Where do I start? Ramona FTC has been an amazing experience for me as a student pilot all together…read more The community is strong, very kind, and always supportive. The amenities are nice and welcoming to everyone. Every Wednesday there's a free ground class everyone can attend and bring friends to. The airport itself is located perfectly where maneuvers can be done right after take-off, no need to travel far away to do them. The air traffic controllers are extra supportive to student pilots and do an amazing job. The planes are well kept and maintained and the prices are unbeatable. Above all, my instructor David Stringfellow is an awesome guy and super knowledgeable as a CFI. I'd love to keep this place a secret but if you are interested in flight training there's no where else better than Ramona FTC. Only regret I have is not knowing about this place when I started my journey.

Absolutely terrible experience at Ramona. Everything about this place feels unorganized,…read moreunprofessional, and straight-up chaotic. Nobody seems to care about helping you or doing their job right. The instructors have bad attitudes, communication is awful, and they treat students like they're disposable. Save yourself the headache there are way better and safer places to go where people actually want you to succeed.

Stay away! It was a terrible experience. It was quite disappointing. Their planes are super…read moreoutdated with doors broken, instruments missing or not working properly. Awkward staff experience. Go somewhere else to get your money's worth.

Terrible service. Over priced planes with terrible maintenance. Not enough planes and way out of…read moredate equipment. I'm sure the planes don't even meet FAA standards to be able to fly.

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.

Excellent training. Went for my initial 16 hr CCW training. The class was well organized and was…read moredone in a way that made the time fly by. Arthur (Jimmy) is a great trainer. I went to get the required time in to get my permit and ended up learning so much more and had more fun than I expected. The simulator is a great way to put into practice what you are learning and get more time participating in your training rather than sitting and looking at slides. On the range, the entire team was helpful and friendly. They made sure it was a safe environment and that everyone understood what was expected and helped you prepare for the actual qualification part of the training. I would recommend going to any firearms training with "The Gunsmith Guy". I will be scheduling more training myself after some time practicing what I have learned. The cost is a great factor too, one of the lower cost classes I found, but top tier when it comes to the actual training.

Jimmy's CCW course is excellent. I really wasn't sure how I'd feel about 16 hours of training, but…read morehe did a great job keeping all the students engaged and made the course fun. The simulator in the classroom was something I didn't expect -- we tested our shooting skills and practiced different defensive scenarios. The qualification at their private outdoor range was so much better than shooting at an indoor range. These guys are pros, and I plan on using them again in two years.

California Flight Academy makes some of the highest caliber pilots. They have a great maintenance…read moredepartment and knowledgeable instructors. Very high practical exam pass rate.

CFA is a great school. The facilities and the planes are both amazing. The instructors are…read morefantastic. The student community is wonderful. Everyone is very helpful. Highly recommend.

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.

I'm an old commercial pilot who decided to get back in the air. I bought one of the newest Icom…read moreradios, and found the poorly written instructions baffling. Got tired of trying, swallowed my pride, and booked 30 minutes with an instructor. Zane also found the instructions lacking....but kept at it until he figured it out. Of course by the time I got home, I still missed a step in the process of entering a frequency, naming it, and saving it to the desire group. Then my son reminded me of what all younger people's go to is for instruction.....youtube!! Duh!! Got it wired now. Zane was patient, interesting, and passionate about figuring it out. Downside is only for Zane since I can go to youtube for free!!! ; )

Shane is a outstanding instructor with a wealth of knowledge and great flying skills. I did the…read moreCommercial ASEL program with him and it went as planned. I improved my piloting skills in general and achieved the standards necessary to pass the check ride. I recommend him and his program for anyone who wants to become a better pilot.

Dave Simpson is an excellent trainer. He develops a customize curriculum for each student,…read moreproviding accelerated learning options for those traveling from out of town. I learned how to fly in his airplane (Piper Archer 180hp) which he meticulously managed, and now he's added the Cirrus SR22 Turbo (315hp) to the training fleet. It's a logical advancement for the pilot looking for an increasingly challenging experience. www.cirrussandiego.com

I want to write an honest review. Dave is a safe instructor and you absolutely won't find anyone…read morethat knows the material better than Dave. He knows what he is teaching. He has developed his own programs that work. He is a solid instructor. However, I cannot express strongly enough to show up prepared. I am a very hands on not book smart person. I read his online stuff about his accelerated course. I interrupted that he would teach me to fly instruments from start to finish in 6 days if I had 20 to 25 hours simulated time. That is not true. However, to his defense I don't think anyone can learn instruments that quick with no prior holds or approach experience. So to me his advertisement can be misleading. I didn't know that at the time. I sent Dave a $2000 deposit with the understanding he is $100 an hour and we do 8 hour days to equal $800 a day. I was also told the simulator he has is $35 an hour which is what is on his website. I am a weird guy. I didn't like his style of teaching. I found it very demanding and it just did not work for me. It was very dry and long classrooms periods. I never been as frustrated at something in my life as I was trying to learn from Dave. With that being said I met a student of his in the parking lot that said Dave was the absolute best instructor he ever had. Dave's style of teaching was one of the worse I ever had in the class room. I enjoyed Dave in the airplane and he actually helped me with my landings. Every personality don't mix. Dave and I are polar opposites. Dave is much sharper in the books than anyone I ever met. I told him he would be a heck of an aviation lawyer. My reasoning for the lower than 5 star rating and my absolute biggest complaint with Dave was money. I never felt more ripped off in my entire life. On day one it was obvious I would never be close to a check ride in five to six days. By lunch I was so frustrated with his style of class teaching my head was pounding. He could read my body language and see by just how much I was struggling in his class. After lunch he told me he thought it would be best if I cancel a few days for the next week. He had already cancelled two days that we had agreed on to "get another student ready". I agreed 100% and we cancelled those days. Watch him with the simulator! He will turn the meter on and then be teaching on the board or fumbling with the ipad for a while during this that meter is going and you're getting charged. I turned it off a few times while he was teaching on the board or on the ipad and one time he turned it back on. He even kept it on while on a personal phone call. I paid for him to talk on a personal call. Day two I come in and the class/simulator portion started up and once again I just wasn't learning from his style of teaching. I told him it just wasn't working and I wanted to go back to my original instructor. He encouraged me to give him a chance and I did. He finally taught me in a method that made perfect sense. We went in my plane and flew the holds he was teaching and they worked out great. In the process I began having altimeter issues so we returned to KSEE. It was obvious we couldn't train on the Thursday as we had plan. Honestly I didn't see the value to continue. By this point I was 14 hours into training with Dave and all I really got out of it was learning holds and he improved my landings. In my mind that was $1400 and whatever the simulator cost. I told Dave I rather just finished with my previous instructor as I was learning much more at almost half the cost. I could tell it irritated him I didn't want to pursue my training further with him. He told me I would be charged for a full day because I made him miss the Thursday which I couldn't help due to my airplane having an unexpected maintenance issue. I didn't agree or like that at all. He then said lets settle up. He added up the simulator time which to me was inflated and charged me $40.00 an hour instead of his original quote of $35 (published on website). This aggravated me also. He then charged me two full days at $1600 total. His new total came to $1808. He looks me and says "I owe you some money". I was thinking he owed me much more than $192 but he said "I owe you $192.00". He then says "I am not paying you because you cancelled days with me. I lost money in this and won't be able to fill your spot". I got ripped off really good. I took two days of vacation from my employer. I agreed to $100 an hour and $35 an hour for his simulator which I feel was inflated on time but I will agree to the time. I should have owed him for the following: * 14 hours training @ $100 an hour = $1400 * 5.2 hours simulator @ $35 an hour = $182.00 That's a total of $1582.00. I agreed to that and I owe that. I paid him $2000 prior to class. That means Dave owes me $418. I don't argue in person as it gets you nowhere. I do plan to dispute this further. So I feel I wrote an honest review.