Private Pilot Finish-Up Course

I just completed a 10-Day Private Pilot Finish-Up Course with Paul in Lincoln, CA. I couldn’t have been more thrilled and satisfied with the whole experience!

I trained for over a year in Seattle, clocked over 50 hours but the school didn’t let me solo due to various “technicalities”. Additionally, there was a 4-way conundrum of availability: 1) my availability with a high pressure job, 2) Seattle weather availability, 3) instructor’s availability in a busy flight school – they were almost always burnt out due to workload therefore not giving enough personalized training, 4) plane’s availability in limited summer months of Seattle. These factors kept stalling my progress, making me relearn so many of the concepts and not giving me enough motivation to keep going in this endeavor.

Once the summer months subsided, and my training halted again, I was super disappointed and rethinking my decision to learn to fly; I started looking for alternatives that could help me achieve my rating. I learnt about AFIT and the promise seemed to fit my needs exactly by dedicated instructor and plane availability in a good weather location on a full-time basis, thereby covering all the 4 concerns above and clearing the path towards the goal of PPL. I had a chat with Tony, the proprietor, and felt at ease. I signed up for the PPL finish-up course.

When I reached Lincoln, CA – I was paired with my CFI Paul. He quickly assessed my current skill level, made me practice a couple of skills and got me to solo on the second day itself! That was such a confidence booster as opposed to my earlier training experience. After that ,we quickly completed the remaining requirements and got ready for check ride. Paul is easily the best CFI I have ever worked with – he has such a calm demeanor , he is super organized, he is extremely thorough in his knowledge of all the concepts, and he is amazingly adept at demonstrating and training required flying maneuvers. He sets a very high standard for any student to emulate as a pilot in terms of skills, knowledge, decision making, and attitude in general (things that rookie CFIs out in the wild lack so much as they are just interested in time-building!). I will be sure to be back to train with Paul for my advanced ratings later.

Kudos to Tony for working closely with the students and instructors in keeping the operations going super smoothly. Really appreciate him for accommodating my two-day delayed arrival from Seattle due to a snowstorm in PNW. He’s been super professional and delightful to work with throughout the program. Highly recommend Tony and AFIT to folks looking to learn to fly and more!

I will recommend any busy professionals out there to go this route to earn their ratings from the CFIs with thousands of hours of experience while meeting their availability needs. This is the biggest plus. Once you get your ratings this way, you get a lot of flexibility in growing your skills to suit your specific missions.

Cheers!

Alok U.

Seattle Washington

• Alok U - Seattle Washington