Buying Flight Training: Caveat Emptor

Pick the wrong flight school and you can lose your entire training budget with nothing to show for it.

flight training instructor
Ask that steely-eyed instructor sitting shotgun what his own goals are. The right answer: preparing you to pass the checkride to high standards in a reasonable amount of time.

Every day, new students enter the flight training world with a high level of naivety. Nowhere does the phrase “not all things are created equal” have a wider divide than in aviation flight training.

I researched and wrote this article in hopes of assisting readers in selecting the best flight school or independent flight instructor—aligned with their mission goals—for private or instrument tickets, though in many ways it can apply to any level of flight training. My intent is not to highlight my own work as a flight instructor.

Bob Reed

Contributor Bob Reed is an active CFII and owns a Grumman Tiger based in Pennsylvania.