Your training

Hello to all,

I am rather new to this thing but I wanted to know what all of you students and former students think about the program at DCA. How do you like your training and do you wish that you could have gone somewhere else? Do you feel that your training thusfar has been beneficial? I am looking to go to flight school this upcoming June or July and I was just doing my research with different schools.Thanks.

Dude. Your font is killing my eyes. Do yourself a favor and forget about that place. A while back I went on a tour there (before I knew about Jetcareers.com) and spoke with their head used car salesman. I asked how much it would be if I cam in with my private and instrument. He quoted me at 40k for my commercial single and multi comercial. I am pretty sure that didnt include any CFI ratings either. I kinda tuned him out after that and decided I should go someplace else.
My advice to you is this. Buy and IFR capable 152 and do your ppl, instrument, CFII and timebuilding towards your single commercial in that. Of course you will have to rent an RG from somewhere eventually though. When you have done all the training you can do in that plane, sell it. For instruction I would find an older more experienced freelance CFI. You would likely get more bang for your buck from someone like that than you would from a 400hr CFI who is just trying to rack up enough hours to move on to a regional. Thats not to say there arent good low time CFI's out there though.

If buying a plane is out of the question, I would recomend going to Ariben. You will get a ton of multi time there and their prices kick ass. What ever you decide, I would suggest staying away from the academies. Good luck

Amen to that! Thanks to Doug and other JCers I did not spend tons at a school for the name. I was considering PEA and FSA. I even looked into DCA and their telemarker tried to convince me. He told me a story of how one pilot went to another flight school, stalled or somthing and fell thousands of feet. Somehow he tried to convince me that only DCA can help me not do this. It is all about the money. Watch yourself with these people. You can get the same ratings from a local school.

I have nothing but positive things to say about my time at DCA so far. I am currently finishing up my instrument and I am way ahead of schedule and under budget. I was about 1500 under for my private and am under for inst. My instructor has been great. The only complaint I would say is the planes but they are definitely getting a new fleet in the near future. Either Diamond or Cirrus. The cost is high but I am under what they quoted me so I am happy.

Overall, if you know what to expect prior to going anywhere you'll be alright. Do your research. I did. I looked ar FSA, Pan Am along with others and some FBO's where I am from. DCA is a good fit for me. I like the intensity and structure. I know I wouldn't get the same benefits at a FBO. I am not saying that it doesnt work at a FBO but that it wouldnt work for me personally.

Good Luck

"I know I wouldn't get the same benefits at a FBO"

What benefits? While I'll agree that some FBO's are far from what you'd call intense, I'd say others could be. The intensity and structure you seek is more about you and less about your flight school, I think. I'm glad you're happy at DCA, though. Guaranteed interview? What is the total time of guys getting a guaranteed interview these days? Total times of guys getting hired without a guaranteed interview? Worst case scenario, you'll take a bit longer going the FBO route but you earn your right to interview with experience and background. Not what school you went to.

Like I said, I'm glad your happy with DCA. To each his own and everyone should check out the schools that interest them before they sign on the dotted line. However, be wary of any school that uses telemarketers. I'd say they care a lot more about making money than your training experience. They must be desperate.

to each his own and for me dca didnt work and wasnt that intense. Ive actually been pushed to learn more at the fbo im at now. sunstate aviation in kissimmee. I fly six days a week now as opposed to the 3 flights a week i had at dca. I did my multi training in five days. it was intense and i had to read outside instead of paying a ground school instructor 34/hour to read to me or take smoke breaks with me. there are lots of fbos that can push you to be a great and safe pilot and even give you better a/c to fly for a better price.

husky are they really going to get new planes? they were talking about that for the past year at least. cirrus was about 10 months ago when i was first there but i heard that when the bankruptcy thing happened that they put a freeze on buying any new planes.

I'm saying that I know myself and the FBO route (that I've seen ) wouldnt work for me. Others- sure. The benefits is the structure and the quality of training. Not the name. I need the structure knowing myself. I am not what you would call a self starter but if you put me in a competitive arena, I excel. They say not to treat DCA as a competitive environment but you can't help it when they dangle the instructorship at the end.

In all honesty, I don't really care about the 'connection' or the 'guranteed interview'. It's a nice bonus but if no one is hiring what good is an interview? I'm here for the quality of training and to be an instructor here b/c of the continuous sream of students. Could you get the same training elsewhere? Absolutely. Lower price? Sure. But, DCA has been a very good fit for me so I am happy.

My overall point is that you can find 100 people who love where they are, love what there job is and love what school they went too. You can also find 100 different people who hate the same job, hate the same town they live in and hate the school the both went to. It's all up to the individual what they put into it and what there preferences are.

Hobo- Yeah, the planes are pretty much a done deal. I've heard within the next 3 mos they should start getting them. It will take some time to replace the whole fleet though.

UPS- I agree that the marketing is over the top but it is their job to get students in. Money is money( thats the business side of me talking). I have seen a bunch of people who shouldnt be here. I think they like the idea of being a pilot not actually learning to become a pilot. Were they sucked in by the mkt'g. probably but whose to blame there?

Sorry bout the long post

"I think they like the idea of being a pilot not actually learning to become a pilot. Were they sucked in by the mkt'g. probably but whose to blame there?"

Whose to blame? Perhaps a marketing system that isn't honest in the difference between just being a pilot and becoming one, which you put nicely, and I think was coined by Doug. I think this sort of marketing preys on the uninformed. If you don't know any better then you'll believe everything the marketers tell you. The day they put a jetcareers link at the DCA website is the day I'll leave this alone.

husky, first off, if you truly believe that DCA is worth the $62k-100k price tag for training, that is one thing, but what about the FBO route do you think would not work for you, the much lower price for the same ratings? You also mention DCA's structure and intensity? What do you find so intense about their program? How is DCA really that different than a quality FBO? It seems like you've fallen into their trap, be owned by Delta, call yourself an "academy", make the students wear "uniforms" and charge 2-3 times the cost of other FBOs and all of the sudden you are the Harvard of flight schools. The place is a joke, they've been telling their students for years that a new fleet is coming and it hasn't. I could be wrong, but do you really think a company that is BANKRUPT is going to invest money into new planes for their flight school that makes up a miniscule percentage of their business? Well, after writing that, it is Delta afterall, so they might just do something really stupid like that.

Let's see..... If you have the gross amount of money to spend, or you're willing to put yourself into debt, DCA is just for you. It's a good schoo, but it could be a hell of a lot better, considering how much money they rake in. Letting go individuals, the good ones, has really brought to light as to how f'ed up the management is. I feel the more time goes by the worse the school will get. I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from going to DCA, but just inform everyone that there is more going on than the glossy adds and management portray.

There is a less expensive way.

Blakman the training there is excellent. Can you get the same training at an F.B.O. much cheaper? YES!! If you go across the way to Falcon Flight School, you will see more reasonable pricing -and don't worry about the interview or the jet transition. Once you get 500tt 100me you can go to A.T.P. take thier Jet Transition course and get an interview with Eagle, Express Jet or PSA. Save yourself the money and have fun in your pursuit!!

Sorry I didn't know Doug had said that already but he's dead on.

UPS- we definitely disagree on this one. DCA's marketing is over the top but I believe that the responsibility lies with the individual to decide what is best for them. Put it this way...if your shelling out 65-100k for training (anywhere) and you're uniformed then that is your fault. If you don't know that there are many other ways to become a pilot then you can't blame anyone but yourself. People need to do their own research and if they don't, is it DCA's fault or any other company's fault?

That rationale is kinda like the obese individuals who ate Mcdonalds and are trying to sue for making them fat. Can you blame McD's for those people eating their food?

The responsibility lies with the consumer. Now, if DCA or any company are misrepresenting their product or service than yes there is an issue there.

To date, everything I was told would happen ( costs, timeframe, etc.) at DCA with my training has happened, actually cheaper and quicker.

I agree that DCA should put a link. This is a great site. I was following this site while I was maiking my decision of where to go to school and it was very informative. Alot of negative things said about DCA and elsewhere but informative. It seems people are more likely to take the time to say negative things than positive ones. Kinda funny.

"UPS- we definitely disagree on this one"

Amen, I'll quit...until the next thread...hehe.

"I agree that DCA should put a link. This is a great site. I was following this site while I was maiking my decision of where to go to school and it was very informative"

Agreed.

fair enough. Happy flying