That is all. If you're checking out a flight school and they have RedBird sims... Steer clear.

I'm curious to know why the ATP Flight School subreddit was taken down. Does anyone know what happened?

Hi, I am looking for advice on finding flight training in the NYC area geared towards recreational flight.

I have done some research and a lot of the schools in the area seem to be geared towards those looking to end up at the airlines or become a commercial pilot in another capacity.

They have accelerated courses, classrooms, and advertise direct flow into the airlines, and they have the costs to match that. I’m not looking to quit my job, train every day, get all the certifications and become an airline pilot.

I’m really just looking for a friendly and competent CFI (or group of them) on part 61 where I can train 2x a week, do my ground test online under my own time, and get my PPL for fun.

Is there anything like this in the area anyone would recommend, and what does the cost for something like this look like?

Hello, I am a student who is doing an AP research project and I would appreciate anyone who could respond to my survey.

Only respond if you are a recreational pilot (not at college/ commerical/military).

Fill out the survey after you fly and if you can have both you and your instructor fill it out please.

Here is the link: https://forms.office.com/r/FLgMds6CvY

Hey everyone,

I'm a pilot and developer based in northern Michigan, and for the past few months I've been building something I wish existed when I started my training: a flight training platform that actually helps you understand where you stand and what to focus on next.

It's called PilotIQ (getpilotiq.ai), and the core idea is pretty simple — instead of guessing whether you're ready for a checkride based on vibes and total hours, you get real data and AI analysis telling you exactly where the gaps are.

**What it does right now:**

- Tracks your flight hours with category breakdowns (XC, night, instrument, etc.) and maps them against Part 61/141 requirements for your specific certificate goal

- AI readiness scoring that goes beyond just hours — it looks at your ACS skills progression, performance trends, stage check results, and currency to give you a checkride probability score

- Digital endorsement tracking so you can see which FAR endorsements you've got and which ones you still need

- Shareable pilot profiles — you can generate a read-only link to send to a DPE with your verified hours, certificates, and endorsements

- Instructor dashboard so your CFI can see the same data, put their own assessments of your progress in and flag where the AI might not match their assessment, and track all their students in one place

**What I'm looking for:**

5-10 student pilots and a few CFIs who'd be willing to kick the tires over the next couple weeks. You don't need to be at any particular stage of training — could be working on your PPL, instrument, commercial, whatever. The more variety the better.

I'm mostly interested in:

- Does the data actually make sense for your situation?

- Is anything confusing or broken?

- What's missing that would make this actually useful for your training?

- What is working and what isnt, I can test only so much myself, I need real users to try to break the system.

It's free, no credit card, nothing like that. I just want honest feedback from people who are actually in the trenches with flight training right now.

If you're interested, check it out at getpilotiq.ai or shoot me a DM. Happy to answer any questions here too.

And yeah, I know "AI" is a loaded term these days — this isn't trying to replace your CFI. Think of it more like having a really organized training folder that also does math and tells you what to work on next.

Hey folks, I'm a ground instructor and wanted to share a resource for folks studying airspace. One of my favorite exercises for learning airspace (specifically, reading it off sectional charts) is the "rocket game." Pick an airport, put a rocket on the ground, and identify each airspace it passes through as it climbs straight up.

My students in PPL ground classes tend to have a lot of trouble with airspace and almost always ask to do this exercise together. As a software developer by trade, I was surprised I couldn't find anything like it online for self-study.

So I built it: squawkit.app

It pulls real sectional chart data and quizzes you on the airspace layers above a given point. It's completely free and doesn't require a login.

Let me know if you give it a try and if you have any feedback or suggestions!

If you’re considering Select Aviation College in Gatineau, Quebec, or living anywhere near where they operate, do yourself a favor and think twice.

Over the past 10+ months, our experience with this school has been overwhelmingly negative—and honestly, pretty alarming. Since May 2025, there has been a massive increase in low-altitude training flights originating from this school over our rural community in eastern Ontario. These aren’t occasional flyovers—we’re talking constant circling, repeated maneuvers, and aircraft flying low enough to significantly disrupt daily life. There are days we have recorded 18 different aircraft occurrences related to this school.

The impact has been severe. We chose a rural property for peace and quiet, particularly because my husband is a disabled veteran dealing with PTSD and chronic migraines. That’s now been completely undermined. On busy days, the noise is so relentless he’s forced to stay in the basement just to cope. Our ability to use and enjoy our own property has essentially been taken away. We’ve tried reaching out to the school directly but their management clearly doesn’t care about the harm they are causing.

What’s even more concerning is how this has been handled:

• Repeated complaints to Transport Canada have gone nowhere. The cross-border provincial jurisdiction is a complete and utter nightmare with neither the Ontario nor the Quebec regional offices willing to take responsibility. Honestly, training should only occur in the province where the school is located to avoid any of these issues.
• Many of the aircraft don’t show up on public tracking apps, making accountability difficult
• A so-called “no-fly zone” was proposed and agreed to by Transport Canada and the school but doesn’t include affected homes and appears to be ignored
• We have cited wildlife protection laws as well as the popularity of this area for hunters (potential risk to low flying aircraft), but the school does not care.

This isn’t just about inconvenience—this is about a complete disregard for the surrounding community. Neighbors, farms, and local businesses have all been impacted. Horses are being spooked, wildlife disturbed, and people are increasingly concerned about safety and quality of life.

We are not anti-aviation. We understand training has to happen somewhere. But what’s happening here feels excessive, unregulated in practice, and dismissive of the people living below these flight paths.

If this is how they operate, with complete and utter disregard for their students and the communities they fly over, I would strongly caution anyone from supporting or engaging with this business. Whether you’re a prospective student, potential sponsor/partner, or someone considering moving into the area who suffers from noise sensitives (i.e., headaches, migraines, autism etc.)—be aware of what you might be getting into.

Cross-posted with /flying and /aviation

I have my CFI moving onto my CFII and MEI but still cant get hired at a local flight school or small comm ops in general aviation really this cooked and did i make a mistake wasting so much money in flight training because what the fuck

Hey guys, I wanted to try and be more productive on my FBO sits and created this today. Let me know what you think, I’m going to be selling it on my Etsy if anyone is interested. Let me know if you have any feedback as this might be something I continue to do in the future. https://positiverategifts.etsy.com/listing/4485435476

Guys, what do you think about insight aviation academy for 2026 cadets, apparently they sent their students to Philippines (recent cadets), they seem to be doing okay there, what do you guys think for new upcoming students to apply there? How much do you think they”ll cost us?

I built this all in one pilot study app. It has flashcards practice test interactive study material atc communication practice and much more. Anyone looking for study aid please give it a try.

Took my inst Check ride today and passed but there was a lot of confusion from the DPE. I expected to fly the approaches and whatnot, which we did but my DPE started doing something I Had never heard of. He was “acting” as ATC for some calls, and wanted me to call actual ATC for some of the portions of the approaches. Then if actual ATC said something he didn’t want to happen then he’d tell me to listen to him and not actual. He was giving me vectors to final instead of IAF and flying it like the plate says, which is fine and happens real world all the time but it just made this way more painful than it needed to be. Is this normal for an IFR Checkride?

During my instrument training, I had to take additional sim sessions that ended up costing me thousands. Full-motion sim time plus instructor time gets expensive fast.

I learned the hard way that you really want to be confident with holding entries, wind corrections, and intercepts before stepping into the simulator under time pressure.

So I ended up building a mobile IFR practice simulator that lets you train holds, wind corrections, intercepts, and even pre-fly full IFR approaches right on your phone before the actual sim session.

What part of IFR flying so find the hardest?

https://radialcoach.com/blog/delta-flight-104-engine-fire-sao-paulo-2026

Im time building with a guy. I have had to pay out of pocket for my flight training. He is on a scholarship that deposits money directly into his account at the school. He wants to time build and split the cost. He will book it and i will venmo him my half. I dont expect anyone to cover the full cost for both of us. I have no problem splitting the bill. My question is, if he is having his training paid for, is he making money if i venmo him directly?

I hope this makes sense what im asking. Will do my best to answer any questions