CAPT Program: Questions and Answers

[SteveC]

<thinking I stumbled into DCA or PanAm forum by mistake....>

[kellwolf]

Okay, I'll say it again since it didn't take the first time. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "HARVARD OF THE SKIES." Airlines look to see if you checked the "bachelor degree" box, they don't look to see where you got it. ERAU charges an INSANE amount for flight training and offeres roughly the same training you'll find elsewhere, depending on which instructor you get. You might get lucky and get an instructor that is there b/c they enjoy teaching. Then again you could wind up with someone that would rather be flying a 737 than teaching and acts bitter about it. Flying at a local FBO keeps the control of who you fly with in your hands instead of the mercy of the ERAU flight line.

Now, as far as the "college experience," dude you SERIOUSLY need to talk to more people that are in college and read less magazine reports. I went to the largest college in my state, and we didn't have near the drug problem you think there is. No one puts a gun to your head and says "go to this party, or I'll shoot you." There are groups in college that party, and there are groups that just hang out at the house. College is a lot like reality, just in smaller square miles. Look at the reports of how many students stay at Riddle after the first year. I think you'll be surprised.

I can understand going to Riddle to be surrounded by aviation, but guess what. That gets old REAL FAST. Seems like a good idea in HS, when put in practice, you're begging to talk about something other than V speeds and aerodynamics after about three months. How many "Boeing vs Airbus" arguements do you think they can possibly have in the dorms?

[flightlevel350]

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Look at the reports of how many students stay at Riddle after the first year. I think you'll be surprised.

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I believe the average is about 30 percent transfer out after freshman year, and only about 47 percent end up remaining in the school to graduate. Thats right, 53 percent end up leaving! If you ask someone from the administration about it, they will call it a "failout" rate. I got a 3.9 GPA there, and Im transfering out. Dont think i failed at anything there.

[ComplexHiAv8r]

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How many "Boeing vs Airbus" arguements do you think they can possibly have in the dorms?

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Or in an online forum?

[project7]

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How many "Boeing vs Airbus" arguements do you think they can possibly have in the dorms?

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We made a rule that you had to leave the apartment to talk about airplanes.

For those who do decide to go to riddle, the only possible way to attract any girl's attention out there is to talk about anything other than airplanes.

[B767]

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Then again you could wind up with someone that would rather be flying a 737 than teaching and acts bitter about it. Flying at a local FBO keeps the control of who you fly with in your hands instead of the mercy of the ERAU flight line.

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Who's to say you wont get an instructor like that at any of the other universities? And who's to say that you wont get an instructor like that at an FBO? I work at an FBO and there is an instructor there who wants to fly coporate jets out of Denver and if he gets the job, he's gone.

I'm not trying to argue who's right and who's wrong, because for all I know, you all are right and I could be miserable my first year then I'll transfer. Or, better yet, I could just change my mind upon my visit to UND this summer. Actually, initially I was leaning towards UND (I love hockey and wanted to try out for the team) and my PPL training was done in Pipers (like them more than cessna's). I'm just trying to understand everyone's point of view as to why they hate ERAU so much.

Can anybody, HONESTLY, tell me how many flying days and such you get at each school? I have emailed both and both have replied that you usually can fly 300 days a year.

Ok, I'll let go of my ego for the moment. I need everyones help. Out of all the schools in the nation, which would be the one where you can receive your ratings (Instrument, ME, Commercial, CFI,CFII, CFME) the fastest so I can start building hours?

Taylor

[DE727UPS]

"Out of all the schools in the nation, which would be the one where you can receive your ratings (Instrument, ME, Commercial, CFI,CFII, CFME)"

I'd have to guess ATP as being the fastest of the bigger schools. At the same time, any decent FBO should be able to work with you at a pace that's fast enough. It's not like it's a race or anything. Get your private and IFR while in high school (I did). If your 17 and not a private pilot, you're behind already. Get the rest of your ratings part-time during your first two years of college. Then buy a 150 off of ebay and free-lance instruct the last two years of college. I swear you could just about get a 150 for the price of your private license at ERAU.

Not interested in any other major than aviation? You could still go to a larger school that has an aviation related degree but do all your flying off-campus. I still think your best bet, though, is a non-aviation degree from a local, in state, university.

Where are you from?

[B767]

Colorado Springs, CO. The only "flight program" in Colorado is Metro State in Denver (and it is all simulator). I just finished my junior year and already have my PPL and just try to build hours (will be flying my friends dad around CO in a 172 to different airports so he can pick up his King Air (which he instructs in).

Taylor

[kellwolf]

Here's the deal: yeah you could wind up with a d*ck for an instructor anywhere. Go back and read where I said you have more control over who your instructor is at an FBO. Read some of Flyin_ace_99 (I think) posts about her instructor at Riddle. They pretty much put her through the ringer, and finally told her she couldn't fly b/c she was a girl (no lie, this was Prescott). Long story short, she finished up, went to ATP and got her ratings there without a problem. She TRIED changing CFIs at ERAU, but it was a real pain. At an FBO, you can say, I don't want to fly with that guy, and that's that. They tell you differently, you take your money elsewhere.

As far as flying, you might be able to get 300 days in, but don't think you'll be able to fly that. There's not one plane per person, and after noon in FL, the odds of flying VFR get real slim. The odds of flying at all between about 10 am and 5 pm without getting your head slammed into the roof are pretty slim, too. So, I'd say 300 days a year is good, if you consider 100 of those HALF days. Unless you really like flying through embedded thunderstorms in the afternoon.....

As far as AZ goes, I couldn't tell ya.

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Out of all the schools in the nation, which would be the one where you can receive your ratings (Instrument, ME, Commercial, CFI,CFII, CFME) the fastest so I can start building hours?

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I would strongly recommend going to Ari-Ben, ATP or Skymates to get everything done quickly. At Riddle, you're looking at two-three years before you work on your CFI. You can get it done quickly at those schools, then get your degree from a state school while instructing on the side. Not only will you save a lot of time, you'll save a lot of money. It's important to remember that the airlines really, really don't care where you went to school. They're more interested in your personality and your aeronautical experience than what seal is on your diploma. Don't be blinded by all the marketing from the aviation colleges, and good luck on whatever you decide.

[project7]

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Who's to say you wont get an instructor like that at any of the other universities? And who's to say that you wont get an instructor like that at an FBO? I work at an FBO and there is an instructor there who wants to fly coporate jets out of Denver and if he gets the job, he's gone.


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The difference is that at ERAU, you are assigned an instructor. If you don't like your instructor for some reason, you can request a different one. However, I tried that once and it took almost 2 months to get a new instructor. From then on, I learned to just put up with whoever they gave me.

At an FBO, if you don't like your instructor you can get a different one in about 2 minutes. Also, if you don't like your FBO, you can leave anytime you want with no hassle BECAUSE YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER AND YOU CALL THE SHOTS.

Everyone goes into programs like ERAU's thinking "I'm going to work hard and everything will be fine". Then your instructor's best friend sees you mackin' on his girl at a party and suddenly everything you do in the cockpit is wrong, or you fail a stage check because the standards pilot just got turned down for the airline job he wanted.

The point is that there is a ton of unnecessary stuff that happens in these programs which can be easily avoided by simply doing the more traditional, FBO-style, training. And just to reinerate, no one cares where you did your training or your degree.

Good luck man, in whatever you decide. Keep asking questions here too, it's the only way to learn. I wish I was in your shoes and had found Jetcareers in high school before I signed up for the riddle-runaround.

[project7]

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The odds of flying at all between about 10 am and 5 pm without getting your head slammed into the roof are pretty slim, too. So, I'd say 300 days a year is good, if you consider 100 of those HALF days. Unless you really like flying through embedded thunderstorms in the afternoon.....


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Same thing in Arizona. Except the thunderstorms aren't embedded.

[DE727UPS]

Metro State has a great program. I used to stick my head in on DEN layovers. My favorite thing about their program is you can fly at your choice of a few different flight schools in the Denver area. This choice keeps the overall cost down and allows you the most options. Yeah, Metro State's on campus program is only simulators, but they say they have more sims than any other school. If you absolutely MUST have a degree in aviation, I'd highly recommend Metro.

I have one friend who went to UND that I met because he worked as a teller at my bank and was reading Flying magazine when I walked in. He's not been able to break into full time flying yet. Part of what's holding him back is his need to provide for his family while staying in this area cause his wife has a decent job. He does CFI part time for the UND extension here in Spokane. He got on at Horizon working the ramp part time and between that and the fact that UND has a deal with Horizon, got an interview at Horizon at 750 hours total. He was turned down. I mean really, Horizon is one of the best regionals in the country, why should they hire a 750 hour guy. You can see that the UND name hasn't done much for him. And that school has as good of connections as ERAU. To be fair, success in this business will come fastest to those who can go anywhere, anytime, for the next move up the ladder.

I have another friend who just got on at Ameriflight in twin Pipers. He got hired with 50 multi and 1200 total. He can move into the Beech 99, which will be turbine PIC time, in about six months. His background was little flight schools, to include me and my 152. Some advanced ratings with Sheble's in Nevada. Plus, a degree in business from Eastern WA University.

He's done it cheaper, and just as fast, as you could do it at any big name school, plus he's a fine pilot. He was asked to be in the training department at his new job before he ever finished his own training. He's just a sharp kid and a good stick. He didn't need any internships or special hiring programs, he just networked with friends and moved up the ladder from instruction to a VFR 135 job to Ameriflight.

You do whatever you want. It's just important to ME that young jetcareers members who might not know, understand that there are a lot of options for success besides the big name schools. I think a lot of young people only see the big names cause that's what's in the ads and on the internet. Then they spend a lot of money on a name that really isn't going to make them a better pilot or help them in the industry.

That really bothers me.....

[Phil_Eagle]

You know : "being a better pilot". That's exactly what I'm scared of.
When i came across Jetcareers my eyes were opened (as i said in another post).

I'm going to Embry Riddle not because of it's name but because I hope to become a well trained pilot. And I just can't imagine how getting 120 credit hours about flying airplanes and aerodynamics and whatever will not make me a better pilot (knowing my stuff- not reputation) than if i get 120 credit hours in business. I just dont understand that.

I want to work for airlines period. Reading here at jet careers has got me pulled towards actualy majoring in airline management instead of aeronautical science, but what i'm scared of is having a harder time at an airline interview or being uncertain in some situations while flying the airplane, and just not having the confidence, and knowledge I'd have if i had persued an AS degree, do you know what I'm saying?

I'm not talking about ERAU in specific but just any AS degree- won't that make you a better pilot in the end? I mean common, why would they have the degree at all if it was [censored]? Too expencive, useless, no back up?

[montanapilot]

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And I just can't imagine how getting 120 credit hours about flying airplanes and aerodynamics and whatever will not make me a better pilot (knowing my stuff- not reputation) than if i get 120 credit hours in business. I just dont understand that.


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i'm betting you could learn just as much if not more about flying from these bad boys and save yourself 150G's than if you went to ERAU



















PLUS alot of these only cost you the paper it takes to print them off of the FAA's website.

[DE727UPS]

"i'm scared of is having a harder time at an airline interview"

Completely unfounded. The interview is more about personality than technical. Before you have these interviews, you will have the experience and background to do okay. The hardest interviews, for me, were at the majors...duh. I got turned down by the first two and picked up by the third. A major interview is going to be a pretty stressful thing but by the time you get there, you can handle it. Heck, I went to ERAU, remember. It did NOTHING to make me feel better about my interviews.

"being uncertain in some situations while flying the airplane, and just not having the confidence, and knowledge I'd have if had persued an AS degree"

The knowledge and confidence in being a better pilot comes through experience flying airplanes in the real world. The classroom has it's place but there is no substitute for real world experience.

"AS degree- won't that make you a better pilot in the end? I mean common, why would they have the degree at all if it was [censored]"

First of all, you can stop with the cussing. It makes you look like a moron. Secondly, they have the degree because some people want it. Nothing wrong with that. Does it make you a better pilot? There is nothing I learned at ERAU I couldn't have learned anywhere else through experience and picking up a book. When I was younger, the AS degree was all I was interested in and that's what I got. Now that I'm older, I wish I had got a degree in education, child psyc, or youth ministry, since I enjoy working with kids. Doing this would not only have given me a good fallback, had I needed it, but would have allowed me to pursue more fully a second area of expertise I enjoy.

In the end, if you really have no other interests, then an aviation degree is better than nothing because you shouldn't study something you don't like. I'm just saying a degree in AS doesn't make you a better pilot and a non-aviation degree has advantages over an AS degree. Either allow you to check the important box on the application.

[kellwolf]

My honest opinion, the only thing that can make you a better pilot is getting out there and flying. 120 credit hours in aerodynamics won't make you a better pilot. If that were true, aeronautical engineers could fly circles around all of us. It's good to know the theory of that stuff, but I'd rather spend $100 on a textbook and read about it than $600 on the textbook and the class and still have to read about it. ERAU talks about all the professors they have that are from the aviation field, and that part is true. HOWEVER, you can garner just as much knowledge from guys hanging out at airports, coming to places like this and networking as you can paying tutition to sit in a classroom and listen to old war stories.

[EatSleepFly]

Do you guys realize/understand that Humpty-Diddle is a joke out in the "real world?" I mean that literally. An absolute joke. You should hear what people have to say about that place, when you get away from the bubble located at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.

Sit around in a pilots lounge, and the only thing you hear about Riddle lately is snide remarks, jokes and negative comments. And more often than not, from graduates. Nine times out of ten, saying you went to Riddle will cause someone to roll their eyes rather than say, "WOW!"

Stop this "Harvard of the Skies" bull##### and get real. ERAU is nothing more than a money-sucking hole. Their academics are alright (a FAR cry from great), and their flight department BLOWS. Going to Riddle does NOT impress anyone.

[Phil_Eagle]

I neither realise, nor understand it. How should I when I simply get told that their flight program sucks? Thank you for your input man, but if you want to be helpful or a get a point across then put some reasoning behind your statements, because hearing that this school "blows" is not really helping me, or anyone else that's about to start college.

[kellwolf]

Okay, here's one:

Link

Read that thread. That'll give you a feeling of how much Riddle cares about their students. I've heard of people getting totally dissed by the people that run the flight line, having to show up super early and their plane still gets back late, etc. Yeah, this stuff could happen at an FBO, but you have the option of taking your business elsewhere there. At ERAU, you just have to bend over and take it. For the money I would have been paying (I was accepted and enrolled and bailed at the last minute), I'd want top notch service with a smile. But, since the planes have those invasion stripes on the wings, you're paying for the name. You've already had several Riddle grads and former students telling you what it was like and how it's viewed out in the job market. I'm getting my ERAU degree online, and ONLY because they give me credit for my flight ratings. If I had it to do over again, I probably would get a degree elsewhere. It's just not worth the extreme amounts of money. We've got people on here that are over $100K in debt just for their PPL-CMEL and a degree with an eagle on it. One of the instructors at the school I'm at now is a Riddle grad, and he can't say enough bad things about it. I imagine if they didn't charge so much and constantly say that airlines are falling over themselves to hire their grads, there would be much less bitterness. If they gave a straight up run down on things and kept prices in line, they'd have a much better reputation among their alumni. However, enrollment would probably be way down.

There ya have it. You've gotten a lot of comments other than "it blows" on here. If you choose to ignore everyone's advice, that is your decision. I hope it works out for you, but I'm glad it isn't my money.

[montanapilot]

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I neither realise, nor understand it. How should I when I simply get told that their flight program sucks? Thank you for your input man, but if you want to be helpful or a get a point across then put some reasoning behind your statements, because hearing that this school "blows" is not really helping me, or anyone else that's about to start college

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uh EatSleepFly went to riddle, I think he has something to back up what he is saying.

[MikeD]

Don't make fun of my beloved Harvard of the Skies, when all you people are capable of is attending is your local community college of the skies.......



BTW, where'd that guy go we had on here that attended PRC, and had the pic in his signature line of the back of his BMW 300-series with the "Embry Riddle Aeronautical University" window sticker, and the California license plate that read "ERAU PLT"?

[project7]

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BTW, where'd that guy go we had on here that attended PRC, and had the pic in his signature line of the back of his BMW 300-series with the "Embry Riddle Aeronautical University" window sticker, and the California license plate that read "ERAU PLT"?

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That was Classic. I thought I broke a rib from laughing too hard when I saw that.

That guy showed up right when some other riddle student was telling me that he was having trouble finding the range rovers and bmws in the parking lot.

[kellwolf]

To be honest, I think we scared him away. Too much talk about how all that money wasn't gonna guarantee him a job or something like that. Wasn't he the one convinced that he was gonna be flying King Airs or something right after he graduated?

[MikeD]

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To be honest, I think we scared him away. Too much talk about how all that money wasn't gonna guarantee him a job or something like that. Wasn't he the one convinced that he was gonna be flying King Airs or something right after he graduated?

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Yup, that was the one. Currently MIA.

[EatSleepFly]

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I neither realise, nor understand it. How should I when I simply get told that their flight program sucks? Thank you for your input man, but if you want to be helpful or a get a point across then put some reasoning behind your statements, because hearing that this school "blows" is not really helping me, or anyone else that's about to start college.

[/ QUOTE ]

Read Kellwolf's reply and linked thread, that sums it up decently.

I went to Riddle for two semesters, and bailed because their brainwashing was wasted on me and I saw it for what it really was. I'm ashamed to tell anyone that I ever went there. It's been several years since I was there, and from what my few buddies that are instructors there say, it's only gotten worse. I just wanted to shed some light on the way ERAU is viewed on the outside.

Worse meaning more money, more bull#####.