Couldnt ask for a better instructor to get me trained and prepared for my Private Pilot check ride. The training was an intensive 14 days and I enjoyed every minute of it. I will add that you need to come prepared to commit 100%. Looking back, that part of my experience with AFIT was instructional too. Finally, my wife Lisa was my biggest supporter and got me through struggles with boundless encouragement. And I felt that this wasnt just a job to Mike, because he really had his heart in it. I read the glowing testimonials for Cholena before commencing the course, and now at the other end of the process, I can say that they still do not do her justice. Gil is a fantastic instructor. The instructors commented that my flying skills were great. You must be 17 years old or older. Im a 2,000+ hour rotary military pilot and I already have my FAA commercial/instrument helicopter. I wanted a program with a curriculum and structured base, thats exactly what I got. 3) Abe was the perfect balance of demanding yet patient. You dont get these views anywhere else unless youre in the skies. The only thing I wasnt ready for were those 25kt gusts but you cant control the weather. Every day was full of valuable lessons. Kessler & Solomiany, LLC If you are feeling fatigued or jet-lagged he will choose another topic. I would recommend the program to anyone. Thank you to AFIT for the amazing experience of flight school. I want to thank you for the wonderful program you and your team has put together. In about 11 days, with your dedication, you will be ready to become a licensed private pilot. The days went by incredibly quickly. Todd is a very personable guy, and so easy to get along with. (extremely interesting to me due to my military background in avionics maintenance). The requirements for a private pilot license are laid out in the Federal Aviation Regulations. He is wildly patient and skilled at approaching your shortfalls from multiple sides to help get you past them. WOW, what an amazing two weeks of flying and training I had with My instructor Paul. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is serious about becoming a pilot and wants to do so in a timely manner. You are extremely fortunate to have her as an instructor at A.F.I.T.! I cant thank Paul and the AFIT team enough for all of his hard work preparing me for my successful check ride! But John kept us on track! As a full-time, senior flight instructor, Rubens number one goal was helping me become a safe and competent pilot, not building time for himself to move on to some airline. At that time I was averaging 3 hours a month. Thanks!! Ill be in touch early next year or so when I start planning for the next steps! It was a demanding two weeks, but I couldnt imagine learning how to fly any other way. The easy accessibility of planes and hangars made usually dry textbook concepts like aircraft systems come to life and Andy made full use of all available resources when I said I wanted to understand something in more detail. of training per day. The result was 92% for the PPL written and 93% for the IR. I enjoyed my time and do believe this is the best way to learn to fly. I will recommend any busy professionals out there to go this route to earn their ratings from the CFIs with thousands of hours of experience while meeting their availability needs. I wanted to earn my Private Pilots License quickly, and without wasting any time. Not only will he teach you but he will instill right rutter into your brain forever. Accelerated Flight Training. An aviation professional for over 30 years, Mature and friendly, Over 30 years of diverse experience in aviation. What makes her really special are two qualities: adaptability and persistence. Lou was able to find out where I had left off knowledge and flight wise after the first day. Airplane Rental. He was very calm and made great suggestions to improve my flying skills. Success in Salt Lake City (Private Pilot Training). Lincoln has to be one of my favorite airports of all time; long paved strip, uncontrolled, no big obstacles at either end, favorable winds. If you are tired of bumbling to the finish line, and you can afford to take time to focus exclusively on the miracle and responsibility of general aviationAFIT is a wonderful partner!! 14-Day Private Pilot Training In MY Cessna T182T / G1000. Thank you! . Thank you for the opportunity to Train with AFIT. With six days up our sleeves, I ended up getting my tailwheel endorsement after two intense full on days flying a beautiful 1948 Cessna 120 taildragger and then complex and high performance endorsements (and a flight to Vegas!) He understand the students needs, adds encouragement or constructive criticism when needed and always does so with respect and in a calm manner. I personally learn better when immersed in the subject. Tony, I recently completed my private pilot license with you guys out of Lincoln California I wanted to tell you about my experience. Put simple, you guys are the real thing. Private Pilot Flyer. He trained me to be not only current and legal, but safe and proficient. Flight instructors have a lasting impact on the future flying habits of their students. The 10-Day Finisher Course was exactly what I needed. He sized up my experience quickly and focused on what we needed to work on. I couldnt have asked for a better instructor. The flight instructors have a very busy schedule with multiple students and it is difficult for them to give you priority of focus and difficult to get on the schedule with them regularly. And much more! I mean that wholeheartedly. There are multiple ways and approaches one can take to earn a pilots license but my personal recommendation is to knock it out. A truly magnificent and memorable experience. It meant everything to me that I was provided with an great instructor who was more than ready to do the same. I cleared 8 days for nothing but training and scheduled the check ride for the 9. day. I will definitely be recommending this style of learning to anyone who is serious about aviation. Stage 1: Fundamentals of Flight Training (20-30 Hours of Flight Time) Stage 2: Advanced / Solo Flight Training (10-15 Hours of Flight Time) Stage 3: Examination and Testing (10-15 . His enthusiasm makes me want to keep flying as much as possible and I cant thank him enough for instilling that in me! The aircraft was a great change from what I had been used to before, and gave us only one small hiccup with a magneto, which was quickly corrected by our friends at the FBO. I cant express enough my thanks for helping me reach this life long goal. The course is challenging but worth every bit of effort. I could not have accomplished my goal of earning my Private Pilot License without Rubens instruction and encouragement. There is bookwork to learn and a written . CFI/CFII/MEI. Safe and efficient operation of aircraft, including collision avoidance, and recognition and avoidance of wake turbulence. The entire process was very structured and well planned out. Just wanted to thank you and John in helping me get my license. But whats amazing, is his confidence through the whole thing kept me pushing and trusting and by checkride day I had no doubt, when halfway through this thing I thought there was no way. Abe was willing to do whatever it took including spending extra hours to get me ready for my checkride. Feel free to share my contact information, I will give a hearty two thumbs up for AFIT and Lou. Jacob was very knowledgeable and a great pilot/instructor to learn from. Hope to see you again. To that end, you will be hearing from me very soon to continue my training with Cholena to achieve my instrument rating, and then after that my commercial rating. My beginning attempts in the weather of the Pacific Northwest, where I live, led to six months of frustration battling minimums, Covid bouts, and over 85 flight hours with no Private License. Once you get your ratings this way, you get a lot of flexibility in growing your skills to suit your specific missions. He walked me through every detail that was demanded of me for the Private Pilot Certificate and ultimately did it in both a professional and light hearted way. In all seriousness with Tonys organization and Johns expert instruction gave me the tools to succeed. We cover all training material in two weeks. I cant imagine a better route towards acquiring my certification. It was stellar how on top of everything you are and how quickly you helped me to get this accomplished. Because of this I sought out alternative routes in order to achieve my private pilots license; after lots of research and many phone calls I found AFIT to be the most professional and successful company to help me achieve this goal! The easiest thing for Eric to do, would be to tell me that I wasnt destined to be a pilot and to move on. He knew what I needed to work on and quickly helped me improve those areas. When you work with Paul there is no question that he truly cares about his students and their success.The course itself is extremely challenging. $97,000*. Ruben made possible what I thought was impossible to achieve. Our program is Structured, Efficient, & Cost Effective, you may fly your own aircraft or we have a well equipped Cessna 182 to use for your instrument training. Despite some challenges with local weather, we continued to make good progress throughout and I could see myself improving every day. To give you an idea, on one day we flew close to 7 hours (long break in between). It was a childhood dream and I was able to achieve this. Ruben as my instructor, made my course as easy and stress free as possible. I had an good experience working with AFIT and Greg. Tony coordinated all the administrative work which allowed me to concentrate on training. He really went above and beyond anything I would have expected from an instructor. I started training almost a year ago with a couple different instructors. But before all, I believe that what really puts him on top is his ability to always find the right words to preserve the balance between confidence and humility. Berichi is the best aviation school there is!" . 8) Lastly, Abe let me be a part of his life for the time I was there. After years of working toward my private pilots license (and having invested thousands of dollars in another finish up group who could not deliver what they promised), you both helped me to earn my certificate in November. I hope our paths cross, I would like to shake your hand and personally say, Well done on putting together a great program!. Today I finished my PPL. The average cost of commercial pilot school is $83,995. Over the course of two weeks, I went from 10.4 hours to almost 50 and a private pilots license to show for it! He was a very informative teacher and made everything very simple to understand. I came into the program as a complete novice to powered flight and finished with a successful check ride 2 weeks later. FTI B737 Type Rating review. I came to AFIT with a healthy dose of transatlantic jetlag, a strict time schedule, and Tony made a miracle possible- he immediately matched me with an instructor who could help me achieve my goal. My instructor, Ricardo, helped me learn the skills necessary to become a pilot and handled setting up the test and check ride necessary to become a Private Pilot. I passed my check-ride with flying colors. Lou was able to diagnose my failure points immediately and got my skills up to PTS standards in a matter of days. Ben was my instructor and not only is he very patient but hes full of knowledge and wanted me to do well as much as I did! Thanks, Andy!!! Oleg was not only a wonderful instructor because of his talent for teaching, but he was also engaging and made every day more exciting than the next. I want to let you know how much I enjoyed working with John to get my Private Pilots License. Tony, There is no one else in the world I would rather get my pilots license from than Oleg. The entire experience was great, I learned so much and had a great time. Airport: In my opinion, the Sacramento valley is unparalleled for student pilots. This year I decided I would finally finish. Located in Walnut . These traits carried over to my flight training with John. Compared to a regular flight training regimen, AFITs full time training helped me to grasp concepts more quickly and effectively as I could practice for long periods without pauses in between.. Thank you also for your quick responses and setting everything up for me with Andy. to me coupled with Cholenas mastery of the subject and masterful instruction gently ushered me to a place of great confidence as I start this road as a newly certificated private pilot! My instructor, Ruben, had a great teaching style where he encouraged me to look the up the answers to my questions so I knew how to navigate my reference materials. I dont know of anywhere else that someone can learn in that short of time and feel as confident and as proficient as I do with the instruction. Amount of tickets: 1999. Overall I had a great experience with my flight training, and even though at times I wanted to jump out of the plane (without a parachute), in the end I am glad I went with A.F.I.T. Tony, your guidance made this all easy. And I knew I had to kick myself to start and FINISH my private pillow license to start on achieving my dream to fly for the big boys one day. I have had a fantastic week in Addison TX with Lou and Id like thank you and AFIT for everything. Mt. Thanks so much for a successful mission, Ruben!! Finally Id be remiss if I didnt acknowledge Rhondas (Erics better half) contributions. down to earth and easy to get along with. Thank you for help and support. I also wanted to let you know that Steven is a great instructor who really takes his job seriously and works hard to build confidence in his students. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. We had lunch together, went out to dinner with our significant others, joined a bunch of other pilots for nice night out, etc, etc. He made sure I understood all my material and kept the course moving right along. Youve delivered on all of your promises, in-spite of my shortcomings. From the outset with instructors to the conclusion they all worked diligently to get me to the finish line. he is a true professional from an era almost forgotten. AFIT gave me the extra miles and it is worth it to pay a little more than other schools with great output like this. I was pushed each day to grow and develop my skillset. The best part is I could successfully handle 17 knots crosswind landing while turbulent at Van Nuys during my first flight as Private Pilot while other aircraft go around! AFIT thank you so much for such a wonderful experience. Previouslyittook me 3 months to get 8.8 hours offlight time. All the people were great, the hangars and planes were in top notch condition. Even on the first day in an immaculate condition 1978 Cessna 172, I felt like we did more flying in a single flight than Id done in my previous 40 hours combined! Not at AFIT. This absolutely motivated me to keep pursuing my dream. During my search for the right accelerated school, I contacted dozens of schools throughout the U.S. (including AFIT). It only happened because of the seamless, energetic instruction by Cholena. A professional FAA Senior Instructor with over 9,175 total hours, and 6,860 hours dual given as flight instructor. Once again, Thank You. It has been ten days since I passed my check ride, after only 40.8 hrs in the cockpit. He is a remarkable man and Im so fortunate to have met and learned from him. I had learned the course material to a reasonable standard before coming over, but Bill impressed the need on me for an excellent score in the written exams as being a pre-requisite for a short and precise oral exam, so we gave that extra attention in the first week. The program was billed to me as a two-year program (since I had my gen eds out of the way) where I would finish with my four-year degree as well as a commercial certificate and maybe even my CFI certificate. He quickly got me back up to speed with flying and drilled me during ground school to make sure I was 100% ready for the oral test and check ride. You dont get these views anywhere else unless youre in the skies. Signing up with AFIT was the best decision I made. I felt safe, and challenged, working with him. *If the student has not studied and is not prepared to pass the written exam upon arrival, it will add additional days to your training. Thanks again for a wonderful experience, and also for a wonderful instructor. We got along very well and I enjoyed our time together. Thank you for everything. Thanks to the intense training with John, his constant pushing and pointing to things that I missed during the training, I passed with flying colors. And he was always pushing me to gain the next skill. The two-week private pilot course was exactly what I needed to get it done. That was absolutely unexpected and a testament to Michaels ability as an instructor to continually get the best out of me and tailoring everything to maximize my time in SoCal. Every day its a new undertaking with new destinations and new things to learn. I am now a private pilot and I could not be happier with the experience I had with AFIT! . I have flow elsewhere where the CFI took the controls often. The G1000 equipped Cessna 172 we used for the training was fun to fly and in great condition. Final tally was north of 20 landings and 3.5 hours XC time. I can confirm that in the next year my sister and law and nephew will be joining you for training. AFIT has allowed me to mark a check off my bucket list and has helped me better shape my plans for my future aviation career. My training with John was 2 weeks as promised. Theresno form of gratitude to explainhow grateful I am for AFIT and my great instructorGreg P. Gregs experience and guidance is paramount and unmatched. Gilsknowledge of the area, his tips and tricks and overall friendly demeanor made the training truly enjoyable. In my case, traditional flight training is very inefficient and overall takes many more hours spread out over many months or years. The FAA says you must be at least 16 years old to fly solo with a student pilot certificate, and 17 years old to get a pilots license. The examiner said I knew everything exactly like he hoped and better. I cant possibly say enough positive things about my experience with Todd and the accelerated program. Cholena was great. I will definitely be coming back for my IFR training soon, and my wife cant wait to get her PPL at AFIT! Tom gave great tips and pointers that other instructors in the past had not mentioned. The first day Andy and I hit the ground running with some ground school before flight instruction. WhileI was there, I was able to go from 8.8 hours that I previously had to 53.0 hours and a pilots license. I will definitely refer your services in the future and thanks again for recommending John. Train for your Private Pilot at your pace or use our Accelerated Course if you are in a hurry. My experience with Any was perfect. I went from soloing a mere three traffic patterns to flying solo long distance cross country in a matter of days! Bill showed a great deal of flexibility in adapting the training depending on the weather and available test booking scenarios; we settled early in the second week for Friday for both tests. Her approach can be somewhat frustrating at times but is extremely effective. However you need an AME to discuss your options (example, you may have to always fly with another licensed pilot present). Anyway, not only did we become friends, Mike truly cared about your safety, and makingabsolutelysure you had the skills and knowledge to fly. He is funny. I feel like I have made a lifelong friend in Sean and have already referred a new client. He trained me to be not only current and legal, but safe and proficient. It took 5 hours to check all equipments and structure of the plane. Tony you have been very responsive to any email and inquiries answering in a matter of minutes regardless of the hour. That I was even ready to attempt a check ride at the FAA minimum hours is really a testament to your skill and tenacity as a flight instructor and I thank you greatly for that. Thank you both and hope to see you guys soon for another rating. Thanks for the opportunity to work with Greg. For the love of flying. Are you interested in learning how to fly? After arriving I spent 1 hour in the pattern with Ricardo and was landing successfully. I suspect many people, when they first see the claim of an instrument rating in ten days, are a bit sceptical. While I returned home fulfilled in a very meaningful way, in a way I am still left wanting though. I had a great time with the AFIT program. This is a terrific, really friendly group of people who go the extra mile to make things happen. Thank you to the both of you, Tony and John! Very pleasant to be around and very knowledgeable. Give homework, then ask me questions the next day about topics from the home work. I would recommend Todd 10 out of 10 times for any students looking for a flight instructor. The whole process was great, from getting signed up, to last minute review for the check ride. The accelerated program is the way to go. All this to say, I think that Ricardo is an awesome instructor and I am happy that I was paired up with him for training. Five years ago, I first started flight training the traditional way at a local airport. 101% recommended for everyone, even International students like me. Im looking forward to experiencing the freedom afforded by my new certificate, and the challenge of earning my instrument rating. I cant say enough about how well Alex cares fortheplane and keeps it in top shape. Thank you once again John and Tony for making this possible! I never would have thought that I would be able to achieve my pilots license in two weeks. My background had been 45 years as Captain of my Crab Boats in the Bering Sea, wherein I faced many challenges of weather, and incidents of many kinds. In the end, I am greatly satisfied with my time at AFIT, and would highly recommend AFIT to anyone considering gaining their private pilot license.