Managing Expectations
Safe And Happy --
At Get Inspired Flight, we -- Laura and David Thorburn-Gundlach -- do what we do because we love to share the joy of aviation and inspire others to reach greater heights. We have thoughtfully chosen methods and terms in our teaching style and policies which allow us to feel comfortable with training others to fly, to enable us to earn a living, and to support our desire to follow The Golden Rule. To that end, we want to be absolutely clear about our goals with every customer and potential customer. Our two primary goals are that you are SAFE and HAPPY (in that order), and a happy student has a good foundation in a clear understanding of what to expect. Nothing you read here should be a surprise after having met and chatted with us, but we hope to ensure we are all on the same page, with no misunderstandings, and to help manage expectations for your training with us.
At Get Inspired Flight, we -- Laura and David Thorburn-Gundlach -- do what we do because we love to share the joy of aviation and inspire others to reach greater heights. We have thoughtfully chosen methods and terms in our teaching style and policies which allow us to feel comfortable with training others to fly, to enable us to earn a living, and to support our desire to follow The Golden Rule. To that end, we want to be absolutely clear about our goals with every customer and potential customer. Our two primary goals are that you are SAFE and HAPPY (in that order), and a happy student has a good foundation in a clear understanding of what to expect. Nothing you read here should be a surprise after having met and chatted with us, but we hope to ensure we are all on the same page, with no misunderstandings, and to help manage expectations for your training with us.
Only Human --
We are a small "Mom and Pop" shop, and we have no intentions of changing that; you won't find a room full of instructors who come and go, but you also won't find substitutes. Since human factors like vacation and sick time come into play, that means you won't be able to switch to a different instructor for your lesson and we may just have to cancel or reschedule. This will impact your training schedule, as will your own human factors.
We are a small "Mom and Pop" shop, and we have no intentions of changing that; you won't find a room full of instructors who come and go, but you also won't find substitutes. Since human factors like vacation and sick time come into play, that means you won't be able to switch to a different instructor for your lesson and we may just have to cancel or reschedule. This will impact your training schedule, as will your own human factors.
The Aircraft Shuffle --
The same goes for aircraft availability. Planes need regular maintenance, which we can mostly schedule around lessons & students, but sometimes they're down while we wait for parts. Since we don't have the fleet of a large school, you may find yourself in a different craft or simply rescheduled for the day -- and sometimes at the last minute, since aircraft safety takes precedence over a training flight. All is not lost, however; there are usually ground school lessons pending that can fill in on an equipment day just as well as a weather day.
The same goes for aircraft availability. Planes need regular maintenance, which we can mostly schedule around lessons & students, but sometimes they're down while we wait for parts. Since we don't have the fleet of a large school, you may find yourself in a different craft or simply rescheduled for the day -- and sometimes at the last minute, since aircraft safety takes precedence over a training flight. All is not lost, however; there are usually ground school lessons pending that can fill in on an equipment day just as well as a weather day.
Weather Or Not --
Speaking of weather ... Everybody fights the weather, and it will be no different for you. We try to plan a regular lesson schedule at whatever interval fits your goals and schedule, and then we just have to see what Mother Nature dishes out. We try very hard to flex our schedule to make up for bad weather, but we can not guarantee we will be able to make up a lesson missed because of weather. Weather impacts everyone's schedules, and no one should feel pressured to fly on a day that is not safe.
Speaking of weather ... Everybody fights the weather, and it will be no different for you. We try to plan a regular lesson schedule at whatever interval fits your goals and schedule, and then we just have to see what Mother Nature dishes out. We try very hard to flex our schedule to make up for bad weather, but we can not guarantee we will be able to make up a lesson missed because of weather. Weather impacts everyone's schedules, and no one should feel pressured to fly on a day that is not safe.
Keeping It Real --
Unforeseen circumstances such as pandemics, construction, airport closures, etc. which are completely out of our (and your) control can also impact your training time and schedule. You have to be realistic about life's little surprises.
Unforeseen circumstances such as pandemics, construction, airport closures, etc. which are completely out of our (and your) control can also impact your training time and schedule. You have to be realistic about life's little surprises.
A Matter Of Time --
Everyone, quite naturally, wants to know how many hours (or months) it will take to get a license or endorsement, and the reality is that any number is merely a guess based on other guesses. A web search might find that it takes around 35 hours, but it isn't clear where "they" are getting those numbers. For instance, we are part of the industry but "they" have never polled us regarding how many hours it takes in our school. Moreover, none of those are guarantees of any specific amount of time. It's all guessing and predicting. In our opinion, too many factors (age, coordination, fears to overcome, ability to gain understanding, teachability, humility, instructor/student compatibility, schedule constraints, weather, commitment, type of plane used, instructor experience, instructor enthusiasm, geographic location, type of airspace trained in, communication limitations, enjoyment level, student goals, etc.) are involved to come up with any meaningful data, and the hard fact is that no one can guarantee that you can even get a license. The only real number or guarantee is that the FAA requires a minimum of 20 hours for Sport Pilot.
We know from experience that the outdated, irresponsible, unsafe, macho, mad dash to solo and license is a high risk "tradition". We ourselves took accelerated courses for our Private Pilots licenses, and we spent the minimum amount of time required by the FAA. And then AFTERWARDS we continued to fly with flight instructors until we finally felt safe and competent! Training in the minimum allowable hours does not include time for extensive cross-country training, for visiting other airports, for finessing landing skills in different conditions ... it's just the bare minimum. We simply did not have enough time in our initial training to move much past the introduction to all of the skills and get to mastery -- but instead merely knew enough to pass the test. Therefore, we do not recommend evaluating training based solely on number of hours, but rather skills learned. We will not endorse a student who does not reliably demonstrate a skill no matter how many hours s/he has -- and you shouldn't want us to. "Pencil whipping" an endorsement does no one any good. Every student and every experience is different.
We certainly understand budgets (see "Dollars and Sense" below). Make sure becoming a safe and competent pilot, however, is your number one priority. Learning to fly is not an endeavor that can afford shortcuts.
Everyone, quite naturally, wants to know how many hours (or months) it will take to get a license or endorsement, and the reality is that any number is merely a guess based on other guesses. A web search might find that it takes around 35 hours, but it isn't clear where "they" are getting those numbers. For instance, we are part of the industry but "they" have never polled us regarding how many hours it takes in our school. Moreover, none of those are guarantees of any specific amount of time. It's all guessing and predicting. In our opinion, too many factors (age, coordination, fears to overcome, ability to gain understanding, teachability, humility, instructor/student compatibility, schedule constraints, weather, commitment, type of plane used, instructor experience, instructor enthusiasm, geographic location, type of airspace trained in, communication limitations, enjoyment level, student goals, etc.) are involved to come up with any meaningful data, and the hard fact is that no one can guarantee that you can even get a license. The only real number or guarantee is that the FAA requires a minimum of 20 hours for Sport Pilot.
We know from experience that the outdated, irresponsible, unsafe, macho, mad dash to solo and license is a high risk "tradition". We ourselves took accelerated courses for our Private Pilots licenses, and we spent the minimum amount of time required by the FAA. And then AFTERWARDS we continued to fly with flight instructors until we finally felt safe and competent! Training in the minimum allowable hours does not include time for extensive cross-country training, for visiting other airports, for finessing landing skills in different conditions ... it's just the bare minimum. We simply did not have enough time in our initial training to move much past the introduction to all of the skills and get to mastery -- but instead merely knew enough to pass the test. Therefore, we do not recommend evaluating training based solely on number of hours, but rather skills learned. We will not endorse a student who does not reliably demonstrate a skill no matter how many hours s/he has -- and you shouldn't want us to. "Pencil whipping" an endorsement does no one any good. Every student and every experience is different.
We certainly understand budgets (see "Dollars and Sense" below). Make sure becoming a safe and competent pilot, however, is your number one priority. Learning to fly is not an endeavor that can afford shortcuts.
Squeezing It In --
We are delighted and honored to have hosted students from as far & wide as New Jersey, California, & Washington State and even England who made their trips specifically for training with us, and we do try to plan blocks of time for out-of-towners as the schedule permits. However, while compressing your training time will greatly help your retention and should shorten your hours, even then we don't guarantee how quickly or how much you will learn or even the amount of training time -- because we can't control either (see above). But we will do our absolute best to always deliver the highest quality training that we can offer in the time we have with you.
If you are interested in coming from out of town and/or booking a block of time, we are happy to discuss your plans and can offer you references from pilots who have done so.
We are delighted and honored to have hosted students from as far & wide as New Jersey, California, & Washington State and even England who made their trips specifically for training with us, and we do try to plan blocks of time for out-of-towners as the schedule permits. However, while compressing your training time will greatly help your retention and should shorten your hours, even then we don't guarantee how quickly or how much you will learn or even the amount of training time -- because we can't control either (see above). But we will do our absolute best to always deliver the highest quality training that we can offer in the time we have with you.
If you are interested in coming from out of town and/or booking a block of time, we are happy to discuss your plans and can offer you references from pilots who have done so.
Dollars And Sense --
We do not require a prepaid deposit for training.
We do not require that you set up an account with us nor that you pay us an account management fee.
We do not require a contract or fixed commitment. Students may cease training at any time.
We try to keep our prices low because we know that we have high standards for safety and pilot competency -- and it will take more training to achieve that level. So don't expect to pay less for your training with us even though we are cheap by comparison. Given an amount of money, as pilots ourselves, we'd rather get more training hours for it, and so we try to do that for our students -- Golden Rule!
If you are primarily interested in getting your license in the fewest hours, we cannot accept you as a student, but we are happy to recommend another flight school who will meet your needs. You will not be judged nor outcast! Our third primary goal is to INSPIRE & ENCOURAGE people to live their dream of flight, and we are not the only option nor the only means for a future pilot to meet that goal. We are always honored to be a part of your journey in even the smallest of ways.
We do not require a prepaid deposit for training.
We do not require that you set up an account with us nor that you pay us an account management fee.
We do not require a contract or fixed commitment. Students may cease training at any time.
We try to keep our prices low because we know that we have high standards for safety and pilot competency -- and it will take more training to achieve that level. So don't expect to pay less for your training with us even though we are cheap by comparison. Given an amount of money, as pilots ourselves, we'd rather get more training hours for it, and so we try to do that for our students -- Golden Rule!
If you are primarily interested in getting your license in the fewest hours, we cannot accept you as a student, but we are happy to recommend another flight school who will meet your needs. You will not be judged nor outcast! Our third primary goal is to INSPIRE & ENCOURAGE people to live their dream of flight, and we are not the only option nor the only means for a future pilot to meet that goal. We are always honored to be a part of your journey in even the smallest of ways.