Getting my Private Pilot License has been one of the most meaningful accomplishments of my life, and I truly could not have done it without A FIT, Tony, and CFI Chad. Tony made scheduling my training very easy and was highly communicative from the start. From the very first lesson, Chad made me feel comfortable and capable in the cockpit. He has this rare gift of being both patient and demanding at the same time. He never let me settle for "good enough" but always reminded me that I had what it takes to succeed. His calm presence turned nerves into focus, and his step-by-step guidance made every complex skill feel within reach. Chad brought his own unique energy and perspective that kept me motivated throughout the process. He was always there to answer questions, offer encouragement, and share the kind of real-world knowledge that you cannot just get from a textbook. Together, Tony and Chad created an environment that was challenging, supportive, and above all, inspiring. There were moments along the way when I doubted myself, such as weather delays, checkride nerves, and days when nothing seemed to click. Tony and Chad believed in me every step of the way, and that belief made all the difference. Crossing the finish line and earning my license was not just about passing a test. It was about the confidence they helped me build as a pilot and as a person. I will always be grateful for their dedication, professionalism, and genuine care. A FIT is not just a flight school. It is a community that lifts you up, celebrates your milestones, and gives you the tools to reach new heights. If you are dreaming of flying, this is the place, and these are the people who will help you turn that dream into reality. Elena Sakata read more

AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training - Elena Sakata #winning - Flight Instruction Near Me

I spoke with every student I encountered on AFIT between 2024-2025 and none of them completed the checkride within 14 days. They either failed or could not get a checkride on the 14th day itself. I stayed back an additional 14 days of PPL training hoping to get a checkride and still no DPE. Avoid AFIT at all cost. read more

Fall 2024 I completed my PPL training with AFIT at KVNY and had a fantastic experience. After a smooth and professional experience with AFIT for my PPL, I knew I wanted to return for the 10 day IFR accelerated program. For my IFR I worked with Eddie and can say he is a first class instructor with a wealth of information. He refined my skills as a pilot and drove home the point to make small corrections early and showed me how important it is to develop a solid scan of your instruments. I gained a lot of confidence as a pilot through working with Eddie. IFR flying requires the pilot to fly with more precision and increased situational awareness and Eddie helped me every step of the way all the way through my checkride. I really enjoyed my time flying and learning from Eddie. This program is very challenging and very rewarding. You truly get out of it what you put into it. I recommend the IFR 10 day program to anyone who is serious about gaining their instrument rating. It requires your full attention and showing up prepared is a necessity. With two small children at home on the east coast, being able to fully immerse myself in the program was an ideal way to gain this rating. I was able to throw myself into flying, studying and training with no distractions. Eddie is passionate about aviation and truly cares about his student's success. I look forward to putting this brand new instrument rating to use flying around the east coast. Thank you Tony and Eddie! read more

Accelerated Flight and Instrument Training is not a flight school at all, it is a subcontractor of flight instructors. For $6,000+ less, and at any chosen airport, you can do the exact same training. AFIT uses unmaintained aircraft that are not owned by the school, they are rented from a third party. The instructors were unprofessional and it was a highly disappointing experience for me. Due to my instructor being excessively overweight, I was forced into upgrading to a higher horse powered Piper Archer. A Warrior would not haul the excess weight with the altitude we were at. This upgrade alone cost me over $1,000 on top of the original $16,000 astronomical price. This aircraft was also over-booked for rental, so it wasn't available for all of my required hours. AFIT did not take the initiative of reserving me an aircraft. My second aircraft was rented from a mechanic at a nearby hangar. Wheel chocks were propped under the seat to keep it from falling into the back seat during flight. During run-ups, the aircraft's flaps were stuck in the down position. After dealing with this faulty, unsafe aircraft I was still instructed to "just take off anyway". Around 40 knots, the flaps would pop back into the up position for take-off. Finally, the magnetos went and the plane completely broke down. A third aircraft was then rented and there was so much heat coming from the engine compartment that it burned my left foot. When exiting the aircraft there was rubber from my sneaker melted to the floor panel. This was ignored and we continued to fly. I was told to "man up" after I made a complaint. On my eighth day of training, my instructor pawned me off on another instructor who had just gotten his CFI rating that same week. My original instructor was not present for three days of the 14 day training. By the end of the two weeks, I had only flown a little over 30 hours, which was 10 hours short of valuable training. (That I Paid For) I was still sent unprepared into an oral and check ride. The reasoning was I had a previous seven hours in my log book from a previous year when I was being introduced to aviation. I explained to my instructor I was not comfortable or prepared to take the test. He insisted, and then I failed my check ride in the first five minutes of my oral exam. When I pleaded with owner (Anthony Montalte) for a different instructor to complete the course, he offered me one day of complimentary training. So not only was I not fully trained, I was denied. The FAA should probably look into this school, or at a minimum, inspect their aircraft. Note: I have full log books for proof of all aforementioned hours and tail numbers to all faulty aircraft to which maintenance records or lack thereof will match. read more

AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training - Cross Country Solo - Flight Instruction Near Me

Had a rollercoaster of an experience with AFIT attempting to get my IR, the instructor that I was assigned ended up leaving me on read on the first day at the airport, then proceeded to quit working with the school without even a text. The reason I'm still leaving a 5 star review is because of the INCREDIBLE customer service I experienced with the owner, Tony, and the new instructor he scheduled for me. Within a couple hours of me realizing that my first instructor was never going to show up, I got a call from Tony explaining the situation and he let me know that he already had a new instructor, Mike, ready for me the next day. When I met up with Mike, instead of trying to milk me for money, he was real with me and let me know that the previous instructor had not scheduled a DPE for me so it might not make sense for me to do IR training if I'm likely going to have to wait a month or longer to take my exam. We ended up just getting my TAA hours for my CPL out of the way before a winter storm hit NorCal and I had to stop my training. It was a shame that I was unable to get my rating, but I learned quite a bit from Mike, and Tony obviously gave me a refund for the days I didn't use. I even got time in a constant speed prop, which was a new leaning experience for me! Overall, would highly recommend AFIT, especially if you get Mike Poteet as an instructor, they truly belted read more

I just finished my flight training with AFIT 14 day PPL and I am extremely satisfied. The experience was better than I ever could have anticipated and I came to AFIT with zero flight experience and walked away a pilot. AFIT utilizes many instructors at many locations so I can only speak to my personal experience in Lincoln with my instructor Paul. Paul was extremely professional and knowledgeable. He has a wonderful calm, patient and helpful demeanor while giving clear instruction. I was extremely nervous and had no idea what I was doing... somehow Paul turned me into a pilot in 2 weeks! When you work with Paul there is no question that he truly cares about his students and their success. The course itself is extremely challenging. I did study VERY hard for my written test but I had no actual flight experience. That being said, I studied every night for the additional ground school knowledge and showed up 110% for this course. I saw previous reviewers complaining that this experience didn't work for them and I can see how for some people it wouldn't if you don't completely apply yourself. I feel like its comparable to a student paying a collage then blaming the instructors when they don't pass their courses, YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP and apply yourself in a serious way! Tony the owner of AFIT was wonderful throughout the booking process and he even gave me advice when I was purchasing my plane for the training. At the Lincoln flight school the mechanics and office staff are all wonderful and a joy to be around. Lastly id like to address a previous review that stated AFIT is a "scam" and someone else mentioned that they subcontract with flight schools and instructors. As a business owner who utilizes subcontractors, I'm not sure how vetting flight instructors and subcontracting them would be considered a scam or bad business? Overall I am still shocked that I came away from this experience a pilot. It was a tremendous amount of work but it was well worth every penny and effort. I can't thank Paul and the AFIT team enough for all of his hard work preparing me for why check ride! read more

AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training - Flight Instruction Near Me

One of the best things that I have ever done! Everyone from Tony the owner to Paul Vera my instructor, the mechanics, and the front office staff are truly amazing! If I can be taught how to be safe and fly an airplane anyone can. I recommend these guys without hesitation. The course is challenging but worth every bit of effort. Don't wait for time to pass you by. GET IT DONE WITH THESE GUYS worth every penny. read more

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AFIT is the way to go!! They paired me with Ben and he made the experience great! He worked as hard as i did! Two weeks of constant learning. Doing this accelerated program is hard but do worth it. No getting screwed around by schools trying to delay your training doing an hour here hour there. This knocks out your hours! Fastest way to learn! Ben was my instructor and not only is he very patient but hes full of knowledge and wanted me to do well as much as i did! All the hard work paid off and i passed my check ride! read more

Simply put AFIT provides a service that is unique but comes with its own personal challenges. Short term licensing seems extremely do-able, but lacks the capabilities that "military training" has. I personally used the 14 Day PPL track, here's my experience. First, I want to say that Tony is an extremely helpful guy, and quite frankly is the only reason this review isn't 1-star. I had some different forms of funding due to my career that took an excessive amount of work to obtain. Tony was patient and helpful through the whole process of vetting the company, acquiring different forms, and finally obtaining the funding I needed. Further, Tony went out of his way during my initially setup to make sure I could get training completed. I live in Northern California, near the Lincoln "location", but ended up driving to SoCal because Lincoln was full. Now, here is where the review is negative.... As others have pointed out AFIT simply subcontracts the planes AND CFIs; due to their process and the spread of locations AFIT uses, there may be a lack of quality control. Now that I have my license from different flight school, I can surely say my entire flying experience with my CFI was suboptimal. The way AFIT expects you to block off two weeks allows for zero flexibility. Also, their contract has nothing to be built in for the weather, planes breaking, or if your CFI seemingly doesn't feel like it today. You pay for a block of time that may not be guaranteed. $15,000 with no backup plan? Seems like a huge loss in hindsight. Of the 14 days I had booked, I had only flown 7 of those days. Each day I flew it was about 3-4 hours of flying, all at one time. So, doing the math, I ended up leaving with about ~24 hours; for those unfamiliar to even QUALIFY for an FAA checkride you need 40 hours. As I had mentioned you pay to go "get" your PPL, and there is no refund, extra training, etc incase you fall short (more on this later). In those 3-4 hour chunks, roughly half that time was just kinda flying around while I waited for my CFI to teach me literally anything. The other half consisted of "work" but really it wasn't much. I'd probably be actively touching the controls and truly learning to fly for about 30-45 mins of my 3-4 hours I had pre-booked. Sure, my logbook says I covered those items but I never really LEARNED it. There was a lack of structure. Ironically, AFIT sends you a neat little package with a booklet on what you're going to cover. The syllabus is nicely laid out but my CFI elected to never use nor reference the syllabus; this completely dismissed the idea of structured "military style" training. Landing the airplane was another contention. My CFI and I had rarely practiced, I maybe flown to final 1 or two times but he would always finish the landing. Was that because I was new? Yeah, probably, I was still learning. The kicker is that my CFI had taken me out later that week and suddenly expected me to know how to fly a pattern and land. Turns out, with the amount of "practice" we did, I had literally now idea how to land an airplane. I have flown more patterns/touch-n-gos in 1.5 hours with my new flight school than I had my entire time with AFIT. Oh, another note; everyday my CFI would be late by literal hours. I'd be told to show up at 8am sharp and have the plane preflighted just for him to not show up till 10/11am. By the end I simply just started showing up 1-2 hours after the time he asked me to be there because I could guarantee he would be late. For those looking for a quick and easy answer I'd rarely recommend AFIT. It probably works for really niche circumstances and is probably more applicable for Instrument training. For your PPL? I'd steer clear. You pay SO much money, quite frankly more than you would at a regular school, to not even be guaranteed you'll leave with a license. Military style training only works because you're not paying out of pocket to be there. With AFIT, you're using your own money not the governments. Flying needs to be flexible for a reason; if you go with AFIT at least TRY a traditional flight school before going. I paid lots of money, didn't get lots of hour or even quality knowledge/experience. I regret using their business. (As I had mentioned Tony is the only reason this review is 2-stars. He ended up offering me only 2 days of training due to how much I had missed out on. These two days wouldn't be enough to finish my PPL, and quite frankly, I hated my experience so much I never took his offer. Again, this was my experience at my location with my CFI, YMMV.) read more

AFIT delivered on the promise of accelerated flight instruction. The 14 Day Private Pilot course provided me exactly what I needed to get my private pilot license. The guidance on how and what to study for the written exam along with the concise reading list and curriculum helped me arrive prepared to focus on the flying. With no experience flying a Cessna 172 and just a few hours of introductory flight lessons over the past 20 years, I was stunned how quickly my instructor, was able to transform me from lifelong aviation enthusiast to pilot. He not only helped me develop the skills to fly quickly but also the confidence to believe that I could safely solo after only 20 hours of flight and go on to earn my private pilot certificate. While I returned home fulfilled in a very meaningful way, in a way I am still left wanting though. The feeling of community I felt with the team at AFIT and the whole community is something I already miss and will always remember. Frankly, the genuine interest in and support for my 14-day mission was clear from the start. Looking back, that part of my experience with AFIT was instructional too. As I join the community at my home airport as a certificated pilot, I now know well how I can support those who are beginning this journey. Thanks to the AFIT team for charting this clear path forward for me. My future as an aviator and responsible member of the general aviation community will forever benefit from this early guidance. read more

My situation was that I completed the required training for my Private Pilot Certificate in San Carlos up in the Bay Area over the course of about a year. However, I felt that my instructor there didn't adequately push me over the finish line to get me ready for the checkride, and didn't really care to see me through to the end. Enter my AFIT instructor, Sir John Mowatt! Mr. John is a seasoned professional in aviation, and a solid instructor and aviator. He taught me not only what was necessary to pass a checkride, but I feel that his instruction was geared towards real-world, safe and competent aviation. I grew fond of Mr. John over a few short days, and I hope to one day soon come back for some instrument training! Tony at AFIT was also great and someone who deserves a shoutout. He worked to quickly get me on the schedule and answer my questions about the program and instructor. I appreciate him working with my schedule and giving me timely updates on any changes. Overall he runs a great program, and I'd highly recommend it. Overall I came away a happy new Private Pilot and just completed my first cross country with a passenger! read more

Paid the $1000 deposit and after several attempts for AFIT to find me an instructor COVID hit. They would not refund me and I was forced to find flight training elsewhere. READ THE BAD REVIEWS THE OWNER HAS EVERY EXCUSE HES BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WHILE. read more

I began the AFIT program in Lincoln, CA shortly after my instructor in Vegas broke his foot and needed surgery. This put a big hold on my training. I felt totally confident with my flying skills but I was very behind on my ground knowledge. Back in Vegas, I failed my written test and within 2 days of working with Ruben, I passed the written test with an 85%. Just 6 days after that, with the dedicated instruction from Ruben I passed my Private Pilot Check ride. Even though I felt confident in the plane prior to meeting Ruben and beginning the AFIT program, by the end I realized how much I had learned and become a better pilot. Ruben was willing to do anything for me to pass my check ride in the 8 days I was working with him. I will forever be grateful for him and AFIT for what they have done for me. The amazing thing that, looking back, I realize is that Ruben taught me so much and it didn't even feel like instruction. Ruben made it the most enjoyable process along the way and like I had previously stated, he was willing to do anything for me to get my check ride behind me! Thank you for everything Ruben. For the last couple weeks, I've just been in awe of the quality instruction I received from you. Still can't believe that we did it! Sam Stevens Henderson, Nevada read more

AFIT Accelerated Flight & Instrument Training - Just minutes after passing my PPL check ride. - Flight Instruction Near Me

For background, I'm a 25 year law enforcement professional seeking a private pilot license (PPL). I signed up for the 14 day PPL training with Accelerated Flight and Instrument Training (AFIT) in Dec 2022 at the Lincoln, CA location. After paying the $1000 deposit, I received a syllabus in the mail that outlined a pretty intensive program that included ground school and about two flight lessons per day for a total minimum of 8 hours each day. Initially, I thought this program provided value for its cost. I bought all the required books and resources, studied hard and passed my knowledge test. About 10 days before the training start date, $8880 was charged on my card for the instructor and I was told to pay for the plane at the FBO. As the start date grew closer, the weather outlook didn't look great. After six days, a significant deficit in training had developed since the morning flight lesson wasn't occurring and the afternoon VFR flying weather was limited to about 2 hours. The ground instruction provided was not as comprehensive as outlined in the daily syllabus. What tipped me over the edge to discontinue this program is that when I expressed concerns about meeting the flight time for the scheduled check ride given the weather, the instructor said we would probably need to extend the training at the normal training rate of $700 a day. In my opinion, accelerated PPL training should not be scheduled in Northern California during the winter, especially the winter we've had this year. In my opinion, the business model of this company is flawed. In effect, AFIT is a broker of flight training in that a student could find an instructor and a plane on one's own and get the same thing for less. What I received from AFIT was a syllabus. Period. What I didn't understand at the time is the flat rate pricing for the instructor and running of the clock. If you're grounded by weather or maintenance, you still pay the full $700 each day for 14 consecutive days. Overall for me, the training was overpriced flight instruction with about 2 hours of flying and 2 hours of quality ground school each day on average. I ended up receiving a partial refund for the remaining 8 days of training and unused flight time ($145/hr). The actual total program cost is almost $16,000, not the $15,500 advertised. When I communicated my concerns about training contract performance with the owner, he said that he can't control the weather or maintenance and his instructors count on being paid for 14 days of consecutive training to feed their families. When I told him the ground training I received was not per syllabus, the instructor actually fabricated a training log showing longer ground school hours. The actual hours are logged in my book. YMMV read more

I used AFIT for my Instrument Rating last year, and for my Commercial Certificate, very recently. I live in the SF Bay Area, and found it difficult to finish up training and organize a check-ride on a tight schedule. I had already trained a number of hours and was relatively proficient in the different ACS tasks, but still needed some polishing up. The solution proposed by AFIT worked well: spend a few intense days in Lincoln, CA with a CFI, to bring my skills up to standards, and take the checkride at the end. I used a rental aircraft on the field during my stay. I connected well with my instructor. He was very pleasant, extremely knowledgeable, and spot on the specific details that helped improve my flying and pass the test. This has been a very good experience. read more

14-Day Private Pilot Training Experience I wanted to share my experience training with Oleg. Oleg is a great instructor and a truly amazing pilot. I learned so much in such a short time, I didn't even know it was possible but Oleg really supported me from start to finish. He pushed me, but also listened to me and pulled back when I was feeling overwhelmed. Even with the added stress of the California fires, Oleg adapted the training and made sure I got all my hours in. I really felt like his and my main goal, everyday for 14 days, was to get me to pass the exam. Fortunately, the hard work paid off in full and I am now a certified pilot. It was tough to fit all the training and all my questions into 14 days since I had no background or experience in aviation before hand, but Oleg made it happen. You've got a good instructor on your hands. read more

Training with Andy Bibber is highly recommended. Andy is an "old soul" in a young body. His demeanor and teaching style matched my learning style perfectly, which is learn from your mistakes. We had several phone calls before I signed up to make sure we would be compatible. He recommended taking a few days off during the course, whcih I did. I don't think I could have done 10 days straight. I was very nervous signing up for the program because it was a large sum of money and huge time commitment to be away from work and family. Also, I just got my PPL 3 months before signign up. Lots of "External Pressure" to do well. I was also very concerned with the pace of the course which has its pros and cons. Cons: not much room for delays, lots of information to grasp in a short amount of time, and a huge mental and physical toll due the amount of flight training in a short period. Pros: able to build and improve new skills quickly without having to relearn from each previous lesson, receive instrument rating quickly, and AFIT has systems in place that set you up for success. However, a few days into my training I had an afternoon flight that was horrible, I just couldn't seem to do anything correctly. I was about to give up and drive back home, but Andy told me that when his students have a bad day, the next day and the rest of the training is much better. It was so bad that I am suprised Andy didn't quit on me. Something must have clicked that evening because the next day and the rest of my training was dramatically better than that horrible afternoon. Goes to show that they really want you to learn and not just take your money. AFIT arranged for Lincoln Skyways to provide the rental plane, which was very fine. Bryon from Lincoln is a good operator. At one point, the vacuum pump stopped working and the crew at Lincoln Skyways got the plane running by coming in and working on the plane at 6am in the morning. They are dedicated to keeping their planes in the air, which is good for AFIT students. Overall, it was one of the more challenging things I have done. The learning will never stop, but I now have a very good foundation to build from due to my training with Andy and AFIT. The course is like ripping off a Band-Aid, the anticipation and studying is difficult, the event (flying) is painful, however once you are done you are glad you did it and realize it wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't have any major issues, but I am sure if I did Tony would work to help make it right. read more

Guys, notice how he quotes the bible and says lies. He calls me a Mormon (I am not one). 90% our day training was about the Mormon bible. Please contact me before you get scammed. I will show you receipts, audio and more evidence. Tom Thump that bible and lie again. read more

I didn't have a positive experience. Would not recommend. They claim their completion rate is 99% but they tell a lot of students not to take the exam and they don't let them take the oral/practical test at the end. During my training one of the people at the flight school (an ex instructor at AFIT) told me he thinks the real completion rate is about 30%. read more

10 Day IFR Training Course Dear Tony, Thank you so much for your delivery of a top notch product with IFR flight training. You hooked me up with Bill in Georgetown for my course and the matchup could not have been better. Bill was happy to work with my schedule so that I could do half of the training here in Huntsville and the other half in Georgetown where I would be more familiar with the airports I would encounter on the checkride. I could not have asked for a better instructor than Bill for the intensive, fully immersive 10-day course. I knew the ten days would be a fire drill (and it was) but Bill's logical and progressive methods delivered the goods at a rate that I could easily manage. Over the course of ten days Bill and I flew over forty hours, performed more than 40 instrument approaches, conquered his pile of pink cards, discussed plenty of politics and pop culture, and consumed too many delicious lunches to count. All of it quite enjoyable. On one blustery Friday, you and Bill even lined a simulator in Houston for me. I can't thank you guys enough for the hard work you put into your craft. Please let Bill know how much I appreciate him. The checkride was a big success and I am comfortable going out into the wild cloudy yonder whenever I need. Sincerely, Dalton Heath, Huntsville, Texas 77340 read more

My wife took this course in Idaho recently. She thoroughly enjoyed her instructor .... end of the positive. The aircraft was new to everyone on day one and did not possess an emergency locator beacon or weight and balance book as required by the FAA. The aircraft had an ancient VOR navigation system only and made the training that much more difficult. To top it off, the location had a inop night lighting system for the runway. So as a new student pilot she had to land in the dark on an unlit runway. At the end no reasonable examiner was available to give her check ride. She returned home and searched for a local examiner but most had strong preconceived notions about the program. She has not tested to date. An email to the CEO sharing feedback was received with nothing but excuses and "data" on the programs success. read more

I unfortunately had a horrible experience here. While I was worried about the large advance payment that I made to them, I trusted them a little too much. I was told it would be a very busy schedule and accelerated course. However when training started, my instructor would take many half days. I voiced my concerns over the timing and progress to the Company but felt they did not hear me (or care since they were paid in full up front). In some areas, rather than do any ground school, my instructor told me learn things by looking them up on youtube so we could practice the manuvers the next day. By the time it was 3 days before my checkride, there were still a significant number of topics we had not at all covered or practiced (soft field/short field landings and takeoffs, night flight, and many others). I implored my instructor to list the specific areas with me that we had not at all covered and we came up with about 20 areas. We rushed through the training in the remaining three days and it felt more like he wanted to check it off the list than to make sure that actual learning was happening. Unsurprisingly, I did not pass my check ride in precisely the areas that we had not covered just three days earlier. The Company then told me I need more training and charged me more money. Also during the training my instructor would take me to nearby airports and drop him there so that I could solo back and he could ferry another plane back to the original airport. In retrospect, I learned that the airports we flew to were too close to qualify for one of my solo flights and I now suspect he was just using me to pay for the flight time in the airplane to get him there while he was paid to ferry a plane back to the home airport. Overall, I am more than disappointed and feel that I got scammed. I did not ultimately get my private pilot license and would not recommend this flight school. read more

I had a very bad experience with this flight school. They insisted I pay them for the full amount in advance, which I did. After several days of training, and before accumulating 40 hours of instruction, the owner of the school told me that I had used up all of my flying days. I was shocked, considering they didn't complete the instruction and didn't even schedule the checkride. I offered to pay more, and they told me the instructors are booked with other students. I never got my rating. After spending $6000 and taking a week and a half away from work, I went online to check the reviews, and saw that they were a scam and other people had even worse complaints. My advice to all the nice people who don't want to get scammed: Never hire AFIT and never pay in advance for a course you haven't started, with people you've never met. read more

10 Day IFR C207T with G500 / G430/530, S-tec 50 and GTX330 I am a relatively low time pilot (150hrs), but have focused on moving at a good pace up the experience ladder. I received my PPL in May of 2013, and promptly received my High Performance and Complex endorsement. I flew 172's with the G1000 and 182's with the standard 6 pack primarily. A year later I received my Tail Wheel endorsement in a J3 Cub, which taught me a lot about coordinated flight, what the rudders are really for, and controlling the plane with small incremental movement. By year end I had purchased my first aircraft, a Cessna 207, as I had the need to really carry 6 people and about 1100lbs after fuel. I learned to handle it VFR relatively well and was taught how to do some pretty good short field work by a phenomenal local instructor. However before I put people in the plane I wanted to make sure I felt confident and ready for whatever the weather could throw at me, or of course really know to stay on the ground when that was the best decision! I contacted several outfits to do my accelerated training, since I didn't want to spend a year or more getting my Instrument rating. Tony at AFIT was by far the most responsive, helpful, and on the ball of all of them. Because my aircraft is relatively unusual in the Northeast, I had to find an instructor with some real time in a 207, both for experience and for insurance. Tony recommended John, who unbeknownst to me had been in three Plane and Pilot articles, which were the ones that had originally sparked my idea about an accelerated program. I quickly put two and two together. It took John two flights, a missed connection, and a train ride to get to upstate NY. He arrived at 8pm after traveling all day, and yet the minute we met at the station, he was positive, engaged and ready to go. It is difficult to describe the tremendous balance that John had in his teaching style right from the start. I had done several types of training before (short field, tail wheel, high performance), and having learned at Westchester Airport, surrounded by the class Bravo of JFK/EWR/LGA, I was used to the rapid fire radio work needed to speak with NY approach and the ATC environment (I didn't know any better!), but I sort of treated them separately. But somehow, John put it all together for me. The radio, combined with rudder work for the small adjustments on approaches, the "box" work on the 530W/430W, the glideslope captures, pattern work at minimums, holds on a fix, VOR work, all of it. He would let me get just enough out of the envelope to correct me the first few days, and as training went on, we would add repetition, and then a bit more work, and so on. In addition he taught me how to use Foreflight to file flight plans in detail, and additional aids in the cockpit to make the information flow well. We were lucky to have varying weather, so we got some actual IMC time, and we went to 6 states (NY, CT, PA, MA, NH, VT) during the XC time that I needed (20 hours) to exceed the requirements. Not until I took the oral with the examiner did I realize that, all the while in the plane in midflight, John was prepping me for the Oral. A question here, an explanation there, on approach, clarifications, all orchestrated incredibly well. Always with good humor at one point, and demanding the next, tremendous balance. By the day of the check ride, I was flying at ATP standards, +- 50ft. And good thing he taught me that way. On the day of the check ride, weather moved in over Albany where we would be doing the partial panel VOR work. During the Oral, which took about 3 hours, I kept looking outside at the rolling clouds. By the time we went up in the air at 1pm, and as John said (If you went to the plane, well you passed the oral!), clouds were pouring rain to the north, with winds moving in. We had to originally deviate from the plan as we were going to do VOR work first, and then localizer at the Pittsfield airport and back to Hudson for an approach and circle to land. We diverted to Pittsfield, where everything went smoothly. At the recommendation of Albany approach, they steered us around the worst of the weather, but it was actual conditions in hard rain all the way. The rest of the check ride went very well with approach fixes, and RNAV approaches all easy after that. When we landed and went into the FBO, John was there waiting. The instructor, said "you did an incredible job, he did partial panel in that kind of weather", then turning to me "everything you did was well done, but that VOR control was something I haven't seen in a very long time. It was one of the most enjoyable check rides I have ever had. If my kids asked me to fly with you, I'd let them." John only smiled. Thank you John for everything. You really are the Merlin of aviation - a magician. Rolando Cohen read more

For those considering to receive their aviation training from AFIT I would strongly advise to gather sufficient information in advance before determining the suitability of this format of learning. It is not for everyone despite the biased suggestion from the owner/administrator. It could be exhaustive and counterproductive for many and since the fees are paid in advance and are non-retrievable you may end up with regret instead of a certificate. My particular experience was with their Southern Utah program which is delivered via a CFI named John. He is a skilled pilot but not a great aviator. He is woefully deficient with regard to FAR's and knowledge of pertinent facts and information. He also is fairly unpleasant to deal with on a daily basis with a short and frequently ill temper and proclivity to insert his unsolicited political views into aviation training. With is advanced age it would be a solid advice for him to seek retirement. Tony as the owner/manager is easily accessible but you must be cautious on how to interpret and analyse the received information. Altogether, this could work for some with the appropriate instructor and supportive cast ( FBO, manager, etc) but do not be led to believe that data have shown its superiority over conventional method of aeronautic training. read more