Why people go to ERAU or UND?

[gkrangers]

50 isnt bad for Private.

My roomate took 40 hours to solo.

 

[Pugh]

if you want to actually learn how to FLY the airplane and operate in the enviroment check it out, and for those wimps that cant handle the cold we have satellite operations in Hawaii, Arizona, and North Carolina.

Oh cool so you acutally get to learn to fly the plane in the air? Man I've been missin' out

 

[gkrangers]

Oh cool so you acutally get to learn to fly the plane in the air? Man I've been missin' out

Hey, don't knock it...Riddle does a lot of VFR stuff on the ground. Takeoffs, landings, TAXIING, steep turns, s turns, stalls, etc...

 

[jarhead]

DC8 Flyer hit every nail squarely on the head. He mirrored exactly in every category what my son went through at UND. It is a relatively inexpensive 4 year public university with out of state reciprocity of tuition for students from several states, and one can get a B.A. or a B.S. in any number of fields, including aviation related fields, but not limited to that at all.

When my son was a freshman at UND, one of his roommates was from Hawaii. He had never seen ice that was not in a cocktail glass. As soon as the snow came and the wind howled, he quit and went home. It does take some perseverance when you hail from warmer climates. But, my son grew up in Minnesota, and was totally acclimated to bad and cold weather six months of the year.

The school has a modern fleet with lots of modern sims. There is a distinct absence of “low-life” going to school there. He always said that the harsh winters tended to get rid of the riffraff.

Just like DC8 Flyer, when he got his degree after 4 years, he went to work for UND as an instructor, and in 2-1/2 years, he had 1300/250 and was hired at Comair in 1997. As I remember, his W-2 form while on staff at UND was around $24,000 a year…..more than he made as a rookie FO at Comair in 1997. He’s been a captain there since July of 2000, and has an income now that is quite respectable. His getting through college was a family effort just as if he’d gone to any other college in any other field. He worked at summer jobs, took part time work as a waiter in a Mexican restaurant during the school year, and his parents saved enough before he even left high school to allow his college costs to be paid in full by the time he graduated, and he had zero college loans to pay off. That would have been our goal if he’d wanted to be an accountant or an electrical engineer.

 

[Crimson03]

Flyingtoist. Gotta understand high school guidance counselors are largely morons, some kid asks about flying and they look at what they know- 4 year well advertised universities and bingo it is off to a big shiny school. Also if the kids high school sends a large percentage off to college then there is quite a bit of peer pressure to do the 'normal thing' ie attending a 4 yr school.

 

[DC8 Flyer]

Oh cool so you acutally get to learn to fly the plane in the air? Man I've been missin' out

HAHA! Very funny!

And, 40 hours to solo! Oh dear gawd, those are the ones that drove me to drink, well drink even more anyway.!

This is only my opinion.

I think 50 hours is way too much for Private Pilot training. Not bashing those who take more time to do it, just saying UND/ERAU shouldn't be held out as big shiny expensive schools because people don't buckle down and do the work necessary to get through the courses. I realize it sometimes takes more for some to "get it" but 10 hours more as an AVERAGE is a lot considering the number of students that get through in 40 or 42 hours.

Just to put in perspective.

http://www.tradewind-aviation.com/tai/private_pilot.cfm

This is a flight school, part 61, near where I live. 30K for everything through MEI in a C172 and a PA44. No college degree, no job instructing afterwards and you have to finance it yourself.

 

[Almerick07]

I got my private from a decent FBO in Dallas in just over 2 weeks 35 hours on the nose....9 hours to solo, man that was a blistering pace. As far as school goes if I could do it all over again I would have gotten my CFI's from that nice little FBO and gone to community college for the first 2 years (off set some of those flight training loans) and then gone to a local DFW college/university to finish off my degree while instructing.

Now what I did varies a fuzz; went to college for 1 year before realizing I wanted to be a pilot. I transfered to a near by, but out of state university that had an aviation program. I am paying a little more but I do get in state tuition and get the beloved college experience. I am currently about to earn my teaching ticket and instruct for the remainder of college (1 1/2 years) until I graduate. I hope to graduate meeting 135 mins.

 

[viper548]

This is not a flame bait.. I am just trtying to understand why people would go to a very expensive university, get under a lot of debt and then end up CFI'ing no matter what..

I am a flight school owner and recently I had a conversation with a guy who was going to ERAU. I told him that it will cost him many more $$$$ to get his license.. He said he liked the structured environment of a university. When I told him that our program is not too bad and it will cost him half the money if he came to us, he just basically shrugged it off.

Is it the image, or just the promisses of guranteed interviews at the low times ?
What is it that makes you go to these schools?

Thanks..

People think ERAU is the 'ivy league' of aviation

 

[mcjohn]

Where does UND have a satellite operation in North Carolina?

 

[DC8 Flyer]

Where does UND have a satellite operation in North Carolina?

Just started this past spring of this summer I believe.

http://www.bestaviation.net/news1.asp?ID=51

 

[gkrangers]

I don't know how you can say 50 hours is too much.

50 hours is probably a better number than the bare minimum of 40...the extra experience may be worthwhile to a lot of people.

I finished at 40-42.

 

[Pugh]

The thing is I really don't mind where people got their flying experience from...what matters is the individual and how they come out of that experience. Whether you went to a Mom and Pop 61 or UND, if you turn out to be arrogant, rude and generally a poor pilot you will get no repspect either way. A blanket statement like "Man I hate those UND/ERAU guys" IMO is ignorant. One of the most important things about choosing a college/flight school is finding one which fits you the best.

 

[DC8 Flyer]

I don't know how you can say 50 hours is too much.

50 hours is probably a better number than the bare minimum of 40...the extra experience may be worthwhile to a lot of people.

I finished at 40-42.

You're misunderstanding what Im saying, and I didnt say it very well. Im saying in a place like UND or ERAU there really is no reason to go over 40 hours to get your private, there are simply too many resources available, easily and readily available, that most 61 schools just cant afford to have. With all those tools at the students disposal the MAJORITY that go well over the course mins are the ones that just don't care and mom and pop are footing the bill. This drives the course averages up and gives UND the label of being a high priced school when in reality it is fairly close to the same price as doing your training at most other places. But since UND has a shred of business ethics they publish average course times and not minimum course times (thus costs) to present a more realistic picture.

Now does going over course mins make you a slacker, of course not, its an individual student thing. From my 2+ years of instructing there and doing all stage checks through CFII progs, and CFI progs, the majority that came for a check with minimum time where the sharp ones, ie prepared, where as the majority with 10+ hours of "extra" time were the weaker ones.

One concept I hope you can get out of your mind before long is the "more time = more experience and thus a better pilot" attitude. Its the quality of instruction and what the student does with that instruction that determines their performance, not how many times they practice steep turns only to be 200 feet off every time because they have no idea what is happening to lift and drag while in the turn.

I guess what I am saying is, UND is no more high priced than your average FBO as far as per hour training costs go. Of course you will spend more with tuition, (especially out of state), room and board, books, simulator time, etc. But in the long run I think the trainng you get and the resources you have at your disposal at UND is worth it.

ps
For you ERAU guys that come up during the summer for competitions, how hard is it to find Truck Stop, its the only parking lot on the south side of town with 800 big rigs parked in it!

 

[Bjammin]

I don't believe I would be with Cathay Pacific if it were not for the knowlege gained at Embry Riddle. Just little things like understanding systems, aerodynamics, or weather a little better then the next guy got me through the interview. Having an answer to a obscure question or having just a little more situational awareness beacuse of my degree proves to be invaluable on a daily basis. Was it expensive, absolutly, but I think taking four years of classes in my EXACT career field truly helped my path end up in such an awesome place. Can you be a great pilot without a 4 year degree in aeronautics, of course, I meet them everyday, but for me personally I would not change a thing.

 

[mar]

Erau '86-'90

I graduated ERAU in 1990 out of the management program.

I took flight lessons in So. Cal. during the summer.

I chose ERAU Prescott because:

1) It was close to home (LA).
2) Far enough away from home.
3) The student/teacher ratio was about 15:1
4) At the time (late '80s) it wasn't anymore expensive than any other private college.

Is it more expensive to fly there? Yes. That's why I took lessons at home.

All said, I think I received a pretty good undergraduate education. The people in the Humanities Dept made a conscious effort to balance the highly technical and focused nature of the core curriculum in order to produce a well rounded product.

If you're just looking for flights lessons, well yeah, that's dumb. But if you're looking for an education then you'll find one...if you want it.

And that's the problem. A lot of people approach ERAU as some sort of glorified trade school.

Different strokes for different folks.
Good luck.