Thanks from a Helicopter Student

I am a helicopter pilot currently doing training at Air Orlando Aviation in Florida. Throughout my training at other flight schools, I have experienced continual jumping through hoops that did not move me toward reaching my goal of becoming a professional helicopter pilot. I have trained at several locations from North Carolina to Florida trying to find the school that fit.


As I look back, I realize that some of the things I did for training was totally unnecessary. For example, I flew from the Carolina’s to the Robinson safety course in LA. Another example would have been doing maneuvers, after I had flown to exhaustion because they felt that if something were ever going to go wrong it would more than likely happen when you were tired.

Then I found Air Orlando. I came to Air Orlando almost to the point of giving up on the dream of becoming a professional pilot. I had decided that I would give it one more shot and if things didn’t work out I would find another career direction. Everyone at Air Orlando, from the owner, Mr. John Painter, to the front desk staff, the helicopter pilots, even the fixed wing pilots have gone out of their way to make me feel at home. Several days when the helicopters were tied up and the instructors were busy, the fixed wing pilots jumped in and were more than willing to help with a touch of ground school to help towards my goal of a commercial ticket. At Air Orlando there is no “well Bill is your CFI, so you have to use Bill”. They are a team and they act as such. Everybody helps everybody. There is a huge feeling of an open door policy towards the students.

I came to Air Orlando with 190 hours, a private rating and lots of bad habits that were picked up from various CFI’s along the way. Not only did the staff at Air Orlando help me get past the commercial rating, but they also helped me correct most of my bad habits. I am today a much safer pilot.

I am currently working towards my CFI rating as well as my instrument rating with the Air Orlando staff. I plan on being here until I meet these goals in my flight career. Air Orlando screams with professionalism. They have aircraft maintenance on staff that keep the aircraft up and flying when there is a problem.

It is a great place to train. I highly recommend it to anyone searching for a flight school that wants to help you reach your goal as quickly and cost effective as possible.

Thanks, T. M. from North Carolina