Training Time Limits

Just a note to enrolled students...I get the feeling that new students glaze over this detail when signing up for the courses as we all have HIGH expectations (pun intended!) when signing up for flying lessons.  I just want to explain this all a bit more to make sure you are informed of expectations.

We are clear in our individual course descriptions that there is a time-limit on all training courses.  The reason is that coming out on a continued, reasonable schedule allows a student to swiftly get through our training and enforces what you have learned in your last session.  This has to be done soon after your previous lesson or you are likely to regress on your skills and it doesn't help build the mutual trust you and your instructor needs to build.

In a nutshell, when committing to taking a course, you should plan on coming out at least once a week.  We set our expectations for the Beginner Course to be completed in 4 week and the Full Certification to be done in 30 weeks (it has been a limit 20 weeks up until 2024).  I KNOW the weather gets in the way at times.  I KNOW instructor availability is limited at times.  I KNOW that site access is restricted these days (2024).  All I ask is that you stay in touch (comment on sessions or message me privately) so I can gauge your continued level of interest and try our best to continue to meet your goals and progress.

I am flexible and more than happy to extend training but I also try not to over-book us with too many students as if everyone comes out at the same time, no one gets enough flying in during any given session.   However when I do schedule sessions and no one comes out, it isn't good for business.  It's a tough balance in this time and weather limiting sport!

What we are offering is to extend or 'renew' your training periods should you go over the original budgeted time limit.  So if you go over the limit (4 or 30 week) you can renew your remaining number of flights (20 for beginner or 100 for full-cert) for a fee of $50 (Beginner) or $200 (Full Cert) providing you do your next session within 4 weeks of your last session.  And this extension is for 2-week extensions (multiple extensions are allowed).  If you don't extend your sessions within the 4 week limit, you will need to re-enroll in the training program from the beginning at full cost. 

I hope this doesn't come across as "nickle-and-diming" students but it is part of the commitment I ask students to take when enrolling and helps motivate you to keep coming out often and plan your personal schedule to make sure you can come out at least once per week once you start that course.  We also design our two main training courses so you can take a break between the Beginner and Full Cert course to ensure you have the time in your life-schedule to come out often during that 30-week limit.

I hope this strikes a balance between the need for swift progression, "life getting in the way" and the finicky weather we can have around here.  Please keep this in mind when signing up for our Beginner AND Full Certification courses.