FBO or ERAU

[ClipperPilot]

I spent the last hour at my local FBO where i earned my PPL and was getting informed from the owner how ERAU will leave me nothing at the end. He told me how i would come out with around 250 TT and ill be looking for a CFI job at some local airport. Apparently if I were to attend a college which is affiliated with the flight school, around my second year i will be a CFI with them and by the time I get my degree i will have 1,800 +. He also went on to inform me how he has had students at his school come back from riddle looking for jobs as CFI when his instructors were were getting picked up at the regionals. I told him i would call him later. This thursday, 7/3, im going up to Daytona for info session blah blah blah, what do you guys think, FBO or ERAU.????

[kellwolf]

I'd say be careful of what ANYONE tells you, ERAU or anyone. Although, I have heard some pretty straight forward things from STUDENTS at ERAU. Right now they are kinda heavy on CFIs, so even if you did go there, it's a shot in the dark if you'd get a spot there. It might be cheaper to go the FBO route, but I seriously doubt this guy's CFIs are getting hired by anyone, much less regional airlines. It will probably come down to what you personally would prefer. I start ERAU in Sept, but I already have 2 1/2 years of college plus my PPL and will have my instrument by then. It still ain't cheap, though.

[highspeed]

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i would come out with around 250 TT and ill be looking for a CFI job at some local airport.

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Today that is true, but its equally possible going to Riddle and doing a bridge program may have you at a regional w/ 600TT. IF they are higing then. Today airline guys are being furloughed, its tough for everyone else.

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Apparently if I were to attend a college which is affiliated with the flight school, around my second year i will be a CFI with them and by the time I get my degree i will have 1,800.

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1800, I don't think so.

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He also went on to inform me how he has had students at his school come back from riddle looking for jobs as CFI when his instructors were were getting picked up at the regionals.

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Again, furloughed airline guys are looking for work. Recent grad have no choice but to seek out CFI work. Ask the guy you talked to if any of his CFIs have gotten regional jobs in the last months.

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I told him i would call him later. This thursday, 7/3, im going up to Daytona for info session blah blah blah, what do you guys think, FBO or ERAU.????

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Looking back today, I wouldn't go to Riddle, too expensive to not have a job after graduation. I think I'd go to a state school and get the certificates w/ an FBO, and then CFI. At the very least I wouldn't have quite the debt I do today.

[highspeed]

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I start ERAU in Sept, but I already have 2 1/2 years of college plus my PPL and will have my instrument by then. It still ain't cheap, though.

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I did the exact same thing, and i SWEAR it cost me more! If I had gone direct out of high school I would have been "fixed price", but instead i was "pay-as-you-go" 172's went from 65 to 100 and the CFI cost went up I believe. It was impossible to calculate what the flight training would cost you. "pay-as-you-go"="we'll make it up as you go".

Also the tuition had gone up, went up when I was there, and will go up soon enough again I'm sure.

[PFactor]

Another alternative is to go to community college for the first 2 yrs and get all your lower level classes done. While you are in school you can get all your certificates and ratings while you prepair for transfer to university. This is the route I have taken and in the last 2 years I earned an A.S. in aviation admin, along with Comm/Instumnet. My plan is now to attend ERAU extended university while becoming a CFI and teaching locally. The big advantage is that I owe not one dime for education or ratings at this point because I was able to keep my job during the last 2 yrs and when I am finished I will have a B.S. in aeronautics from ERAU along with all my certificates and ratings, not to mention great experience and flight hours. Hope this helps.

[Bell47]

I suggest you look into the Delta Connection Academy (formerly ComAir Aviation Academy). They have "satellite" flight schools at Colleges in Jacksonville, FL, Ft. Lauderdale FL and Boston, MA with both Associates and Bachelors degrees.

You can get your degree while working on your ratings AND then be guaranteed an interview for a CFII job with the Academy AND then be guaranteed an interview with the Delta Connection regionals. All going well, you could be flying a CRJ in a couple of years.

Call 1-800-U-CAN-FLY or go to www.comairacademy.com

Good luck with your academic and flying career.

[E_Dawg]

I was faced with the same choice year and a half ago. I am doing the FBO thing and I think it's vastly better. I base my opinion from what I've heard both on this board and in person, from what I saw when I visited the campus in AZ, and from a high school friend who went there.

I have NO debt as of right now (though I expect to owe approx. $2000 at most at the end of my CFI training in a few months.... still not bad when you figure I can pay that off in less than a year at 19). I am able to pay for the vast majority of my training myself, I have extrodinary contacts at a few different airports here in the LA area, which gives me the option of transfering to a state school after my community college classes are over.

Best of all I am supposedly going to get my 'in' at the end of my CFI training because I found a GREAT instructor who KNOWS his stuff and is willing to put in extra effort to help me achieve my short time goal of becoming a proficient, knowledgable, and perhaps most importantly... employed CFI .

Which brings me to another point... doing it the FBO way you have MANY options as to which school you train out of, what price you pay (competition), and who trains you. I was lucky to find a fantastic CFI for the IR... now I'm doing my Comm and CFI with him as well.

Sorry for rambling... hopefully SOMETHING made sense...

[E_Dawg]

Oh... and that crap about getting 1800hrs is BS...

You won't get that much time no matter what you do; you'll get more time with the FBO but nowhere near that much more.

[BrazPilot]

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Another alternative is to go to community college for the first 2 yrs and get all your lower level classes done. While you are in school you can get all your certificates and ratings while you prepair for transfer to university. This is the route I have taken and in the last 2 years I earned an A.S. in aviation admin, along with Comm/Instumnet. My plan is now to attend ERAU extended university while becoming a CFI and teaching locally. The big advantage is that I owe not one dime for education or ratings at this point because I was able to keep my job during the last 2 yrs and when I am finished I will have a B.S. in aeronautics from ERAU along with all my certificates and ratings, not to mention great experience and flight hours. Hope this helps.

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That's kinda what I did...Got my certificates up to Commercial at NAIA (North American Institute of Aviation), then got my CFI at a small local flight school while attending Broward Community College's Professional Pilot A.S. I got credits for lots of classes and got hired as a CFI while I finished up college. I went from 300 to 1700 hours in two years, and now attend ERAU's EC at Fort Lauderadale. I'll be done with my B.S. in less than a year while flying for a local air taxi that I got hired into. By then, I'll by fresh out of school with possibly 300-500 hours of multi-time, 2000+ hours total, and God willing straight for the regionals.
Pacience and persistance is the name of the game.
Peace!

[ready2fly]

FBO is working out great for me! No complaints here.

[MikeD]

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FBO is working out great for me! No complaints here.

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I would definately reccommend ERAU over an FBO....that way I get 2 free Bratwursts at their Octoberfest for being an alumni reccomendation.

Serious note: If money is an object, ERAU will leave you broke. I had to borrow money from my friends in order to pay the $50 graduation fee in order to graduate! The nerve of that....after all the $$$ I busted my ass for to pay for that place, you'd AT LEAST think graduation would be free.

And I left the place fairly broke. I still can remember living on the Circle-K convenience store lunch deal of 2 hotdogs and a 44oz fountain drink for $1.99. What a deal it was!

[Mavmb]

I would go with whatever route is cheaper in the long run. I heard ERAU is very expensive. It might benefit you to get a non aviation major and take lessons at an FBO. Be careful of what people try to promise you, but look for a place to train where you will have a good chance of working as a CFI after you're done.