Texas American Flight Academy

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Joanne

Filing Flight Plan
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Clive
Hi my son is research which flying school in America to take his PPL. Does anyone know about the Texas American Flight Academy?
 
No idea about the school.

Few things did stick out, one, I don't like schools which don't have bios on their instructors, end of the day it ain't Texas American Flight Academy who's teaching you to fly, it's your CFI.

Along the same lines,

They say this about their CFIs

Instructors
You'll have one instructor assigned to you. All our instructors have thousands of hours of dual instruction given. Instruction is their passion. They're not using your instruction hours as a stepping stone to the airlines or other aviation job, and they won't bail out half way through your training.
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http://www.lonestarflyers.com/about.html



BUT... in their employment page it says this

Qualifications and Experience Requirements
Minimum and preferred requirements include:

  • FAA Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)
  • Instrument Instructor (CFI-I)
  • Experienced (500+ hours total time a plus)
  • Able to work one-on-one with students
  • Able to work 10 to 14 days straight
  • Legal USA work status (Citizen or Permanent Resident)
Benefits of Flying at Texas American:
  • SALARIED! Guaranteed income!
  • High volume, accelerated flight training
  • Excellent maintenance (aircraft and avionics)
  • Professional work environment
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http://www.lonestarflyers.com/employment.html

So... ALL the instructors have THOUSANDS of hours of instruction given time, but they'll hire you with 500hours or less of TOTAL PILOT TIME?!
.. that's just barely over a ink wet commercial pilot / CFI

Also for 60 large you ain't "assigning" a CFI to me, I'll see who I mesh with.

When you're advertising for low time instructors and use words like "high volume" in your "benefits" section, that screams low time hour builder CFIs, which is exactly what they are telling CUSTOMERS they don't have.

Notice they also want someone who will work "10-14 days straight"! That does not sound good as a customer. Would you want a doctor/lawyer/dentist who just worked 14 days straight?

I'd pass.




What type of training is your kid looking for, where is he looking to go in aviation? Airlines? Bush? AG?

My suggestion would be to get his initial PPL in a glider, build time up,that way, this will not only save him money, he'll also be a far better pilot for it, and CFI-Gs often are high time pilots anyways.

Here's the glider port locator. http://www.ssa.org/WhereToFlyMap.asp

After that find a flying club and get his single engine add-on (easy) in a taildragger, get a little acro time while you're building hours anyways, build some hours and find a free lance CFI, maybe his initial glider CFI or someone he/she recommends, to get his instrument, build some hours for his commercial and then get his multi and instructor if needed.

It'll cost far less than 60k, he'll end up a better pilot and more employable in any facet of aviation as a greenhorn CPL for it.
 
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If he wants to come to DFW, there are lots of other options out there that I and other locals can recommend. While they don't push "accelerated" programs as a product (they prefer quality results over minimum time), they likely can accommodate moving along at a steady pace that gets it done in reasonable time. And the instructors there are well known throughout the area as good ones.

And I'll echo James' question of what is it the lad wants to accomplish.
 
+1. Let us know the goals, and we may be able to make recommendations for more-stable and better-crafted options, and may well save you some serious coin.
 
Joanne said:
Hi my son is research which flying school in America to take his PPL. Does anyone know about the Texas American Flight Academy?
Click to expand...
Good Afternoon Joanne, My name is Dina Lowrimore. I am the student Services Director at Texas American Flight Academy. I would like to answer your question by saying that Texas American Flight Academy is a great training facility. Our Directors each have 30 years of experience in Aviation edication and know how to get your Son through his Flight training on your schedule, whether it be on an accelerated basis or not. I will not bother to defend mindless comments, but I promise you that we will always speak the truth and give your Son excellent training! I use my real name because this is the real world and folks like you need a real answer. Call me at (214) 238-2029 and I will gladly give you names of students that you can call and ask about Texas American Flight Academy.
 
Dina Lowrimore said:
Good Afternoon Joanne, My name is Dina Lowrimore. I am the student Services Director at Texas American Flight Academy. I would like to answer your question by saying that Texas American Flight Academy is a great training facility. Our Directors each have 30 years of experience in Aviation edication and know how to get your Son through his Flight training on your schedule, whether it be on an accelerated basis or not. I will not bother to defend mindless comments, but I promise you that we will always speak the truth and give your Son excellent training! I use my real name because this is the real world and folks like you need a real answer. Call me at (214) 238-2029 and I will gladly give you names of students that you can call and ask about Texas American Flight Academy.
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Welcome to POA Dina.

So what was "mindless"?

I quoted your own website :rolleyes:
 
James331 said:
Welcome to POA Dina.

So what was "mindless"?

I quoted your own website :rolleyes:
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Hello James, very nice to meet you. You are welcome to call me at the phone number above and I will be happy to answer any of your questions. Have a great day!
 
I'd rather keep it public, as I have no horse in this race personally, and I only mentioned those things to help the OP. But please feel free to point out where I was wrong, most of everything was just copy paste from your site, I did notice you have since edited your employment section, removing any mention of hours required for your CFIs.


I also noticed that before someone even starts training at your school you require a $1,000.00 deposit.

A $1,000 deposit guarantees your schedule and training dates. Ten days before your training begins, we will charge your credit card for the balance.
Click to expand...
http://www.lonestarflyers.com/faq.html
 
Yes James, We continue to make changes that reflect our style of management. Our Directors purchased Texas American in November of 2016 to bring to Addison our professional perspective and practices, as we have built at our school in Fort Worth, American Pilot Academy. Professionalism and good solid business practices are a close second to our committment to create great, safe Pilots and future Captains, always putting people first!
 
Texas American Flight Academy web site said:
Your deposit of $1,000 guarantees your schedule, with the balance due ten days before training begins. Payments are not refundable
Click to expand...

@Dina Lowrimore, A clarification question if I may related to what I quoted.

Your pricing page says "Professional Pilot Course (Zero through Flight Instructor) $59,995".

If a student was to embark on this course, you would first require the $1000.00, and then 10 days before day 1 of training, you require the entire remaining amount of $58,995.00. Correct?

And if the student did pay that in full amount, but then at say 50% of their training, they wish to leave your program for good, they will not receive back any of the remaining funds. Correct? Is this no exceptions?

Like James, I have no dog in the hunt except to understand what your school has posted publicaly.

PS. Any pay as you go option?
PPS. Any connections with the regionals to get a successful graduate an interview and launch his career beyond CFI?
 
OP mentioned "in America" so I assume the student is coming in from abroad. That means, the school has to be Part141 and he needs to go through the SEVIS/visa/TSA hoopla to get in. I understand a $1k deposit for that, I-20 etc does take time from the school.

Again, as everyone said - DO NOT PAY THE WHOLE THING IN ADVANCE! Whatever they say, do NOT do that.
 
James331 said:
Notice they also want someone who will work "10-14 days straight"! That does not sound good as a customer. Would you want a doctor/lawyer/dentist who just worked 14 days straight?
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I agree with most of the rest of your rant, but if I'm signing up for an accelerated course and I'm going to be training 10-14 days straight, then yeah, I want the same instructor there.

Also, it's pretty common for doctors and lawyers in their early careers to work insane hours.
 
Salty said:
I agree with most of the rest of your rant, but if I'm signing up for an accelerated course and I'm going to be training 10-14 days straight, then yeah, I want the same instructor there.

Also, it's pretty common for doctors and lawyers in their early careers to work insane hours.
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And if you were sick, would you want the rookie doc on his 14th straight day looking at you, or the well rested and relaxed senior doc?


As someone who has CFIed, it takes a good bit out of ya giving QUALITY dual vs just watching the Hobbs tick by, I really don't want to pay for aircraft time and CFI time for a CFI on his 10th plus straight day.
 
James331 said:
And if you were sick, would you want the rookie doc on his 14th straight day looking at you, or the well rested and relaxed senior doc?


As someone who has CFIed, it takes a good bit out of ya giving QUALITY dual vs just watching the Hobbs tick by, I really don't want to pay for aircraft time and CFI time for a CFI on his 10th plus straight day.
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Then I guess you'll backtrack on the criticism of being assigned an instructor.
 
Salty said:
Then I guess you'll backtrack on the criticism of being assigned an instructor.
Click to expand...

Not at all, I'd find a good instructor I mesh with, who has experience and isn't run ragged.

Hence why I recommended a glider port, lots easier to find CFIs who CFI because they enjoy it, they often arnt just churning out pilots like pilot mills, and they normally also have heaps of experience in and out of gliders.

Or asking places like this to find a good club and freelance CFI
 
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They spelled it wrong - it's Texas Merican Academy ! And if you ain't got a pick em up truck ya ain't getting in !!!
 
James331 said:
Not at all, I'd find a good instructor I mesh with, who has experience and isn't run ragged.

Hence why I recommended a glider port, lots easier to find CFIs who CFI because they enjoy it, they often arnt just churning out pilots like pilot mills, and they normally also have heaps of experience in and out of gliders.

Or asking places like this to find a good club and freelance CFI
Click to expand...
So it wasn't really the specific concerns you brought up, you just don't like this kind of approach to training.
 
Salty said:
So it wasn't really the specific concerns you brought up, you just don't like this kind of approach to training.
Click to expand...

Both

My specific concerns were noted, the disparity between what they advertise to prospective students vs what they post in their employment section for CFI applicants

The deposit

The non refundable pre pay stuff

The fact that a company representative came on here, insulted people, wouldn't actually publicly address any of the issues myself and others brought to light, and attempted to push any conversations into a private phone setting.



And the general type of training, I'm not a fan of puppy mills.
 
Good Afternoon, I apologize that I do not have the time to chit chat with you as I have my hands full taking care of students. I will say that we do not have disappointed students, period. Thank you for your interest in Texas American. Please call me and I will be happy to meet with and give you a tour of the facility. My time is very valuable and I will continue to care for the students needs, I only wish I had the time that you fellows have. Students first!!! Have a great day!!
 
^^^ Which way should I attract the ban hammer on that? Hand fulls of wonderful innuendo!

First time OP and 4 time posting respondent whose only posts are in this thread as responses.

As Obi-Wan would say "These aren't the trolls you're looking for"
 
Dina Lowrimore said:
Good Afternoon, I apologize that I do not have the time to chit chat with you as I have my hands full taking care of students. I will say that we do not have disappointed students, period. Thank you for your interest in Texas American. Please call me and I will be happy to meet with and give you a tour of the facility. My time is very valuable and I will continue to care for the students needs, I only wish I had the time that you fellows have. Students first!!! Have a great day!!
Click to expand...
Then you probably shouldn't have used your scarce time to come on here and refuse to answer any direct questions. A fly by to call legitimate and helpful feedback to the OP "mindless" doesn't help your cause.
 
Dina Lowrimore said:
Good Afternoon, I apologize that I do not have the time to chit chat with you as I have my hands full taking care of students. I will say that we do not have disappointed students, period. Thank you for your interest in Texas American. Please call me and I will be happy to meet with and give you a tour of the facility. My time is very valuable and I will continue to care for the students needs, I only wish I had the time that you fellows have. Students first!!! Have a great day!!
Click to expand...
You may claim to put the students first, but your job also includes marketing. You may think this is chit chat, but these postings are public and appear as search results for your school. Valid concerns have been posted and your responses do nothing to prove otherwise.
 
How to commit social media suicide, 101.

You, suck. Badly.

I think what we can take away from this thread: Texas American, Texas American Flight Academy, Lone Star Flyers, www.lonestarflyers.com

Avoid, like cancer. I hope you will go bankrupt just like most crappy flight schools who want to steal deposits do. Your arrogance shows how useless you are.

I hope someone emails this to this jokers superior, because this is ridiculous.
 
One more thing to think about not specific to Texas American Flight Academy: Addison Airport is a pretty busy controlled airport. You can spend a significant amount of time taxiing and sitting on the ground with the engine running, not to mention flight time to the local practice area. You are paying for all that prop spinning time and not gaining very much from it. An airport on the outer edges of the DFW Metroplex avoids some of this issue: Mesquite, McKinney, Denton come to mind.

Oh yeah, and it appears American Flight Academy has an attitude problem...
 
Flight time requirement has been removed from the About Us job page.

Gee, I wonder why?
 
So has anyone actually called this place or is it just easier to bash online?
 
Man, this should be an example of how NOT to manage your online business presence.

Cringe worthy...
 
Joanne said:
Hi my son is research which flying school in America to take his PPL. Does anyone know about the Texas American Flight Academy?
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Let's go back to the original post and try to provide some practical and realistic answers.

You don't mention where your son is located.

1) If not in the US, there's transportation and housing costs to think about in addition to the TSA requirements which you/your son will have to deal with.
2) If your son is only interested in the first step of flying - the private - and no intentions of going on to fly for a living, there are many more practical options than what is referred to around here as a "puppy mill".
3) If your son is in the US there's probably a General Aviation (GA) airport nearby. Go there, talk to the people in the office and they can help find a flight instructor.

I suggest a location in the southern part of the country (Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) There will be many flight schools that are substantially cheaper and don't require $$$ up front. I rule out California because it's very expensive to live, very expensive to fly and the airspace can be very complex and confusing for the beginner just looking for just the PPL.

There are often local academic schools as well as the flight schools that offer the ground school material in a formal class. Yes, there are many online options. I'm not objective about this topic - I believe a formal classroom with an instructor is a better approach for a brand new student. Being able to ask questions about the material and having the teacher's personal experience is a definite benefit. If there's not formal training available, the flight instructor or another instructor will work with the student on a 1 to 1 or perhaps 1 to a few other new students. The material is available online for free at the FAA website. There's a lot of reading to do in order to pass the knowledge exam (aka "The Written"). No need to spend any money. Some of it is not exactly the most exciting to read, but it really is important.

4) If after finishing the PPL, your son wants to fly for a living, this is still the better approach.

The "puppy mills" claim they have ??% placement with a commuter airline or other marketing claims. What usually happens is the new grads of this type of school are now the teachers of the new beginning students. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I'm semi-retired as an engineer and now teach computer science at a local university part-time. I find enormous amusement at the brand new PhDs we hire. Last week they were grad students. This week (after graduation) they are now faculty and are magically expected to know how to create a syllabus, teach, create useful exams, manage students, do all the administration involved with being tenure-track faculty, and so on.

Same for many (but not all) the puppy mills. Last week the student took a 6+ hour oral exam and a many-hour flight exam to be blessed by the FAA to teach new students. This week they are expected to understand the psychology of new students, scared students, students that are too agressive, and so on. Some are very successful flight instructors, others are not.

[Editorial comment: Sorry, but I don't consider the FAA's material on the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) to be adequate nor sufficient to understand all the variables involved about people.]
 
Joanne
I don't know anything about Texas American Flight Academy. They may be a great school or they may not. I do know of several flight schools in Texas that did a lot of training for students that came to America specifically to get their training and that seemed to do a very good job in the beginning.

Unknown to anyone outside of their management each started having cash flow issues and started getting large deposits from their students up front. Each closed down virtually overnight with no notice. That left the students out as much as tens of thousands of dollars and unable to meet their student visa requirements because their school was out of business they didn't have the money to move to another school. Texas American may be much more financially secure than the operations I'm referring to but I'd be very reluctant to pre-pay for a significant portion of my training.

I did go to an accelerated school for my instrument rating and am very happy with the results. In my case I paid what I considered a reasonable deposit and made progress payments as the training went forward. That protected the school because I was prepaying but also limited my risk because I never had a high percentage of funds committed for training that hadn't been given.

My payment method was not in line with their standard operating procedures but after I talked about the problems I had seen with schools shutting their doors they were willing to work out a way to ensure that I was comfortable as well. They were very confident in their training methods and were sure that I would be happy. They were right.

Good luck

Gary
 
I'm starting to wonder if this thread is just astroturfing gone horribly wrong for them.
 
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