. Maybe my opinion was off, maybe it wasn't, but I reported on it honestly, the way I saw it.

As someone said earlier, I probably could have handled it better, and done more to make my experience positive. But I didn't think at the time, and I still don't think there was much, if anything, I could have done to make it more positive.

Again, as someone said earlier, lots of people start daily diarys about the school they are attending. So what.

I'm sure you build lots of great experience flying at Ari Ben. Lots of experience troubleshooting, lots of experience dealing with equipment failures. Thats great to a point. I don't think I need a daily emergency (yes, exaggerated, but you get the point) to become a better pilot. I don't expect brand new equipment, with leather seats, and a red carpet to roll out when I land. But I would like something that will work more than 25% of the time. As I said early on in my post, with the 220 hours I flew at my first flight school I only had one maintenance issue. And those planes got the heck flown out of them too, they were'nt brand new, but they were maintained that way. The place I am at now has the heck flown out of the planes, they aren't brand new, but they are maintained that way. Ari Bens planes get the heck flown out of them, they aren't brand new, and you can tell!

I don't have the time, energy, or desire to respond to everyone that said something "not so nice" about me, but I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who had this kind of experience. I'm also glad that people have had a positive experience there. Learning to fly costs a crap load of money, and if someone can get it for the low low rates they charge at Ari Ben and have a great experience, then I am happy for them.

Thats all I can think of right now, thanks for the comments!

 

[dcramer16]

In response to a private message I recieved asking why I didn't start a daily diary about the place I am at now and accusing me of only posting the negative things about flight schools, and not the positives:

If I started a daily diary about the place I am at now, it would look a little like this.

Day 1
Got to fly today

Day 2
Got to fly today

Day 3
Got to fly today

Day 4
Got to fly today

Ya get the picture.

And thats not all I have to say about the subject.
The last flight school I was at, the planes worked everytime. I was so busy flying I didn't have time to start a daily diary. With Ari Ben, and all the time I spent sitting on the ground, I had plenty of time to start a daily diary.

I wish I would have had time to start a daily diary at my first flight school. I had a great experience there, and would have been glad to share it with people.