It was easy to get checked out in their Cherokee Six with the new G3x touch. The instructor spend about 45 minutes on the ground and about an hour in the air with me. We were able to go through the nuances of that specific model. Eventually I ended up flying on one of their adventures, with a friend of a friend, and really enjoyed their Manassas office and aircraft. I will say that they had a few more people in Manassas but I also really enjoy the folks up in Leesburg. read more

I hate to give anyone a poor review, but Aviation Adventures was one of the worst experiences in my life, and I was in the military. I had to leave my first flight school because the college I was at was not affiliated with that flight school. Aviation Adventure is. First to start, I had at the time around 70 hours of steam gauges. Due to COVID I had not received flight instruction in almost a year. I brought up an issue I had with a CFI and after that it was down hill. My new CFI was horrible. I was his first student and he told me in the plane that he didn't want to be a CFI but was forced to because of a deal he made with Bob Hepp after buying a Cessna from the University of South Dakota. He said I needed to be there an hour early, but would show up sometimes 30 min late. When I asked for ground instruction on the G-1000 he said it was a waste of time, we would do it in the air. Going from steam to G-1000 was tough in the air. The CFI insulted me, cursed at me and told me I was acting like a sensitive millennial. He went on a rant while I was flying about people being too sensitive. I didn't feel comfortable asking questions because when I did the guy told me I was stupid. When getting ground instruction and my CFI wasn't on his phone he was chatting with other CFIs. At one point he made fun of me in front of other students and CFIs. It finally came down to one last flight and I had enough, after the guy yelling and cursing at me I just wanted out of the plane. I pretended to not understand trim so he would end the lesson early. I am sure there are good CFIs at Aviation Adventures, but I never encountered one. The CFIs I encountered were vindictive, Bob Hepp bashed me at my college, and my CFI wrote nasty notes in my online record. Why? I asked for help, I wanted a new CFI, I wanted instruction on the G-1000. Flight training is expensive, it takes a lot of time and study. Aviation Adventures treats student pilots horribly. We are paying customers, but are treated like dirt. I almost quit my dream of flying because of my experience with Aviation Adventures. I was excited to start there, there aircraft are nice, you get experience at a towered airport. That aside, you want tailored instruction, in a friendly learning conducive environment look elsewhere. I concur with the other reviews, it is not a place where student/customer concerns are valued, they are punished till you get frustrated and leave and Bob Hepp has your money. read more

My son has been training with Aviation Adventures for almost one and a half years now. He started the commercial license a few weeks back, after first obtaining the private pilot license and then the instrument rating. We love the flight school. His instructors have been fantastic and I'm super impressed by my son's growth. The instructors are super knowledgeable, well trained and relate well to their students. It's a great place!! read more

This is a great flight school period. However, my advice on how to read the negative comments is largely due to new students or prospective students struggling to understand the complicated nuances of getting flight training. Weather, instructors and maintenance is always the triad that you're going to be fighting. It's not that they don't want to teach you how to fly, it's that at the end of the day, there is only ever a finite number of instructor hours and plane hours available. Students must quickly learn how to manage that along with the serious amount of commitment and study. That being said, Aviation Adventures is fantastic. Bob might never win a congeniality c contest, but his life's mission is to make smart and safe aviators. Him and the people he carefully hires share that goal and will help you achieve your goals. But it's not easy and it's a huge commitment. But when you understand all that, the place is very good. read more

To preclude this comment, I have had 4 total experiences with Aviation adventures with me attempting to give them money in exchange for the ability to freely rent a 172 and out of the 4 attempts, 3 of them left me walking out the door being very upset and frustrated..... I am a 10 year professional pilot. I have flown in 3 different flight schools, logged 1200 hours as a certified flight instructor with two different schools and now have almost 6 years flying for a major airline. I owned a 172 for 3.5 years which I sold 6 months ago, a 172L more specifically. I wanted to get checked out in Aviation Adventures 172L just so i could go fly periodically with my GF. 1. The checkout flight. First, forget the schedule, none of the CFIs respect the time that their flight block ends, so expect to always start your block 15-45 minutes after your flight block begins, even if there's someone after you. I was "taken for a ride" Im a CFI so i know when I'm being taken advantage of by another CFI. All I wanted to do was get a 172 checkout with a CFI which I understood. However, by the end of the checkout, we had spent almost 2 hours flying 33 miles to another airport, I was instructed to fly 3 instrument approaches into that airport then fly an instrument approach back into our airport. I was also told flying at 100kts in a 172 is too hard on the engine, I needed to slow down and fly 88 knots???? No.... someone was trying to time build at the expense of my money... 2. I wanted to check a plane out. I was contacted the day of, about 2 hours prior to the flight indicating that the plane was down and my checkout only allowed me to operate a L and N model. The result was them moving all their students to the only other plane operating thus not allowing me a slot. Sure, whatever. 3. I rented a 172L again. I showed up 20 minutes before my flight block, yet my plane didn't arrive until 30 minutes after my flight block was suppose to begin, but who cares i'm just a renter and at the end of the day, I have finally rented a plane successfully after being taken advantage of and having a failed attempt at renting. 4. I call Valentine's Day morning to see if I can rent a plane to take my GF up for a sunset flight. I was told 242AV was available starting at 5:30. Sun set was at 5:45 that day. I surprise the GF and take her to the airport. once again we get there 15 minutes before our flight block. I talk to the front desk, "all is good, were just waiting on them to get back" of course.... they finally show up at 5:45, once again 15 minutes after their flight block ends. I walk out to the plane with my GF as the CFI and their student is packing up the plane and ask if there were any squawks. As its turning dusk, they say oh yeah, its day VFR only because the right nav light has been inop for the last 2 weeks. WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 2 WEEKS? A NAV LIGHT?? I couldn't have been told this when I called earlier and asked the front desk if it was available? you're telling me you all have wasted my Valentines day evening waiting for a plane that was late, wasn't even legal for night VFR when a simple light bulb could have been replaced from the other N model that was grounded due to a missing flap? That was my last straw. I will never again try to spend a dollar with Aviation Adventures. I went against my gut reading all the horrid reviews online and said "how bad could it be? It can't be that bad" It was worse. This nonsensical excuse for a flight school is what an incompetent monopoly of a flight school looks like that will steal money and suck more out of you for every single reason that can come up with. Theres red tape everywhere preventing you from doing this and that unless you pay for that and this. Future students, steer clear. Potential renters, save your money and go elsewhere. Avoid the headaches and wasted time and money that I have. I realize this is the least professional organization I have ever experienced in aviation. People that learn to fly here refuse to work for the school as CFIs because they realize how horrible of a place it is to not only learn as a student but teach at as a CFI. There are plenty of flight schools in the area, so take your money elsewhere to learn or rent. I have already. read more

I would have to echo other reviewers, this is not a good place to get your pilots license for a number of reasons. They don't seem to really prioritize students or student schedules. They seem to really cater to a specific group of students from a university who come in to learn to fly, everyone else is a second class citizen. They don't have enough airplanes and they don't manage the schedule well enough so that everyone can be able to fly when they need/ want to, and they don't prioritize needs. Seems like something is always broken in the airplane. If you aren't constantly on top of things with the staff, you will have a hard time graduating from this flight school. read more

Got my private pilot certificate here, great experience. Staff was very helpful and they have a solid curriculum. They are willing to stay late or work very early if you need them to. They are a Part 141 school which for me meant you don't have to pay a huge fee for an examiner to come out and test you and the person you take your check-ride with is someone you can meet beforehand and get a better understanding of the standards you need to meet. The airport is in an interesting area, you are underneath the Class B airspace of Dulles airport, you are inside the SFRA for Washington DC, you are next to a MOA and restricted area, and it's a towered airport with 2 runways. It can be confusing at first, but learning in this environment makes you much more aware of your surroundings and all the other airports and airspace seem easy to navigate once you master Manassas. read more

Excellent flying school. Very professional instructors (I can compare, I've been to other schools before). A very long streak of first-time check ride passers. Try an intro flight. The time will count toward your license. They have two locations (also in Leesburg, VA), many different instructors and types of aircraft. Prices are normal for the area. Interestingly, the funnest airplane to fly in (Diamond C-1) is the second cheapest. This area is the most "pain in the ass" to fly in because of the multitude of restricted airspace, but you get used to it. So you won't fly over the White House (who cares), but anywhere South-West of Manassas is as free as it can get. Highly recommended read more

The company has very poor administrative and customer service staff. The instructors are good and the aircraft are decent, but as others have mentioned dispatching is a real crapshoot. Managers and the owner are not involved with troubleshooting or concerned about communicating with paying customers. The good news is that they force one to shop around and I found a much better flight school at Shannon Airport. read more

This is one of the best flight schools on East Coast. The fleet is exceptional (that's why you have to pay a little extra over competition), instructors are amazing and overall experience is fantastic. They are the best in the area and AvAd knows it. I hated my instructor (Matt) and Chief Instructor (Bob) all the way until the FAA checkride. Only then I could appreciate everything they have done and realize why they were so harsh and demanding. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is serious about getting their pilot's license or training in DC area. You will have to be self-motivated, though, as they won't babysit you, but demand the performance above and beyond FAA standards. They've made me a safe pilot and I'm coming back for additional training. read more

Well I was a student from this school and I had to stop due to financial situations, now i was trying to resume my tranning again and I ask for "Sport Pilot" instead of private pilot, #1 the personnel at the school on the desk this time Did Not know much about it, #2 the person (Instructor) was rude and want you to go straigt to the private, he start to ask me questions like, Do you thing that you will do it in 20 hours..? I say Of course not and he say well you might be looking for at least 35 or 40, you won't save any money doing sport pilot, I think he does not know how to make bussines. And by the way Do not sub-estimate the capacity of your students, I think I will think twice about going back to this school... Sorry Mr. Hepp... read more

Out here from another state, wanted to find a flight club or school to get checked out on some aircraft so I can explore this great east coast. After driving an hour each way two days in a row, still never got up to fly even in the 172. Excuses, excuses, excuses. I'm no brand new pilot and have multiple ratings but the instructor treats me like I was off the street and have never flown. The second Day I was out there was frost on aircraft which took time to get off and melt from the sun, but by the time that happened my flying slot to get checked out was nearly gone so I was told there was another student booked in the next hour so we can't go up. You would think they might then try to find another time to go up with me, work with me on schedule? Instead the instructor walked away and told me to have a good day. What? Really? Then tried to set up multi engine instructor to get checked out the next day. The girl behind the desk was so lost, no clue. Thought I had that set up earlier but when I checked back she had no idea what I was talking about and went on to tell me the instructor changed his days and hours and to maybe check back next week with them. Umm, nope. Left message for chief pilot about situation. Called me back at end of day. States to me "well what do you want me to do about it?". Again, really? Oh, I don't know, how about getting off your insensitive ass and maybe help me find another instructor or time or something other than asking me what you should do or how to do your job! This is just another production line flight school that cares less about you and more about money and who cares what type of pilot they produce for the industry. Will never contact these insensitive, unorganized, condescending assholes ever again. Stay away, take your money and time to multiple other schools around here that go out of their way to help you. read more

I tried twice to schedule an introductory flight lesson. Both times the lady who answered the phone took less than two seconds to tell me they had no times available on my requested days (no way she could have actually looked it up that quickly). She never bothered to ask my name, show the slightest interest in my call, or engage in any helpful conversation. She clearly wanted to get off the phone as quickly as possible. Her total lack of interest in working with me cost them a student. It might be a great flight school, but I couldn't even get in the door, so I'll never know. read more

Concur with others on here in some respects. In terms of aircraft inventory and curriculum, AvAd is well above average - Manassas Airport is great and AvAd office staff is friendly. However, the problem lies with the owner (Bob) who leaves a lot to be desired and was the reason I left. I have been flying for many years and have never had such a negative experience. Yes, he has a lot of accolades, knows a lot about flying, and has a high first-time pass rate (which he constantly brags about), but his people skills suck! He's down-right militant at times and ultimately lacks the compassionate heart of a teacher. So, if you want to fly here, (you will have to fly w/ him sooner or later) understand that it's his way or the highway. I'm not the only one who feels this way...others have left for the same reason. There are other schools to fly with in the area that know how to treat people. New students or CFIs...recommend you shop around before "full-stopping" here. Good luck. read more

Very greedy and unprofessional people. The lady named; Stacey rude and very unprofessional. I overheard; she is owner's daughter, then so what? read more

This school used to be good but lately the standard of professionalism is diminishing. Honestly, i trained at this school for many years and now fly out of AVED leesburg which is a better facility with professional and very helpful instructors. Aviation adventures at various times charged me wrong rates and overcharging my credit card for small items such as charts and other flying equipment. And flying with them for many years, they never trust any of their customers for example, many times i get phone calls for charts that I purchased months ago verifying that did i pay for them or not, and after flying with them for 5 yrs this is kind of embarrassing. They make your lessons extra long for charging a big amount and will send you to the checkride after they squeeze out as much cash from you they can. Overall experience with them after so many years i must say there not where they used to be and I would put my time and money in learning to fly at a much better and honest organization than this school. read more