10-Day Private Pilot finish up Course

I recently completed my finish-up program for my Private Pilot License with AFIT in Southern Utah, and I had an excellent experience.

My instructor, Andrew, was outstanding. He was very knowledgeable, attentive, and flexible throughout the entire process. His instruction gave me the confidence and preparation I needed to be fully ready for my check ride.

The location also worked out perfectly: the airport was not overly busy, which made for a smoother training experience, and having an aircraft assigned to me for the entire period was a huge benefit.

Overall, AFIT provided exactly the support I needed to successfully complete my PPL.

Best,

Ted Elysee MD

Hartford, Connecticut

10-Day Instrument Training Course

“I had an outstanding experience with Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training (AFIT).  From the moment I sent the email to Tony, to the successful check-ride, each moment was handled with professionalism that exceeded my expectations.  My instructor, Art, was a true pro who brought a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to my training.  

Thank you, Tony, Art, and the entire team at AFIT for making my instrument rating dream come true”.

Brian Bulkeley

General Manager

Toyota Kansas City Region 

10-Day Instrument Training Course

AFIT’s accelerated flight training was great, Annelie was a super experienced instructor and an amazing teacher. It was stressful, but definitely worth the grind. From ground knowledge to helping me become proficient in my instrument flying she did a great job.

The curriculum was well designed to help you meet your hours and become proficient in the process.

Definitely worth the time and money!

Ragesh Parnamiouth

San Francisco, California

14-Day Private Pilot Training Course

Tony, Thanks for facilitating accelerated training timelines. I don’t think I would have been able to achieve my goal of getting a PPL without a shortened time frame. I would say that if you’re considering doing an accelerated PPL course with AFIT, do it! It can be done. It is a lot of work, but if you do take your written exam seriously, do your homework, and study hard it is definitely achievable. After going through it myself, I feel that in a lot of ways being able to review and then immediately practice the next day was a better training setup.

Andrew was a fantastic instructor. I think he was born to teach. He was very patient, safety conscious, generous with praise when needed, and appropriately corrective when things were not safe. He was very genuine, and would tell me where I was doing well and where I was deficient. That’s how it needs to be with flight school! Despite the two week timeline (and my doubts pre-checkride), after passing I realized that I was very proficient (for a freshly minted pilot) in both the air and on the ground. I would highly recommend Andrew as an instructor for anyone considering following in my footsteps.

Regards, Preston Cook (Proud PPL)

Midland, Texas

14-Day Private Pilot Training Course.

Tony, Thank you for offering this great course. It was intense going from zero experience to passing my check-ride in 14 days, but well worth it. I had to study every night, but that made me learn everything faster and made it stick.

Andrew in Hurricane, Utah is an amazing instructor and was available 24/7. He cared about my success and was a great teacher throughout the entire process!

I Now have a CFI and personal friend in Utah!  Thanks for everything.

AJ Hungerford

Littlestown, Pennsylvania

Outstanding Accelerated PPL Training Experience

I had an excellent experience completing my PPL training with AFIT at Van Nuys Airport and I can confidently say it exceeded my expectations.

The accelerated structure is intense by design, but it is extremely well organized, efficient, and focused on producing safe, competent pilots. AFIT knows exactly how to balance speed with quality, and the training environment at Van Nuys is ideal for developing real-world flying skills.

A huge part of this outstanding experience was my instructor, Chad (CFI). Chad is not only an excellent instructor, but also a genuinely great person. He has a rare ability to understand each student’s strengths and limitations and knows exactly how to push you — safely and constructively — to get the very best out of you. His explanations are clear, his standards are high, and his commitment to your success is obvious from day one.

Chad’s teaching style builds confidence without compromising discipline or safety, and his passion for aviation truly shows. He makes complex concepts feel manageable and ensures you’re not just training to pass a check ride, but to become a solid, confident pilot.

I would highly recommend AFIT to anyone looking for serious, high-quality accelerated flight training, and I especially recommend Chad to anyone fortunate enough to train with him. This was a demanding but incredibly rewarding experience that I’ll always be grateful for.

Dr. Moiz Zeidan, MD, E MBA, DTM&H

Rochester, Minnesota

Instrument Through Commercial, CFI, and CFII

I had an outstanding experience training at AFIT from Instrument through Commercial, CFI, and CFII. Tony, the owner, was incredibly accommodating throughout my entire journey. He was always proactive about reaching out, flexible with scheduling, and genuinely invested in making sure my training fit around my availability and goals. (Getting signed off in 30 days of training for 4 ratings is absolutely incredible!)

That level of support is rare and made a huge difference, especially during the more demanding stages of training. Having aircraft, instructor, and DPE availability all working together is no small feat! Alex the manager was super friendly and always gave drinks, snacks, and more in the pilot lounge. It created such a welcoming and supportive learning environment.

Annelie, my instructor, was exceptional. She was patient, knowledgeable, and consistently supportive, taking the time to make sure I truly understood both the flying and the “why” behind it. From the first lesson to the final check rides, she was with me every step of the way, providing encouragement, structure, and confidence when it mattered most. We had such an amazing time together getting some practical flying with cross countries to Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Francisco, Big Bear, and countless other airports in SoCal. This increased my confidence so much to flying in the region. She was the only instructor I’ve had who actually flew me out to check rides and stayed to support me the whole way, big kudos to her.

AFIT is a flight school that truly cares about its students’ success. I couldn’t have asked for a better environment or team to complete my advanced ratings, and I highly recommend AFIT to anyone serious about professional-level flight training.

Thanks a bunch Tony, Annelie, and Alex for helping me all the way through.

Ray Wu

Everette, Washington

10-Day IFR Training in My Cirrus SR-22 Perspective 

Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training, LLC (AFIT) and their very experienced instructor Eddie delivered exactly what they promised. Eddie promised to make me a better, safer and more confidant Pilot, while at the same time preparing me for my instrument check ride. After 10 days of training with Eddie I can absolutely say I am a better pilot, safer, more confident and that check ride was a success! 

Thanks team AFIT!

Steven E. Meyer

Goleta, California   

14-Day Private Pilot Training Course

From the first moments I met Josh, it was immediately clear to me that Josh was a very genuine man whose good nature, kind heart, and enthusiasm for helping others granted him a disposition well-suited to teaching. These qualities continually made themselves apparent throughout our two weeks together, adding much to my overall experience.

What I had still yet to discern in our first moments of getting acquainted with one another, however, was if Josh’s mannerisms, as well-suited as they were to teaching, were going to be equally as well-suited to my particular needs as a, perhaps, unconventional student. While I strive to always be fair, reasonable, and open-minded, I can be stubborn, opinionated, and quick to oppose conventions.

I am happy to share that Josh possessed a patience, flexibility, and willingness to see things from my perspective which proved him to be a wonderful match for the many instructional challenges I threw at him, borne from my particular style of learning, as they were. My curiosity and desire to absorb knowledge can be very focused, intentional, and intense, at times, which can have the regrettable tendency to frustrate or baffle instructors who hope to simply regurgitate information and move-on to the next student. Josh, however, wasn’t just there to do his job. He genuinely wanted to help me, every moment of every day.

Josh’s natural intuition allowed him to see my constant questioning, probing, introduction of hypotheticals, etc., not as an affront to him, personally, but as the, perhaps, atypical manifestations of my desire to learn and know at a very deep level. I don’t believe this would have been possible were Josh not so dedicated to his role as a teacher and the purpose of assisting others with learning.

There were countless instances where Josh would hear from me, “I disagree with that approach,” or, “this doesn’t seem important to learn,” or, “why do I have to memorize this?” It probably felt at times that I never gave him an inch, neither in the classroom, nor the cockpit!

Not once, though, did Josh respond with frustration or lose his patience with me. It seemed to me that his natural instincts as a teacher and disposition as his own man allowed him to realize that I simply had my own way of learning and absorbing information. I like to wrestle with knowledge, not just hear it. Josh’s skills as a listener and aptitude as a mindful, capable pilot allowed him to assist me while I confronted learning the way that I do, on the ground or in the air.

If I was stuck with particular language, he altered it to better suit my semantic preferences. “Why do they call it that? Shouldn’t they call it this?”

If I needed context behind a maneuver or a technique, he provided it. “What is the purpose? When would a pilot need to use this?”

He always entertained my viewpoints with courtesy, patience, and experience. If I found myself fixated on something – such as my desire to practice landings – he would stay in it with me, even if it took up half of the day, or more.

Josh also knew how to make learning fun. Once he became aware of how I wanted to use my pilot’s license in my personal life, Josh helped plan a very memorable final flight – cross-country to the Napa Valley for a fantastic brunch experience which I will never forget, and have already recounted dozens of times to my friends.

If nothing else, let there be no doubt that I believe Josh adds credibility to the AFIT brand and helps to fulfill its mission. He is safe and capable, he is passionate about learning, he is flexible, he is personally invested in the success of his students, and, perhaps most importantly, he fully lives up to his stupendous last name.

Without equivocation,

Desmond Smith

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

14-Day Private Pilot Training

Hi Tony,

I just got my Private Pilot certificate. I worked with Josh and Sergey at AFIT (in Lincoln , CA) and it was a great experience overall. They were very very thorough, patient, helpful and made sure I would be successful.

I heard about AFIT from a colleague who trained with AFIT and gave Tony a call. He patiently explained the overall process and guided me to prepare for the oral part of the check ride before heading to Lincoln, CA

Thanks Tony, Josh, and Sergey. If I decide to pursue instrument rating in the future, I am definitely going back to AFIT. I strongly recommend AFIT, Josh, and Sergey to anyone interested in pursuing flying.

Srikanth Manohar Chatakonda

Seattle Washington

6 Day Commercial Pilot Training

I recently finished my commercial pilot certificate with AFIT in Lincoln California. My instructor, David, was amazing with adapting the training to my needs. He also found me a check ride within a day. He was very professional and impressively organized and his instruction was top tier. I was very happy to complete my training with AFIT, it was an enjoyable experience and I went into my check ride feeling very prepared. My favorite part of AFIT was being the only student my instructor had. This made it easy to find weak spots and fix them quickly as well as being available to go fly or do ground lessons for what you need to be successful.

The owner is very nice to work with and is very responsive should you need anything.

I highly recommend AFIT and David as your instructor!

Casey Kleeschule

6 Day Instrument Finish-Up Course

Tony, I just wanted to let you know how great it was working with art. You can really tell how much he enjoys teaching and helping students get prepared for the practical exam. I enjoyed his ground school quite a bit, he has a way of keeping it interesting and breaking things down which helped me to understand the concepts and really made the oral exam go quite smoothly.

I can’t recommend the program enough…

Best, Ness Hamaoui

PPL Finish-Up Course

I want to tell you about Chad, and the best way to explain what makes him different is to start with a simple question.

When something is not clicking in training, a maneuver that is not clean, situational awareness that is off, anything at all, who is to blame? You, or the issue itself? It sounds like a small distinction, but it is actually the whole game. Most CFIs see two beings on a training flight: themselves and the student. Chad sees three. And the reason he sees three, between you and me, is that Chad is actually an exorcist moonlighting as a CFI. The third being is the ghost the student happens to be possessed by on that flight. The ghost is whatever still needs fixing. Because most CFIs cannot see it as something separate from the student, they keep beating up the student while the ghost sits in the back and laughs, untouched, ready to come along on the next flight too. That suits the CFI fine, because the student is billable and the ghost flies for free. Chad names the ghost and exorcises it. This is not a theoretical observation.

This pattern played out many times in our training, but the one that stays with me happened when we were preparing for my long cross country. We went up together on a test flight, and Chad identified a small but real gap in my situational awareness, the kind of thing that does not bite you on a routine flight but absolutely will on a bad day. We landed, and he said, “Rishi, there is this specific issue, let’s fix it, and you are ready to go.” We fixed it, and I went. A different CFI would have handled that exact same flight very differently. You know the script. “You are not ready yet.” “I am not comfortable signing you off.” “It is for your safety.” These phrases sound responsible, and sometimes they genuinely are. But too often they are also the most expensive sentences in aviation, because they come with no end date attached, and what should have been a one-week fix quietly becomes a one-month rebuild. When Chad says you are ready, he means it, and his calendar reflects it. The other thing that sets Chad apart is that he is a genuine hustler. He does not pontificate about why something cannot be done or why the schedule has to slip. He figures out how it can be done. In an industry where “we will see” is the default answer, Chad’s default is “here is how we make this work.”

If you want a CFI who solves problems instead of cataloging them, and who treats your time and money like they actually matter, Chad is your guy.

Happy to talk to anyone on the fence.

Rishi Yadav

Saratoga, California

Commercial Training

Working with Eddie and AFIT for the 2nd time was another great experience. I came into this with my written completed, a good attitude and anticipation to study. Somehow they were able to get me a check-ride so I could leave on time.

I personally think for myself, going in not really super strong on my maneuvers and never really learning them before, slowed me down a little bit. All in all I was in and out on time with my temp cert. As usual the airplane was in great shape and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Van Nuys.

I had a great time applying my Instrument rating to get some actual and not waste anytime sitting on the ground due to some AM cloud layer in So-Cal.

Walking away, this was a great experience. Eddie helped me become a better aviator and pilot, while enhancing my confidence and ability’s to be a great commercial pilot.

Thank you.

Miles Backer

14-Day Private Pilot Training Course

Hi Tony, I wanted to follow up here to formally thank you for putting this program together. I came into this fairly skeptical that I could actually pass an oral exam and check ride in just 14 days, going from zero flight experience to PPL. But, I trusted the process, and I not only passed the check ride but also had a lot of fun doing it. Matias, my instructor, was exceptional. He did a fantastic job getting me up to speed, applying pressure when necessary and overall being a fun person to spend 4-6 hours with in a cockpit every day.

My takeaways from this course:

Flying is a lot of fun.
Trust the process!
Certain aspects may be frustrating, but if you stick with the process and put in the effort, you will pass.
This was worth every dime. Thank you so much, and I’m looking forward to engaging you for my instrument rating soon!

Best,

Andrew Bartholomew

Instrument Training Course Cessna 182T G1000 NXI

Tony and Eddie, again, I cannot thank you guys enough.

Like many pilots, I struggled to find consistent time for instrument training due to work, family commitments, scheduling conflicts, and weather. After completing my Instrument Knowledge Test and logging about 20 hours of instrument training, I realized that if I truly wanted to earn my Instrument Rating, I needed to dedicate focused time to the process.

That’s when I found Tony and A.F.I.T.’s accelerated IFR program. From my first conversation with Tony, I knew I had found the right fit. Living in central Indiana, winter weather can make consistent training difficult, so the opportunity to train in Southern California was extremely appealing.

Tony connected me with Eddie at VNY, and from our first phone call I could tell I was working with an exceptional instructor. Eddie’s 24,000+ hours of flight experience, passion for aviation, and ability to teach real-world IFR flying immediately stood out.

Training in Van Nuys challenged me in all the right ways. Through daily ground sessions and flight training, Eddie helped me develop a strong foundation in instrument procedures, precision flying, weather analysis, icing, decision-making, and ATC communications. Most importantly, he helped me build confidence.

This wasn’t just training to pass a check-ride—it was training to become a safe and competent IFR pilot.

I returned home with the knowledge and confidence Eddie had instilled in me.

I cannot thank Tony enough for creating this program and for placing me with Eddie, who has become a lifelong friend. Because of their guidance, I am not only an instrument-rated pilot, but a safer and more confident aviator who can make sound decisions when flying my family.

Thank you, Tony and Eddie.

Greg Nolen

6-Day Commercial Training Course

I recently earned my Commercial ASEL Certificate with AFIT after completing a 6 day course with Paul. He helped me adapt quickly to the challenges of the commercial maneuvers and made me much more comfortable in my own airplane. He was able to schedule a check ride the day that I met him! This was after 3 months of no return calls from 5+ DPEs in my area. Paul was professional and well prepared. He followed the ACS very closely, but also ensured that I was a competent and safe commercial pilot. The days were long, about 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM of flying and ground lessons, but I felt very prepared and confident in my abilities after that training.

Both Tony, the owner of the school and Paul the instructor were easy to communicate with and were very professional.

I highly recommend AFIT to anyone looking to complete their rating quickly and efficiently. Thanks,

Lane Mack