AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training

Quality of Aircraft	1		Quality of Instruction	1
Availability of Aircraft	1		Availability of Instruction	1
Cleanliness of Aircraft	1		Facility Amenities	1
Community Atmosphere	1		Friendliness of Staff	1
Professionalism of Staff	1		Value of Training	1
Overall Score: 1/5

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Employee(s) worked with: Tom Kuhlmann, Anthony (Tony) Montalte

Reason for visit: Flight Training

I recommend this flight school: No

Pros None

Cons Read review too many to llist.

My Review of AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training:
Accelerated Flight and Instrument Training is not a flight school at all, it is a subcontractor of flight instructors. For $6,000+ less, and at any chosen airport, you can do the exact same training. AFIT uses unmaintained aircraft that are not owned by the school, they are rented from a third party. The instructors were unprofessional and it was a highly disappointing experience for me.

Due to my instructor being excessively overweight, I was forced into upgrading to a higher horse powered Piper Arrow. A Warrior would not haul the excess weight with the altitude we were at. This upgrade alone cost me over $1,000 on top of the original $16,000 astronomical price. This aircraft was also over-booked for rental, so it wasn't available for all of my required hours. AFIT did not take the initiative of reserving me an aircraft.

My second aircraft was rented from a mechanic at a nearby hangar. Wheel chocks were propped under the seat to keep it from falling into the back seat during flight. During run-ups, the aircraft's flaps were stuck in the down position. After dealing with this faulty, unsafe aircraft I was still instructed to “just take off anyway". Around 40 knots, the flaps would pop back into the up position for take-off. Finally, the magnetos went and the plane completely broke down.

A third aircraft was then rented and there was so much heat coming from the engine compartment that it burned my left foot. When exiting the aircraft there was rubber from my sneaker melted to the floor panel. This was ignored and we continued to fly. I was told to “man up” after I made a complaint.

On my eighth day of training, my instructor pawned me off on another instructor who had just gotten his CFI rating that same week. My original instructor was not present for three days of the 14 day training. By the end of the two weeks, I had only flown a little over 30 hours, which was 10 hours short of valuable training.

I was still sent unprepared into an oral and check ride. The reasoning was I had a previous seven hours in my log book from a previous year when I was being introduced to aviation. I explained to my instructor I was not comfortable or prepared to take the test. He insisted, and then I failed my check ride in the first five minutes of my oral exam. When I pleaded with owner (Anthony Montalte) for a different instructor to complete the course, he offered me one day of complimentary training. So not only was I not fully trained, I was denied. The FAA should probably look into this school, or at a minimum, inspect their aircraft.

These are my reasons for such a terrible review.

Del Sol Aviation

Quality of Aircraft	5		Quality of Instruction	5
Availability of Aircraft	5		Availability of Instruction	5
Cleanliness of Aircraft	4		Facility Amenities	4
Community Atmosphere	5		Friendliness of Staff	5
Professionalism of Staff	5		Value of Training	5
Overall Score: 4.8/5

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Employee(s) worked with: Jaime Clum, Kyle Preston, Elizabeth Armijo

Reason for visit: Flight Training

I recommend this flight school: Yes

Pros They value your money, safety and service minded

Cons None really

My Review of Del Sol Aviation:
I got my PPL from Del Sol, and am just starting my instrument rating. The number one reason I would recommend this school is that they value you and your money. My lesson plan was structured to achieve the maximum benefit for the amount of time and $ spent there. Throughout I never felt rushed, pressured or otherwise not in control. Safety was always first, and the quality of instruction paramount.

I was able to achieve my PPL in 41.7 hours of instruction - without feeling in the least that safety was ever compromised.

Big fan...

Snohomish Flying Service

Quality of Aircraft	3		Quality of Instruction	1
Availability of Aircraft	1		Availability of Instruction	1
Cleanliness of Aircraft	3		Facility Amenities	3
Community Atmosphere	1		Friendliness of Staff	2
Professionalism of Staff	1		Value of Training	1
Overall Score: 1.7/5

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Employee(s) worked with: Jim Crone

Reason for visit: Flight Training

I recommend this flight school: Yes

Pros Newer aircraft

Cons Zero loyalty to student Flight Instructor submitted false anonymous tip to FAA.

My Review of Snohomish Flying Service:
I gave Snohomish Flying Service a considerable amount of business since 2018. Over the years, I earned my Private, Instrument rating, and commercial pilot certificates. All total, I must have paid well over $60,000 and some change to this company. And why not. I wanted to attain my dream of becoming a commercial pilot and they had the means to get me there. Or at least that's what I thought. I never in my wildest imagination thought that a rogue CFI would go off and report to the FAA Medical branch that I had a disqualifying medical condition when in fact I did not.

I have on very good information that one of the instructors at Snohomish Flying Service (Jim Crone) submitted an anonymous tip to the FAA Medical Office about my qualification to hold a medical certificate. This tip came in to the FAA around 2/24, which was two days after a flight I took with Mr. Crone in which we had a conversation related to the tip that was submitted to the FAA. I clearly indicated to him on 2/22 that I didn't have a disqualification, and offered to provide medical evidence to support this. The basis of his position was completely unfounded. This instructor stated to the FAA via an anonymous tip that I told him I had Vertigo, and as a consequence I am at risk of losing my first class medical - along with a waste of over $60,000 paid to this outfit. Luckily my extensive medical records prove that I do not have vertigo, and this issue after considerable time and expense will hopefully be resolved in my favor. Hopefully this reckless act will not destroy my career - especially since the anonymous tip was based on this instructors opinion and not supported by any medical fact.

This flight school has zero loyalty. Why would an instructor make an anonymous tip to the FAA? If there was a question as to a medical condition of mine, why wouldn't they talk to me about this first before making an anonymous tip to the FAA? And if they honestly had the best interests of the aviation community in mind, why wouldn't this instructor report using his real name ? I even provided SFS with documentation to support my position that I do not have vertigo. Apparently this fell on deaf ears because four months later, I get a letter from the FAA in the mail. After giving them a considerable amount of business, this treatment is absolutely horrible. I wasted a lot of money with this company when there are far better, more professional schools that can accomplish the same goal.

There are many other flight schools out there. I cancelled my training with Snohomish Flying Service and moved my business to a well respected and highly professional outfit in Texas - where I was able to finish my training on time and under budget. My CFI training in Texas came in $4186 under budget. Conversely, training at Snohomish yielded training that consistently went over budget. My private pilot went over by just over $600. My Instrument went over by $246. However, my commercial went over by over $5000 and my multi engine went over by $5500 due to inadequate training and instructors that would not follow the prescribed lesson plans. I recommend future students look elsewhere.

AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training

Quality of Aircraft	2		Quality of Instruction	4
Availability of Aircraft	4		Availability of Instruction	4
Cleanliness of Aircraft	4		Facility Amenities	2
Community Atmosphere	3		Friendliness of Staff	4
Professionalism of Staff	4		Value of Training	2
Overall Score: 3.3/5

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Employee(s) worked with: Todd/Tony

Reason for visit: Flight Training

I recommend this flight school: No

Pros Good instructor

Cons No ELT or weight and balance for aircraft VOR navigation only No FAA examiner available for check ride outside of double the cost Local examiners frown upon program Lack of accountability

My Review of AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training:
My wife attended the course in Idaho. The aircraft was new to everyone on day one of training. It had no ELT, weight and balance and only VOR navigation. The local field had frequent inop lighting and made night flying more difficult. Local examiner available wanted double
The normal rate for checkride because he was the only game in town. Lack of accountability on company side when safety and quality concerns were expressed.

Harless Aviation

Quality of Aircraft	3		Quality of Instruction	1
Availability of Aircraft	3		Availability of Instruction	3
Cleanliness of Aircraft	3		Facility Amenities	3
Community Atmosphere	3		Friendliness of Staff	3
Professionalism of Staff	3		Value of Training	1
Overall Score: 2.6/5

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Employee(s) worked with: Gregg Harless

Reason for visit: Flight Training

I recommend this flight school: No

Pros BEWARE!!! Greg Harless is known as a alcoholic who has flown with students while under the influence, including not doing maintenance to FAA standards. Please proceed with caution!

Cons

My Review of Harless Aviation:
BEWARE!!! Greg Harless is known as a alcoholic who has flown with students while under the influence, including not doing maintenance to FAA standards. Please proceed with caution! Gregg comes off as a super nice, pilot guy who knows what he is doing, but it is all a sham.