I attended Coast Flight Training since 2022 and received my private pilot, instrument and…read morecommercial licenses here under part 61. I achieved my ratings on the side while working full time (it was tough and slow, but it's doable). I saw Coast go through many changes and saw many of its students and instructors progress through their ratings and hour grinds. I have also attended other flying schools around San Diego, all of which to me did not come close to the caliber program that Coast Flight Training has. They have regimented training plans for both part 61 and part 141 students, and a solid debriefing after each flight so that you don't waste your time and money. The instructors I had cared and put in the time and effort to ensure I became a safe pilot and passed my checkrides. Is this school perfect? No, but no flight school is. Coast does their best in maintaining their planes, I was never asked to fly something I didn't feel safe flying. I never flew with an instructor I didn't feel safe with. Were there minor issues here and there? Yes but that's a part of any training pathway. Coast at least maintains their airplanes and instructors to a set standard that is better than most schools out there. Their facility is also probably the nicest flight school I have ever been in. I was also briefly a fueler for Coast, from the operational side I can say that they do a great job in their FBO service to general aviation. Their fueling staff work hard but are reliable and they do upkeep and inspect their fuel tank and trucks daily. This helps keep any pilot getting fuel here safe. If you are looking to get your pilot license, I highly recommend Coast Flight Training. Thank you to the many instructors I had during my time here: Cynthia H, Alex Z, Zach E, Christopher L. and Braeden B. were all outstanding. Now if only Coast could control the weather and DPE shortage!

My experience with this flight school raised serious concerns about its professionalism and…read morebusiness practices, particularly regarding the site director. One of the most concerning things I witnessed was the site director posting five-star reviews of the flight school while presenting them in a way that appeared to be genuine customer feedback. In my opinion, a person responsible for managing a business writing positive reviews for that same business is extremely misleading and calls the credibility of the school's online ratings into question. I don't believe it sets a good example for the site director to post false reviews when flight schools are supposed to be setting a professional example for students. Unfortunately, this behavior was consistent with the lack of transparency I experienced at the school. I also found the site director's interactions with students who raised concerns to be unprofessional and threatening. Based on my firsthand experience, I would strongly recommend that prospective students don't trust the rating and instead speak directly with current and former students before committing any money. I personally would not recommend this school for their lack of professionalism and lack of honesty.

What an incredible experience provided by Altitude Helicopters. Wife and I got to experience San…read moreDiego in a helicopter for the first time after living here for 10+ years, and what an incredible perspective to have. Huge shoutout to our pilot and guide, Taylor. It was our first time in a helicopter and we were slightly nervous but his confidence, humor, and communication of what to expect took away any hesitations right within the first few minutes. I'm also very thankful we decided to go with the VIP tour as the La Jolla and Torrey Pines section were easily the best part of the tour. Very happy to have spent the extra money, it was well worth it. Thanks again Taylor and Altitude! Was an amazing experience.

We had a great time! And what a Super helpful staff. It was our first aerial tour and it definitely…read morewon't be our last. Our pilot, Casey was very informative and a friendly guy. The whole experience was A+ all the way. A big shout out to Taylor and to the owner of the company for both being so welcoming. Plus, there's a huge portrait of Steve McQueen on hand to help you get your mindset right ,lol.

I purchased "Intro to Flight" as a birthday present and Chance was great with addressing my…read morequestions/concerns. Booking was easy. At the day of flight, the instructor was Tyler. He was very friendly, calm and patient. Any nervousness was put at ease by Tyler. The entire experience lasted for 2 hours and we paid $300. It definitely sparked the desire to continue flight education and obtain a license.

Had talks with Chance over the phone and had my first intro flight on the golden hours on July…read morefirst saturday. What can I say...breaking the fear of heights will make you want to take over and just go back and fly more! Most of us dreamed of flying and becoming pilots one day and ChanceToFly just gave me that 'chance' to put my feet on the door. Owen Whitfield CFI/CFII, covered all the basics of operations on the ground and is a cool and amazing instructor for first time fliers. Went over all the details and his confidence radiates that you wouldn't worry over your fears in the skies. Could have taken more photos to show and share but he is insistent I take over the controls most of the time as it was, indeed, a 'Pilot Experience'. Thats Professionalism. Cannot argue with that. Looking forward to flying with them again soon!

GoFly San Diego has quite literally changed my life for the better…read more Did a Discovery Intro Flight with them to see if this was something I truly wanted to do and was sold! Started flying with Adam as my instructor for my PPL in January. Earned my Private in about three and a half months, then moved on to instrument training! I can now say I am an IFR rated pilot working on my Commercial! Adam honestly is the most patient, kind, flexible, and caring instructor I could have asked for. He has been extremely supportive when things got tough, but here we are still moving along! He genuinely cares about all his students and is their number one fan! He is able to coordinate checkrides quickly, which is a massive plus! Instrument Training with him was beyond anything I could have asked for! We worked in the sim together for a few hours, then started flying the real thing. We were able to get some actual time under IMC which was awesome. He has amazing tricks that will help you master what you are learning! All in all, there is no better instructor out there for you, whether you are looking to become a private pilot, add an instrument rating, or become commercially rated!

I had been thinking about getting my private pilot license for years and I'm thrilled I started…read moreflight lessons here. This place is awesome. Great instruction. Top-notch aircraft. Such a cool experience. The ground and flight instruction has been thorough, yet easy to follow along with. I couldn't recommend them more highly, and Adam is a really knowledgeable guy.

My son 13-year-old like to do a lot of adventures. So we surprised him with a Blood Pumpin thrill…read moreride " FLY YOUR PLANE " I called him to come home right away and said that he was still GOLFING with his Dad. I just said okay then I will cancel our " THE AFTERBURNER FLIGHT ". The moment he heard it, I heard him yelling, Dad packed it up, mom called. They came home to hug me and says let's go, mom. So we arrive at the place in EL CAJON SAN DIEGO and saw a lot of planes but we were instructed to wait outside for safety reasons because there were a lot of planes coming in and out and only get in when a PILOT comes to pick us up. we CHOSE the FLIGHT called .... "AFTERBURNER FLIGHT " ... it's a flight you can "FLY YOUR PLANE", take control and Maneuver it with the supervision of course of a Highly trained Pilot. When it's my son's turn to fly, we are greeted by a very nice Pilot. The FIRST thing we did was go to the briefing room with our Pilot where we watch the Safety and Rules while Flying. I was too nervous while my son was getting ready and my son was just relaxed and have this big smile like he is so excited about it. We watch them start flying out until they just disappeared from our sight. A couple of hours later they came back and my son start talking about the different kinds of Exhibitions they did. Some examples of what they did were: *The inside loop *The outside loop *The Aileron Roll *The Tailside *Stall Turn * Falling Leaf My son was very Happy about his flight and says: "BEST EXPERIENCE to FLY a PLANE" and did "Stunts" in the air. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND this company to everyone! Also, do not ever leave this place without Purchasing your FLIGHT PHOTOS and VIDEOS. It's all worth it!

OMG... what an amazing experience from start to finish. This entire team is outstanding in…read moreeverything they do. From the briefing through the maneuvers, you know you're in good hands... even if they're your own in the Afterburner experience. Don't forget to add on the dogfight. You will be happy you did.

My instructor, Keanu was excellent and inspired confidence all through my flying lesson. He was…read morevery patient and encouraging during the whole lesson, from take off to inflight controls and landing. I completed three take offs and three landings with his guidance. I will definitely book him again. Great experience.

**Update** Following my recent experience with First Flight, I was contacted by Patrick, who took…read morethe time to address my concerns and ensure a positive resolution. We successfully completed my Biannual Flight Review, during which I gained valuable insights and significantly improved my understanding of aviation communications. Patrick demonstrated a high level of expertise and professionalism throughout the flight. I look forward to flying with him again soon to refine my instrument flying skills. I would like to begin by stating that my experience with First Flight two and a half years ago was excellent. I completed a biannual flight review at the time and found both the customer service and aircraft to be outstanding. My instructor, Ross, was professional, knowledgeable, and created a positive learning environment. Over the following two years, I rented aircraft from First Flight without issue and regularly recommended the organization to many of my colleagues based on those positive experiences. Unfortunately, my most recent visit did not meet the same standard. Three and half weeks ago, I scheduled a biannual flight review with an instructor named Patrick, booking the appointment at the front desk in advance. I arrived on the day of the review 15 minutes early to ensure punctuality, only to find that the instructor was still in the air with another student. I was informed by the front desk attendant that he would be landing shortly and also learned that supposedly I wasn't on the schedule. Forty-five minutes later, the instructor returned and was notified of my presence and scheduled appointment. After waiting an hour, we began the ground portion of the flight review. Due to the schedule shift, we were limited in aircraft availability and could only log 0.6 hours of flight time--short of the minimum one hour required to complete a flight review. Compounding the issue, I experienced problems with my headset and had difficulty hearing both ATC and the instructor. Although I had another headset available, time constraints prevented a swap. To those currently training or flying at First Flight and having positive experiences, I genuinely hope that continues. I view this situation as an unfortunate anomaly and not reflective of the entire organization. As a strong supporter of small, family-owned FBOs like First Flight, I believe they are essential to the health and growth of General Aviation. I want to see First Flight succeed and continue to serve the aviation community well.

I found Golden State Flying Club by accident last November 2013. I noticed an R22 Helicopter Sign…read moreon the outside building and a small plane on the corner. After talking to Richard the owner, I decided to sign up on their intro flight lesions. The price was great, $139 for 2 flight hours in the Piper Warrior 2, 2 Ground School Lessons and an orientation. It was a great experience. I have completed my entire Ground School Requirements for the FAA exam. Jeff and Mike the 2 instructors are cool, and going to class from 7PM to 9:30 PM was great too. I met some real good people in that class. Now, I have passed the FAA exam, have taken 20 hours of flight time with my SUPER HERO also called Glenn Rauch. He has made learning flying to a new enjoyable level. Glenn is my second Certified Instructor (CFI). I am now so eager to meet up to go flying every 2nd. day. And every time I'm learning something new. The course is very well structured. Best if you take 2 to 3 flying lessons a week. Training this way is a lot better than taking only a few hours in a month. I can only speak for myself; I had to choose again, I would always go back to Golden State and ask to fly with Glenn. Thanks for a great learning experience; I couldn't have ask for a better school.

Look the flight instructors here might be great, I have no idea. The program sounds amazing. The…read moreproblem for me was the mysogonistic right wing hints and jokes by Jeff during orienttion. I took my son here to attend the informational/sales pitch, not to listen to a guy childishly insert his viewpoints to perfect strangers for four hours. What we heard, spoiled rich kid example name Gavin (wow, clever). Planes are like women, if you beat them up a little just stroke them and sprinkle perfume on them and they'll be fine. The less fuel the lighter the plane, I try to get my girlfriend to understand this. Keep it neutral like trump did with North Korea, when he stopped the fighting (ummmm, what fighting?) You need a background check for your pilots license, so no antifa records. They stopped naming the planes after indians, I don't know some silly reason. We get it, you love trump (the ultimate spoiled child). We aren't here for juvenile references or political innuendos. We don't need to listen to this or pay for it. Keep it to yourself.

I was a student here. Great flight school, very cool and knowledgeable instructors. Very flexible…read morein terms of scheduling. I didn't finish because of personal issues but would love to continue what I started in the future.

This is one of those places that markets itself as "military friendly," but in my experience the…read morepriority was billing, not students. Pricing is very high for the aircraft and instruction quality, and on top of that, a large amount of the total cost is hidden inside of fees that are not clearly disclosed. Communication was unstatisfactory with no or slow replies and directly conflicting answers on contracts, procedures, and even basic admin, with no internal coordination. If you value clear terms, responsive support, and a student first culture, look elsewhere.