Florida Aviators European US Flightschool, Inc.

Useful Information

Things you need to know

Despite the detailed information available about flight training, many questions remain unanswered. We’ll discuss the most important ones here.

Training in the USA

Uncertainty is usually the first thing people feel when considering flight training. Rumors about flight schools and the process for having US licenses recognized outside of the US scare off some would-be students. In general, the training system in the United States, regardless of whether a program follows FAR Part 141 or FAR Part 61, is significantly more goal-oriented, faster, and considerably cheaper than in Europe – and above all, it is more pragmatic and effecitve.

Still, you cannot expect to succeed with no advance preparation whatsoever. You need to learn the theory and familiarize yourself with how flight training is conducted. If you do expect to reach your goal with no advance preparation, you’re going to have trouble completing the training within the normal time frame.

Particularly in a FAR Part 61 program, practical training is the primary focus. The customer usually learns the required theoretical knowledge in a home study course or via independent study. In the course of your training, our flight instructors will explain all important procedures and rules to you. However, if you show up with no prior experience and no advance theoretical study and expect to waltz out with your license or rating, your expectations are simply unrealistic.

Therefore, it is important that you prepare for your stay with us in St. Augustine by studying the appropriate theoretical materials beforehand. It will make your practical training easier and ensure that flying is a joy, not a source of stress and pressure. We can provide the books or DVDs you need and ship them to you from our European offices in Germany and Austria.

Language skills

The language barrier is probably the most significant barrier you will have to deal with during your training, if you are not a native speaker. Basic English skills are absolutely critical to your success.

Generally, knowledge of English, at least the basics, is required. To improve your skills, we suggest you do some advance work, such as with the COMM1 communications trainer – it is an enormous help and will make training much easier for you. However, don’t let the English requirement scare you off.

Within a few days, your rusty old school English will come back to you, and you’ll be amazed at how simple it really is in the end. During your first few hours, our instructors will handle radio communications for you and lead you step-by-step to where you need to go.

Calculation of training costs and aircraft rental charges

We can only calculate costs using the minimum required flight hours as a rule of thumb.

However, for most pilots in training, that minimum will simply not be enough. You should add at least a 10-15% cushion to our minimum figures. Often, the aircraft you choose to fly has an enormous impact. If you weigh, say, 85 kilograms and expect to complete your training in a small two-seater Cessna 152, you’ll find that this aircraft won’t allow you to add much more weight.

The weight of the fuel on board and the flight instructor also have to be included in the weight calculations. Therefore, it is important that you determine before you arrive which aircraft is the right one for you so you can get a better handle on your likely expenses.

With the exception of the Cessna 152, our least expensive trainer, all of the aircraft in our fleet are suitable for normal height/normal weight pilots.

Selecting a flight school

The poor economy has caused many flight schools to close up shop. Several “big names” went out of business right here in Florida.

The “pay in advance” system seems to have been a major factor behind easy liquidity that made some schools forget basic business management principles.

Still, even now, many aspiring pilots must pay most or all of their training fees in advance. This should be a giant red flag! Respectable flight schools will never make these kinds of demands.

Most customers of the closed flight schools, some of which had 250 students who were mostly foreign nationals, found themselves staring at locked doors without warning one morning. They had paid the entire cost of their training in advance. So far, we have not heard of even one person who got one cent of his payments or deposits back.

In many cases, once the pyramid system collapsed, the owners, CEOs, company presidents, etc. simply disappeared into their secure villas with whatever money was left.

Please be careful and thorough when you choose a flight school. Many times, calling the school will help. Or take a short trip to see the school in person and see what you’re getting into.

Registration, contracts, and payment

We do not require payments to be made in advance. However, we must have a way to cover the administrative work connected with your registration, e.g., TSA or other documentation, and we need some small assurance that the aircraft we have reserved for your training will not sit unused in the hangar.

This is why we require a refundable deposit of $250.00 from each customer who registers using a paper form or a form downloaded from our Internet site. This amount is credited to your customer account, and 100% of it is used to pay for flight hours or other expenses associated with your stay. In case of cancellation or deferral the fees listed in our terms and conditions may apply.

If you’ve been to the United States before, you know you can’t do much of anything without a credit card. Because you are partaking of services for which we have paid in advance the moment you and your flight instructor walk out of the flight school and head for your aircraft (such as aircraft costs, insurance, fuel, personnel costs, etc.), we bill you for all services on the day they are rendered. We accept all commonly used credit cards except for all AMEX (American express) cards.

Please make sure before you arrive that your credit card’s credit limit is at least equal to the cost of your training. Customers often have problems because training costs quickly exceed lower credit limits.

These problems can be avoided if you ensure in advance that the credit limit provided to you by your credit card company is high enough to pay for your flight school training and for the other expenses associated with your trip, such as hotel rooms, restaurant meals, etc.

Within reasonable limits, we are willing to make other arrangements with you, such as accepting cash payments made on site to save on transaction costs associated with credit card use or to take advantage of a particularly good exchange rate. However, we can only make exceptions to our basic rule of pay-as-you-go if they are reasonable from a business standpoint.

Advising, questions, and suggestions

Before you travel to Florida or submit your registration to Florida Flyers, our representatives in Europe, Dr. Sebastian Schulte in Germany and Mag. Michael Ebner in Austria, will be happy to answer any questions you may have and help you plan and prepare for your trip.

You can order preparatory materials inexpensively through either office. We’d also be glad to help you fill out forms, check over your documents before you send them in, and assist with your TSA registration. Just ask us.

We wish you all the best during your time with us — and always happy landings.

Sincerely,

The Florida Flyers Team

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