We all start somewhere, my career as a full time flight instructor started back in 1988 with a $350 Gift certificate for Christmas From My Brother. My brother had his pilot license and owned a Cessna 182 At the time.

I went flying with him once in a while and he ended up giving me a $350 gift certificate at the local flight school. This is where my 34 year career started !. Funny How a small Christmas Present would turn into a 35 year Career but it did !!

Back then this purchased about 15 Hours of dual instruction. Flying Was Really Cheap back then Compared to Now !

I ended up Starting Flying Lessons at Saratoga Airport In Upstate NY. The First Flight I did I just had the “ Feeling ‘ That this is what I was supposed to do !! So I took Flight Lessons Every Weekend for a while until the gift certificate ran out

After the 15 Hour gift certificate Was used up, It was time for a Decision of what to do. I was working construction at that time and had the entire summer to decide what to do. I looked up several flight schools and looked into all of my options.

I Finally Decided on the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics In Oakland California at Oakland International Airport, I ended up going out there for a weekend back in 1987 and loved the environment. A Few months later I was on my way from Upstate NY to California to get all of my Pilot Certificates.

I started My Training in October of 1988 and had all of my pilot certificates Private, instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi Engine Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor, Instrument Flight Instructor and Multi Engine Flight Instructor by February of 1989. Not bad I got all of my ratings in about 14 months !! Hoot Hoot !

There were Many Roadblocks but I got it done!. I had a great instructor for all of my Ratings . He stuck with me for a year to make sure all of my Pilot Certificates were complete !

Today Things are a lot different. Not only are the airspace and training environments much more complex but airports are getting stricter in many situations leaving only the big flight schools in operation. The Gem Flight instructors and training options are much more difficult to find, But They are still out there !

Back in the day there were less so called “ Diploma Mills “ and The good instructors stuck around for at least a couple of years. Today the flight training industry is much different.

• Flying is Much More Expensive
• Flight Instructors Don’t Stick Around to Finish Their Students
• Many students get more and more frustrated with their training
• The “Quit Rate or students giving Up is much higher today
• The Good Instructors are much harder to find
• The Best Training options for a given student may be never found

Things Need to be done differently now and the student themselves need to take more control of their flight training to get the desired outcome.

That is why I have come up with a different approach to flight training

Research and Planning Based Flight Training !!

Sounds Pretty Simple Right?

See I have spent 35 years training pilots, some have been wonderful and some have been frustrating. The thing about flight training is the fact that every student is different. There is no one size fits all. Yes the standards and regulations are the same but the fact is everyone learns different.

For Example:  The Older student will want to read books. The Younger student will want to watch videos. The older student will want to be a safe and confident pilot before solo and the younger student will want to solo as fast as possible.

Above all the correct student / instructor relationship needs to be found.

Most people just go to a flight school and are ” Given and Instructor ” If for some reason you don’t get along with the instructor or worse; they just leave and go to an  airline, then it is just “ so sorry “ We will get you another one or maybe 5 more 🙁

The Research and Planning approach will help put the odds back in your favor and help save money time and frustration.

Instead the student takes more responsibility for their flight training. This is really great for many reasons !

1: You Will fully understand the entire process before you start spending a lot of money

2: You Will understand that there are many different options out there and there is a perfect one for you also !

3: You understand how to find and interview the best flight instructors.

4: You understand where, when and how flight training delays can happen and how to avoid them.

5: You have a better idea of the realistic cost and can budget better, then plan your training for that target budget.

Hope To See You In The Sky !!

Airfreddy