A Day in the Life of an AeroStar Student

By Kim Jones

Day in the life of a flight studentSo, you are considering AeroStar as your flight school and you’re wondering what a typical day in the life of one of our flight students would be like.

As one of our students, you would wake up at one of our recommended hotels where you would eat breakfast. Our recommended hotels have many wonderful food options and the surrounding area has many outstanding choices as well.

Shuttle service is provided each day to and from your ground school location or sim location.  We have found most students like to have their own rental car so they can get around freely.

A student completing our traditional 21 day program would attend Virtual Flight deck ground school for 9 days.  A school day is approximately 8 hours per day with weekends off in most cases.

Each class is different, but many get lunch off campus together as friendships develop during training. We have a list of our favorite delivery spots for those who wish to order in. The same holds true for dinner, though many will grab something and return to the hotel at the end of their day where you will study and sleep.

When you have completed your ground school you will be ready for sim training.  You will train in one of our state of the art Simulators.  Four, Level 5 Flight Training Devices, advanced courseware technology, are all housed in State-of-the-Art facilities supported by a team of experienced pilot instructors. These instructors are dedicated to making your training experience professional and enjoyable.

All training requires crew partners and your schedule would look like this:

  • FTD (flight training device) for first session 2-hours each pilot
  •  FFS (full flight simulator) Level D 2-5 module session
  •  FFS (full flight simulator)  Level D sim check ride last session 2 hours each pilot

This is a good overview as to what you can expect as an AeroStar student.  If you have any additional questions feel free to contact us directly.  In the meantime,   did we mention we are located in Orlando, Florida? Orlando has sunny weather and occasional rainfall throughout the year.  The average annual temperature is a cozy 72.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Does it get any better than that!

Congratulations to our latest AeroStar graduating class!  We are proud to report all 12 students including 3 from FIT have passed!  Job well done!

For more information or to enroll in our next available class, email [email protected] or call 1.407.888.9011. You can also join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.

Great Pilots Aren’t Necssarily Great Flight Instructors

By Kim Jones

great flight instructorsThe single most important element in your desire to fly is finding a great flight instructor that’s perfect for you.  There are two professional organizations that represent flight instructors.  The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI).

A Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) in the United States is required to be at least 18 years of age and be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language.  You also need to attain a Commercial Pilot Certificate which requires a minimum of 250 hours of flight time as a pilot, and then complete the training and pass both an FAA practical knowledge written examination and a flight test to become a CFI.

A CFI completes many requirements, as does a professional pilot.  Many professional pilots will acquire their CFI certification as a means to build flight hours in preparation for a move to the airlines or other flying career.

You would think a great pilot would indeed make a great instructor.  They have the certification and experience. They may be competent and skilled at flying as well as being extremely passionate about flying. They may have a great personality and plenty of devotion to the student.  This does not make them a good teacher. Being a good teacher is the key ingredient to make a great CFI.   There are some individuals who truly enjoy life as an instructor pilot and find it very rewarding to teach people how to fly.  Not only are they sharing their love for aviation with a fellow pilot, but the very process of teaching someone to fly helps sharpen their own skills to become a better pilot in the process.

A good teacher allows the student to benefit from their experience and carefully prepares and guides the flight candidate to a successful outcome.

A good teacher does their homework and is well prepared during training at all times. They will provide their students with plenty of demonstrations.  These demonstrations are done with clarity and skill.  They provide the initial experience that students build upon as they work towards mastering the skill. Providing plenty of good demonstrations will accelerate the student’s progress.

A good teacher will also talk to you while you fly.  Verbalization is a powerful way to not only improve the CFI’s instructional skills, but will increase the rate of a students’ progress. It is a good idea to have students talk while they fly.  The “telling and doing” process identified in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook not only provides a great feedback loop for the pilot, but it allows the instructor better insight into the students thought process.  More often, execution problems are cognitive in nature. If they talk, you may be able to pick up on problems faster and correct them.

Lastly, a good instructor is able to admit if they have made a mistake.  Error analysis training is an important part of initial CFI certification.  By hearing your acknowledgement of the mistake, along with necessary actions to correct it can give the student some tools for coping with errors.

A great pilot may not necessarily be a great flight instructor, but, rest assured, a great pilot can be made by a great flight instructor.

At AeroStar, we hire great instructors!