Top Rated Flight School in Greensboro, NC
Choosing a school that doesn't prioritize SAFETY
We intentionally made this topic #1, because your life literally depends on it! Some schools prioritize plane uptime over safety. When a plane is grounded, it can't make money, so some schools defer or rush through maintenance to keep planes flying. Some schools also outsource their maintenance to random mechanics that are available.
SKYBOUND: We don't like our planes being grounded either, but we will ground a plane every single time there is an issue that might jeopardize safety. We have a dedicated team of certified mechanics who ensure our planes are always safe! Each plane goes through a very thorough inspection at every 100 hours it flies. Any issues are caught and repaired BEFORE it becomes unsafe. We also complete, and teach, very thorough preflight, pre taxi, run-up, pre takeoff, and post flight checklists and inspections. On top of that, we focus on student proficiency and not just preparing them to answer test questions and pass a checkride.
Not understanding part 141 vs part 61
Many people are confused by what's these two things are. The simple explanation is: The FAA allows schools to choose two different paths of teaching. Part 141 follows a lesson plan that is approved by the FAA and schools MUST stick to that plan 100%. Schools like part 141 because the government allows them to accept international students and funding options like the GI bill. On the other hand, part 61 allows schools and students more flexibility during their training. A student going the part 61 route does not have to stick to a rigid lesson plan with no flexibility. From a student's perspective, the biggest advantage to part 141 is that it only requires 190 hours total time vs 250 hours for part 61. But remember, just because the minimum hours are 190 doesn't mean that a student will be proficient and able to pass their check ride in the minimum hours. A part 141 student could end up taking more hours than a part 61 student.
SKYBOUND: Our stance is that either option is fine. What matters most is the schools culture, learning environment, and their instructors. We currently offer part 61 because we love the flexibility it allows. Every student is different, so it's helpful to be able to tweak a lesson plan around the student. We still follow a structured syllabus like a part 141 school, but have the ability to make small adjustments as it benefits the student. Our advice: if you're an international of GI bill student, let us recommend a great part 141 school, if not, then part 141 vs 61 should not be a factor.
Allowing flight training to take away one of the main reasons you're choosing this path
Flying airplanes is FUN, therefore being a pilot should be FUN! Some school can have too LITTLE structure, which is a bad thing because it jeopardizes the quality of your learning. But the opposite is also true, some schools have too MUCH structure and suck all of the fun out of the learning process. Students get burned out, become overwhelmed, and become one of the dropout statistics. If you do a quick search, you'll see that the dropout rate for flight training is around 80%.
SKYBOUND: Our stats are the opposite. At the time of writing this, our graduation rate is 80%, and our goal is to keep increasing that! Why is our success rate so high? Because we haven't allowed our structure to suck the fun out of flying! Our students still have FUN while they learn! They look forward to their lessons! Their passion for flying builds instead of getting deflated. Our instructors all love to fly, so that passion becomes contagious as our students fly with them!
Choosing a school that lacks INTEGRITY
Like safety, we believe integrity is also important. Some schools will tell you what you want to hear and may not always do the right thing.
SKYBOUND: We will always be honest and do the right thing! For example, we'll be honest and tell you that there are other great flight schools out there. We would never steer you towards the bad ones, but if you come do a tour with us and we feel like one of the other great schools would be a better fit for you, we will tell you that. We want what's best for you! That's the right thing to do!
Thinking that a lower hourly rate equals less cost
Most people will zero in on hourly rate, rightfully so, because it's important. But be suspicious of any flight schools that have an unusually low rate, or if they focus on their rates during conversations. It is expensive to operate an airplane, and all of the flight schools incur about the same costs to do so. So if a school is much lower, they may be cutting corners on maintenance, not investing money back into plane upgrades, or not paying instructors enough to retain great talent. Come schools may also not tell you that a lower hourly rate doesn't equal lower total cost. For example, we've had students come to us from other schools that have flown over 100 hours and not even gotten to their private checkride yet. To put that into perspective, our goal is for our students to achieve their private in under 65 hours, which is well under the national average of 75 hours.
Choosing a school where instructors are mostly focused on building their own hours
The typical career patch for a pilot is to become a flight instructor to build their minimum 1,500 needed to apply to the airlines. This means that some instructors out there are more passionate about building their hours instead of being passionate about teaching. This results in instructors sitting in the right seat dragging out lessons to build more hours instead of being an effective teacher.
SKYBOUND: A non negotiable part of our culture is to ensure we only choose instructors who are passionate about the success of their students! How do we do this? We hire instructors from our own student base! This allows us to learn more about this person and see their passion for several months while they are a student. This allows us to choose the best of the best! We also conduct regular student surveys to check in on student satisfaction and use that feedback to make any changes that may be needed.
Not considering that the airport also contributes to the learning environment
Some airports have control towers and some do not. Some airports have large runways and others have small runways. Some airports are busy and others are slow. All of these things become part of a student's learning experience.
SKYBOUND: We believe that our home airport KGSO is the perfect learning environment! We have a control tower that allows students to get comfortable with ATC communications from the very beginning! We have very large runways that are more forgiving and less intimidating for new students! We are inside of a class C airspace which allows students to get comfortable with the rules and regulations around different airspace! And the airport is busy enough for students to experience and learn how to safely fly with other air traffic, but not so busy that it gets in the way of learning. It's about as perfect of a learning environment possible! We're also centrally located to several other smaller and non towered airports that we can fly to within a typical lesson to practice at those other airports!
Choosing a school with too small of a small fleet of planes
Maintenance is going to happen, and if a school doesn't have enough planes to backfill, then this will lead to excessive canceled lessons and delayed training. This is where some schools will rush or defer maintenance on planes when they begin to feel the pressure of not having enough planes.
SKYBOUND: We currently have a fleet of 8 planes and a simulator, so we have enough planes to backfill instead of cancelling lessons. We constantly monitor our fleet size compared to our student load to ensure we add additional planes to the fleet as our student base grows!
Being misled about career options and connections
Some schools may advertise and give the perception that if you go to their school, you'll be guaranteed or have an advantage in securing an airline career. Not only is this very inaccurate, it highlights their lack of integrity and willingness to manipulate you before you even get your foot in the door. In fact, one of these well known schools don't even offer instructor interviews to their students. They take their money and then kick them out the door to find a job on their own once they're done.
SKYBOUND: Integrity is part of our culture and we are 100% transparent, even if you don't want to hear it! There are no guarantees that you'll be hired by an airline not matter which school you go to. But we understand what airlines are looking for, which has nothing to do with what school you went to. Airlines want to know what kind of person you are. Can you be a follower and be coachable during your early years? Can you also step up and be a strong leader and mentor once you're sitting in the captain's seat? Can you adapt to change, remain positive in stressful situations, and work well with others? We focus on developing these skills in additional to learning how to fly airplanes. We also stay in touch with our instructors who have moved on to airline careers and we have an instructor who's Dad is a senior airline captain, so we have mentors and resources in your corner.
Not paying attention to reviews
The good news is that most schools in our area have pretty good reviews. But most have a small number of reviews. It's hard to get a comprehensive opinion with a small sample size of opinions.
SKYBOUND: If you go to google, you'll not only see that we are the highest rated flight school in the triad, you'll also see that we have the highest number of reviews. I promise we don't pay for reviews! We simply create amazing experiences that our customers and students have reviewed us on!
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