Flying Academy Los Angeles - Corona, California

Taylan A. D.

Dear FlyingAcademy and to whom reading this,

I am in Germany living EASA ATPL-A student pilot with a German(EASA) PPL.
For my ATPL Training I needed to do a 50h of timebuilding. I was thinking of doing it here in Germany first, but after searching and collecting information from other pilots, I got the recommendation to do it in the States. Reasons for that were, that the weather is mostly better there than in Germany.

Besides that, I calculated, how the prices were in the states and in Germany. And I must say, that there was a big difference. And you should consider every little difference in the prices between both countries. Because for 50h, there will be a big difference for sure. For example the flights are all „wet“, on small airports there are no landing fees, etc.

The only thing, which was keeping me back firstly was, that I didn’t have any accommodation. I searched through a lot of flightschools. I specifically searched around California - mostly Los Angeles, because the weather over there would be literally always great, when I searched between June and July.
Out of the sudden after searching a lot, I found the FlyingAcademy! The only school with such a great concept. And they had a free accommodation. The one at Corona is very nice. It is in a well qualitative neighbourhood with a small lake, nice view and a nice pool pass (thanks to me :~D).

Because I wanted to fly in the middle of June, I had only few weeks left. But the FlyingAcademy is very well organized and they proved greatly their professionalism. I needed to take few ground school lessons, because flying over there divert a little bit from Germany (for example the VFR map is different than ours), I had to go through the paperwork for the IACRA, so I can get my FAA foreign license based PPL and I needed to do the English proficiency check. The staff of FlyingAcademy were always very helpful with that. You could always reach out to them and every single worker is very helpful. They always have a solution for you.
Besides they have a offer including 50h for timebuilding, which is just great. They have different types of aircraft ranging from C152, C172 and PA28.
The maintenance is doing a very great job with repairing those planes. As a German, we are very punctilious and suspicious with everything. I was too at first, but the trust to the school was built very quick, because how I mentioned they are very helpful and always search for the best solution for the Pilot. I am still tremendously, in a positive manner, surprised by this service I experienced.
More over, I gained good friends through the school. With living at their accommodation with other pilots and through the flightschool, where they spontaneously do BBQs, I had good people spending my time with.

Furthermore I forgot to mention, that the most important reason for me doing the timebuilding in Corona was, that I could connect the timebuilding with vacation. At Corona, you have the chance to see different landscapes, different states, different locations, from islands, deserts to nice cities, lakes and beaches you can see everything. At my attendance, I flew through Arizona, Nevada, Mostly all of California. I flew to Los Angeles, San Diego, Catalina Island, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Modesto, Santa Ynez, Palm Springs, San Bernadino, French Valley, Salton Sea, Van Nuys, San Luis and…Banning. You can see so many new places and there are a lot around Corona. I was amazed and happy that I did it. And it was the best decision of my life.

At last I want to state: I always say, a company with its staff can only be good as the CEO. The staff represent the CEO, because I like to think, a CEO will hire the type of personalities according to him. And I had the chance to have contact with him. Very good person. Thank you to every single one of you (Filip, Theary, Riley, Doug, Radim, Clayton, Radek)

Jyoon L.

I have been attending this school for about a year now and I have some good memories here and there but the quality of the school seems very poor for the amount of money I have invested. The school has extremely poor communication with its other branches. This has affected many students here. (Getting wrong documents and incorrect information.) The marketing team is also deceiving. Please do more research before applying. Its a decent school but cant say i would recommend it

Pedro C.

This is an amazing school! I’m so lucky that I found them for my PPL training.

Every interaction I ever had with the people here was positive, and they always made me feel at home. Thank you so much Riley, Theary, Clayton and Naeem for the incredible support along the way.

Riley was my instructor and he is awesome! Always working around my schedule during training, many early morning and weekend flights. He is also always in a good mood with a positive attitude. A great professional.

I had a great time going through the PPL training here, I had no flying experience and just got my certificate. I plan on starting my IFR with them soon!

Tomáš K.

The best place to convert an EASA PPL license to a FAA. It was so quick, and the staff was really helpful. I did the time building here, and the aircraft are nice in very excellent condition. I can only recommend it to anyone who wants to do time-building in the US.

Rajpreet

I came to flying academy from England to do some hour building. From the planning stages to my very last day at this school, I cannot fault the service I received. Every single member of staff goes above and beyond to ensure you have the best experience possible, thank you Clayton, Theary, Naeem, Doug, Andrew and Riley! As well as this, the aircraft are well maintained and nice to fly. 10/10 would recommend this school to anyone looking to build their flight hours.

하하하

Me and my friend had time building with this academy and it was very satisfying. All employees are very kind and they are willing to help us for all things. We could go every airport that we wanted. And if there is problem with the plane, mechanic always fixes it within few hours. And they provide accommodation too. Accommodation is so clean and there is almost everything we need for living. I strongly recommend this academy for timebuilding.

Thank you to Filip, Radek, Clayton and Douglas for everything.

DongAh

אלעד ?.

After having a 100 hour time building package for the second time, I can truly say that Flying Academy is one of the best businesses for that goal - well maintained airplanes, excellent communication, first class care and fair pricing. Looking forward for the next time!

Clara J.

I flew with Flying Academy this summer for an accelerated program and had an incredible experience.

My instructor, Riley Kieler, was the best CFI I could have hoped for: he was really flexible with the hours to fit in all my requirements (including early mornings, late evenings and weekends), he is always in a good mood, he's very didactic and patient, always makes flying a zen experience (no matter the hazards that may be faced) and is always readily available to offer the technical and motivational support needed to have an enriching experience. Not only is he the reason I passed my check-ride with flying colors, but it was a real pleasure flying with him.

As for the administrative staff (Theary, Clayton, and Carter), they are truly excellent crisis-managers and problem-solvers, no matter the obstacle you face. I'm so glad they were there!

It was a real pleasure flying with Flying Academy, and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a school that goes above and beyond to make your dreams come true.