CFI is great, school not so much
Posted by MinimumWeather3489@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 10 comments
My CFI is awesome. Looked at several different schools and instructors and really connected with him. Only a few lessons in but is going great. However, the school leaves a bit to be desired. I selected this school for two main reasons 1. The CFI and 2: the availability around my schedule (early mornings, evenings, and weekends). The biggest problem right now is that they are down to a single aircraft and it is currently undergoing some maintenance. I’ve had 3 lessons cancelled so far and they keep telling me it should be ready to go the next time twice now. One of the other schools even warned me about the maintenance issues at this school. Should I be looking at other schools or just tough it out with this one?
Prestigious-Eye5441@reddit
One plane is a nightmare at a decent school. My school was down to one for 6 weeks (down to none for a couple). Having to essentially start over again is a PITA. I recently walked away because the operations also fell apart. Scheduling when the plane was up on the weekends became a challenge. They weren’t putting people in the office because it is economically challenging. Good luck, but I would find somewhere else
_Sixteen@reddit
If they only have one plane, there will be NO availability, regardless of everything else
eSUP80@reddit
It doesn’t really matter what anyone has told you…. One plane is going to be a problem unless there’s only a handful of students. Even then- rental plane maintenance is almost constant. We have 6 planes at my flight school and we are lucky if half are up and running at any given time.
MinimumWeather3489@reddit (OP)
They said they had 3 when I was applying. 1 is pending sale, one had been out for a few weeks but should be back “any day now” and the third has been down a week.
cficole@reddit
Convenient schedule slots for you doesn't translate to availability if there's only one plane, and it's down often. I'm wondering if the schedule's less crowded because they lost students due to these problems.
A great CFI can't help if you don't fly. You'll likely have to decide how long you want to give them to get the aircraft back on line, before you look elsewhere.
MinimumWeather3489@reddit (OP)
I have two flights scheduled this week. If they cancel I feel like I can’t wait any longer. I set aside funds to fly 3x weekly and really don’t want to go weeks without flying.
ltcterry@reddit
Sometimes you have to wonder if it's true or they're just saying something to get you to fly with them. In this case it looks like it's the former.
Talk to your instructor. Ask if there's a plan to get airplanes in the air reliably. If not, it's probably time to consider moving on.
MinimumWeather3489@reddit (OP)
I took the warning as just competitive crap talking but now I am wondering. I asked the CFI about it and he knew exactly who had said it without me telling him.
Ashamed-Charge5309@reddit
What are the maintenance issues? You just happened to sign up for the school when it's time for a heavy duty maintenance check, or they are always flirting on the edge of being star of the NTSB crash board for the year?
Another school telling you they have maintenance issues either means that school is trying to sabotage them so you sign up at their school, or it's a bellwether that this particular school is known for riding the fleet hard and putting it away wet until something starts smoking or a door falls off.
Network around, your time (and money) is more important then what the school is doing especially since they are effectively wasting your time canceling (3X so far and counting). Does your CFI know of another school? Are you rural/in a limited area where pickings are slim? Can you go elsewhere in the surrounding state/county and so forth?
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
My CFI is awesome. Looked at several different schools and instructors and really connected with him. Only a few lessons in but is going great. However, the school leaves a bit to be desired. I selected this school for two main reasons 1. The CFI and 2: the availability around my schedule (early mornings, evenings, and weekends). The biggest problem right now is that they are down to a single aircraft and it is currently undergoing some maintenance. I’ve had 3 lessons cancelled so far and they keep telling me it should be ready to go the next time twice now. One of the other schools even warned me about the maintenance issues at this school. Should I be looking at other schools or just tough it out with this one?
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