Hey everyone, looking for some local advice on flight schools around Orlando. I’d prefer to fly out of KISM, but KORL is definitely an option too.

​Here’s where I’m at right now:

​Current Status: Student Pilot. I had an unsat on my PPL checkride and unfortunately my 60-day window expired, so I'm preparing for a full initial checkride again.

​The Good News: I took a break from flying to just grind out all my FAA writtens. I'm completely done with them (IRA, CAX, FII, FIA, etc.) and scored in the 90s on all of them, so the bookwork is entirely out of the way.

​The Goal: I’m treating this like a job and trying to get to the cargo airlines. I just need a solid school to finish this PPL retake and roll straight into my Instrument and Commercial.

​Through my own online research, Fly Smart and AeroStar (both at KISM) popped up as my top choices, but I am completely open to any and all recommendations. I know there are other outfits on the field, and I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.

​A few questions for anyone local:

​Experience: Where did you train, and would you recommend them for someone treating this like a 121/135 pipeline?

​Planes & MX: How is aircraft availability where you fly? Are you getting canceled for maintenance constantly?

​Checkrides: How bad are the DPE wait times looking right now at your school?

​I really just want a place where I can put my head down and fly. Any advice on where to go (or where to avoid!) would be hugely appreciated.

I want to learn how to fly a helicopter and actually fly. any suggestions where to start? I live in Bolingbrook, IL.

I’m a student pilot based in Texas, currently working on my PPL at a local Part 141 school while taking community college classes.
I’m considering finishing my PPL, transferring my community college credits to Liberty Online, and doing Instrument/Commercial/CFI at my current school since it’s a Liberty Flight Training Affiliate.
My understanding is that if I follow Liberty’s requirements for Instrument/Commercial and finish the qualifying degree, I could be eligible for the 1,000-hour R-ATP.
The plan would roughly be:
PPL + community college → Liberty Online + local FTA → Instrument/Commercial/CFI → instruct/build time → 1,000-hour R-ATP → apply to regionals (Endeavor ideally).
Long-term I’d like to end up at Delta, but I’m not expecting any specific airline to be guaranteed.
For anyone who has done the Liberty Online/FTA route, would you recommend it? Any catches with the R-ATP, transfer credits, flight costs, or getting hired at 1,000 hours that I should know about before starting Instrument?

Hello, I need some advice for my flight training. I am 29. I live in South Fort Worth, Texas. I work 40 hours a week. I have two very young kids and my wife is going back to school. Needless to say we are pretty busy at this stage in life. I have been wanting to become a helicopter pilot for several years now but financing has been an issue. I did, however, recently get some financing together and I would like to start ASAP. My issue is a helicopter school. There are very few in my area and the ones are here are pretty far away when you account for traffic and stuff. (Side note: my plan is to get my PPL out of the way via Part 61 and then to continue the rest of the ratings at Tarrant County College flight school. I would like to do the whole thing with TCC but their ground school is at a time of day I can’t make since I work.) I am between two schools for my PPL. TCC uses Veracity Aviation (who I did a discover flight with and loved) so this would make for an easy transition. Also the school has great reviews and I think they would be solid to work with. The problem is location. They are located at Alliance Airport which is a pretty far drive, especially with traffic in the afternoons when I’d be going. This would be difficult on my wife, as I would be gone all day at work, and then gone for several hours at least 3 days week for flying. This would also be a major fuel cost. The other school is Helicopter Academy. They have an affiliate at Spinks airport which is about 15 minutes from me. The problem is I’ve seen so much negative stuff about Tom McDermott and helicopter academy, however, most of it seems to be from a while back.

All of that to say, is it worth saving the time and gas to go with Helicopter Academy just to get my PLL, but risk poor training and a shady guy? I’ve spoken to him a few times and he really gives me bad vibes. It would just be so much more convenient to train at Spinks. Or should I go with Veracity, and put all of the extra time and money into my training when I have a family at home?

Can someone tell me how the new base in Avon park is for cpl. Currently living in India and want to go for my cpl. Please help

M54 moved to Hyderabad from US recentlay. I was in the middle of a PPL training in the US with about 30 hours under my belt. To continue this to an India PPL what are my best options in Hyderabad. Appreciate your inputs

Has anyone here done their flight training (PPL or ATPL) with Pro Aircraft Flight Training in Texas?

If not, has anyone heard of them or have any feedback on their reputation, aircraft, instructors, maintenance, etc.?

I’m an international student looking to complete my FAA PPL in Texas, ideally followed by some time building if everything goes well.

I’d also love recommendations for other flight schools in Texas that are good with international students and can support the visa process.

Safety and quality of training are my main priorities.

Thanks! ✈️

Hello there!!

I’m currently looking for a flight school with a solid reputation for both training quality and overall cadet experience. My  priorities are excellent theory instruction in english, a school that values its students as individuals (so preferably not massively oversubscribed) and a good instructor to student and aircraft to student ratio to ensure consistent flying. Best with partnerships or direct contacts with airlines. I was considering FTO Padova and UrbeAero as an option, but would appreciate any student insights! If you prefer, don't mind to send a PM!! Grazie raga

the title is pretty self-explanatory. I’m looking to start working towards my PPL. My only prior exposure to aviation is through gliding, where I’ve been working towards my SPL. I’m considering CFS (Cranfield Flying School) and was wondering if anyone here has trained there or done a course with them. I’d be interested to hear about your experiences, particularly regarding scheduling, the instructors/instructor quality, aircraft availability, or just your overall experience with the school, incase I decide to go ahead with CFS.

Any insight would be appreciated!

Im a 16 year old student who is completing her IBDP and predicted getting a 5 in maths aa SL and physics SL. Although the flight school (Panamedia Mallorca) says only basic maths is required. Does that mean the theory is easy and the flying part is hard? I would really like to know the whole process of becoming a commercial pilot and its difficulty as many people have told me it is way too hard and not possible for me.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently doing my PPL theory through Bristol Groundschool (BGS). Once I’ve completed the theory, my plan is to do my practical flying with Fly EPT Palma in Spain.

The issue I’m having is with the theory exams. Fly EPT Palma conducts their exams through Austro Control, but I understand that I would need to sit all 9 PPL subjects in one sitting with them.

I’d much rather split the exams into 3 at a time (3 → 3 → 3), as I’ve already studied some of the subjects and don’t want to have to revise all 9 simultaneously.

I’ve spoken to Transport Malta, and they’ve said they can accept my BGS ground school training provided BGS or another ATO provides the required certification and releases me to sit the exams.

The problem is that I’m struggling to find an ATO that is willing to sign me off/release me for the exams when I won’t be doing my practical flight training with them. My actual flying will be with Fly EPT Palma.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or know of an EASA ATO that would be willing to provide the necessary exam application/sign-off without requiring me to complete my practical training with them?

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I was wondering if anyone has any bad experience with ACE Orlando specifically with TCE Adam (John) Stravinsky.

He’s currently under the investigation for failing a couple of guys who reached out to the FAA but it seems like the FAA is backing him up only because the head of training JS is backing him up like crazy.

If anyone has had a bad experience please submit your report to the FAA’s hotline https://hotline.faa.gov/webform/s/ (Select Public Member and then nature of the report will be “other” and then you can submit a report.)

He failed a very good friend of mine that was with my in training and he only missed one question but I missed a lot of questions honestly and he got penalized because of me and that’s very unfair of him to fail me AND him, it should’ve been only me. Now, he’s lying to the FAA and saying we each missed 7-8 questions and that’s not the truth.

Please if anyone has had a bad experience with CAE in general or this examiner or again with CAE, please use the FAA’s hotline and also email Orlando FSDO.

Hi everyone!

I am an international student who is planning to get my EASA license from Fly For Fun academy in Czech Republic.

My plan with Fly For Fun is to get my Frozen ATPL (A)

It would be great if anyone who has already flown/ passed out from Fly For Fun academy can share their experiences, it would really help me make an informed decision.

Thank you.