Like many others, I found CFI Academy in Lodi California through online advertising on Instagram or Facebook. The promise of an accelerated path to your next pilot certificate is very appealing. Their website is clean, professional, and well-designed, and the process of enrolling (including the $500 deposit, full payment upon arrival, and contract signing) is completely standard in the flight training world, I've run a flight school myself and understand that. However, I'll be honest .. when I arrived, I was surprised. The facilities do not match the polished online presence. The main office is literally a rented shipping container. The classroom space is small and located in a corner of an aging airport. The aircraft are rough around the edges, cosmetically unkempt and well-used. If you've been dreaming of a large, corporate-style flight academy with brand-new aircraft and luxurious facilities, this is not that place. But here's what matters most: these are good, honest people who do exactly what they say they will do. They work hard. They care about your success. They maintain their aircraft properly. I reviewed the logs personally and can tell you that maintenance is up-to-date, thorough, and in order. These airplanes may not be pretty, but they're airworthy, legal, and reliable. I saw multiple students pass their CFI checkrides while I was there. I saw a team that hustled to prep airplanes and support their students. I experienced people who treated me like family, even though I was only there for a week. No one asked me to write this review. No one offered me a deal or discount. I'm writing this because I know how rare it is to read honest feedback, especially from people who didn't have a negative agenda. If you come here with realistic expectations, ready to work, ready to stay focused, and ready to be part of a small but growing community, I believe you will succeed. This is a no-frills, work-hard kind of place. It's humble beginnings. But it's also real people doing real training with integrity. CFI Academy will be what you make of it, bring positive energy, a good attitude, and a willingness to grind, and you'll leave here better for it. read more

I was genuinely considering doing my private pilot training here because of the fixed-rate advertised . so I made the effort to visit in person to get more information. Unfortunately, the individual I spoke with, who I believe was the owner, was shockingly rude, condescending, and seemed completely uninterested in answering basic questions. That interaction immediately raised red flags. After reading more reviews and hearing similar complaints from others who trained here, I made the decision to go with a different flight school. I'm now progressing smoothly and currently working toward my commercial license. Looking back, I'm confident I made the right choice. If professionalism and respect matter to you in your aviation journey, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. read more

This place is an absolute scam! Stay far away! They kicked me out because after 8 days of being there I still hadn't flown even once due to them having just one crappy multi-engine plane, so I complained to them about that. Their response was to kick me out. They said I'd get a full refund within 90 days. NEVER HAPPENED and after 7 months of waiting and emailing I had to get a lawyer to get them to start paying. They missed or were late on nearly every payment we had scheduled on a LEGAL document and still (after over a year) owe me over $5000 and won't pay it. These guys are straight thieves!! read more

I was looking to start my instrument training here. I am very happy I didn't. It only took a few red flags for me to avoid this place. Very happy I did. First, their google reviews are attractive, great reviews. However, as I did more digging, this place seemed like a scam to me based off some of the reddit reviews I've seen. So I was conflicted so I stopped by this place and inquire some information. First red flag -- The price they wanted was just $500 down and pay the rest after 30 days of completing the instrument rated course. Two weeks later, the manager I spoke to who ran admissions changed the deal up demanding half the cost which was $7K on day one instead of the $500 down on day one. I asked what if I don't like the school or I had a change of heart? They told me that I was the problem if I couldn't get along or fit with 6 other CFI's. I wanted to fly with Prince since all the google reviews said he's good... I was not allowed to choose my instructor. Complete BS if you ask me since that is my money and I want to fly with who I am comfortable with. I asked about the refund if in case for whatever reason I would decide to stop training -- they could not even give me a straight answer. The words "we will try to refund" was enough for me to say wow; what an unprofessional business. Second red flag -- the planes are absolute ass. They're barely even air worthy and I've flown some raggedy planes in my life, and these were totally not worth the risk getting into and flying. That's all she wrote, glad I did not give them my business. read more

Cannot complete programs & refuse to refund money even after telling you they owe you the money they just say they don't have it, took us for $10,000 DONT GO HERE they will rip you off just look up the owners Prince past history it's a con he's done to many then files bankruptcy read more

I chose CFI Academy because of the location and the short length of time to complete the course. I chose the option to stay at the facility and to use my own plane to complete the course and to take my check ride. The dorm rooms and the bathrooms were clean and adequate. From the first time I met Prince, I was impressed with his demeanor and the way he carried himself. He said that we would be ready for the check ride for sure in 2 - 3 weeks. At first I was skeptical. As our instruction progressed, I began to see how much knowledge Prince has about life in general and aviation in particular. He demonstrated mastery and instructional level knowledge of every topic we discussed. I gradually began to trust him and the advice he gave me. I doubted myself but he encouraged me and said that I would be ready for the check ride and I was. I PASSED ON THE FIRST TRY! Of the many things he taught me one thing stands out in my mind. He said, "When you learn something correctly, you will never forget it." I not only got my CFI but I gained lifelong friends. I highly recommend Prince and CFI Academy to anyone interested in furthering their aviation education. read more

CFI Academy - Brand new CFI! - Vocational & Technical School Near Me - Acampo, California

Spent one day and left. At least 10 students and one old c172 that was in the shop and couple piper Arrows in various stages of disrepair. Quickly realized there was no way this was going to work. Cost me over $2k to exit but worth it. read more

I am hoping this review will be helpful to anyone who wants to be a pilot, and or the pilots who want to get their CFI. I was in this school last January attracted for the website, fleet and all the "good reviews". There are so many things I can write about this school after been there for almost a month, and I tell you, I was very disappointed from the very first Monday when I started my CFI course. When I got there, I met Prince who is the CFI and owner, then I met 3 more CFI students who started the course with me. Before driving 8 hours to Lodi, MANPREET SINGH aka "Prince" and I had a phone verbal agreement that I was going to stay in the biggest dormitory available in the school, when I got there the room was taken by a student who had been in the school for over 5 months. So, I had no choice than going Lodi which is about 6 miles from the CFI to get a hotel room because Prince didn't follow our verbal agreement. He told me that the student who was staying in the dormitory I wanted was taking his check-ride during the weekend so I had to spend about $600 for hotel from Monday to Friday. The CFI student didn't leave Saturday, he wasn't able to take his check-ride because he didn't fly at all. Going back to the first Monday, I met 3 more students from Asia who were still working on their CFI, and another from Australia. So we were 8 students already and I felt a bit uncomfortable because this is not what he told me, he mentioned maximum number of students for the course was only 4. Then, He asked us if we were ok by having his German Shepherd inside the classroom, so there is dog's hair all over the place. During lunch time, I decided to take a look the aircrafts..... the ones on his Facebook page weren't in there: the school has only a C172, Piper arrow (no airworthiness at all, I flew for 0.7 hours before started to overheat) and a Dutchess. So I believe he lie to people on his webpage and facebook page. About Prince's teaching skills, he doesn't like to be asked. He assume you already know everything so he is rude and very impolite. he doesn't like to be ask, the best way you learn is by sharing your knowledge with your class. Anyways, after been there for 12 days, I got to fly just 0.9 hours on his Piper with the only CFI he had. it was a short flight because the plane started to over heat at 8,000 feet. Also, I tried to get my spin endorsement flying the C- 172 but when I was taxing he screamed at me for touching the dashboard while accommodating my seat so I felt very disappointed and cancelled the flight. He doesn't like nobody to touch the C172 dashboard... Like he is not getting pay for. 2 weeks had passed and we had a new class (4 students, he adds a new class every 2 weeks) and my class still haven't flight because the students (3 Asians and the Australian) who were there before had to flight prior to their checkride. Because he had only one CFI, because the only airplane (complex) he had, was breaking very often, because there were 15 students waiting to fly and plus the weather didn't help at all. At that point, I knew that 3 weeks was not going to be enough to finish my CFI. Everything he promise in his website is bullshit!. Once I paid him $5600, he didn't care If I am eating frozen food everyday or if I have to back to work, etc. I tried to confront him few times but he walked away. So I had to go back home with no certificate. Once I was home I called, emailed and text him to refund my flying time money. but he never responded back. I wrote a one star review in facebook but he was able to delete it. 6 months has passed and I never got my money back. So I lost about $11,000 in one month for nothing (course, transportation, food, hotel, time off work, etc, etc) During my stay in the school I learned that -85% of the students don't pass the checkride or just walk away from the course. -Before taking the course, make sure to finish your FOI and FIA or you will be running behind. -Lot of examiners don't like him, so make it hard to for his students. -He is an alcoholic -Many students are from different states or some other countries, they don't know much about this scam guy and his school because his website and facebook page has only positive reviews..... Interesting! -He deletes the bad reviews -Go online and check his 41 public records in Merced County, California, and you will find out who is SINGH MANPREET aka "prince", then decide if this is the right school to get your CFI - I hope you learn from my experience and make a better decision. Thanks for reading my story. read more

I had a wonderful and memorable experience at CFI Academy. Let me tell in details. First off, I got my commercial and CFI certificates! I enrolled in the class starting on 4/4/2022, got my commercial pilot's certificate on 4/28 and CFI certificate on 5/16. In between I went home for about 10 days due to scheduling issues. This is lightning speed considering that it took my 14 months to get my PPL and 12 months to get my IFR. I was very happy that I passed my CFI check ride in one sitting. I was a little frustrated with my PPL and IFR progress and was looking for an accelerated CFI program. I have three criteria in my selection process. 1. The school has to be located where weather is generally not an issue. I was fed up with the Chicago weather which makes it only possible to fly once or twice a week, if you are lucky. 2. There are a large amount of reviews for the program. There will be good and bad reviews for any business, but a large amount of reviews signify a program that has been in business for a long time. 3. The school has a dedicated DPE. Scheduling with a DPE can be very frustrating. Any additional appointment due to weather/maintenance/failed check ride, etc. could easily drag the entire process out for a month or more. I selected the CFI Academy because they seem to meet all three criteria. There are many other accelerated CFI programs across the nation, and they all at least miss one or two of my criteria. My experience at the CFI Academy validated my choice. 1. The CFI Academy is located in the central valley region south of Sacramento. The weather was generally very aviation friendly. Winds at the surface and aloft were generally very mild, and sky is generally clear. We were able to fly very often, some times twice a day. I found that to be very helpful in honing my skills. Of course, there were rainy/windy days, but overall much better than Chicago. 2. And yes, the CFI Academy has been in business for a long time, and they do have a ton of positive reviews, and a few bad ones. They have a system worked out to mass produce CFIs. 3. The CFI Academy has very good relationship with some DPEs. This was very helpful. I actually failed my first try at commercial check ride, but I was able to be scheduled for three days later and passed. Beyond my original three criteria, I found myself getting a lot more than I expected. Here are a few. 1. Prince, the owner and chief instructor! Oh, man, Prince is one of the two most amazing aviators I have ever met. He is also an A&P. His vast aviation knowledge and experience aside, he has a way to teach complex concepts in layman's terms. It was truly something else to meet Prince. 2. Amazing classmates. The CFI Academy attracts students with some most amazing qualifications, such as 737 pilot, test pilot, etc. I lived on campus, and we talked about aviation all the time. Check ride tips and stories were swapped among the students. The friendship and camaraderie was precious. 3. Since Prince is an A&P and he has a shop, we got to look at planes under the hood. In one occasion, we took apart a replaced magnetic compass and experimented with its components, like middle schoolers in a science class. Well, that got my ANDS thing forever fixed. 4. Lodi (pronounced Low-die, not lowdee), to my surprise, is actually a larger wine producing area than Napa. This area was dotted with vineyards and wine tasting rooms, and I found wine sold in Chicago Costco was produced in Lodi. On weekends, I biked around this wine country, and it was very enjoyable. 5. I liked the on-campus dorm a lot. There is a kitchen, two full bathrooms, laundry, a courtesy car (with over 250k miles), and a bike. The room I got was decent. I could just walk down the hall way from my room to the class room. 6. Weekend parties. Prince often shows up on the weekends with beer and/or BBQ, and we just sit around outside and hangout, a good time. For folks who consider attending the academy, my advice is 1. Be ready to work hard. Teaching session runs from 9am to 1:30pm-ish, and you are expected to participate. Then there is homework reading and flying. And then there is preparing lesson plans and practice teaching the lessons. When check rides are scheduled, there is more work putting everything together. We often worked until late into the night. 2. Practice public speaking, such as joining the Toastmaster Club. CFI is about teaching, and you will have to be able to speak confidently. 3. Get the FOI and FIA exams done before attending the Academy. It would be hard worrying about these written exams while dealing with the torrent of work thrown at you every day. 4.Be patient. The way things are done at the Academy is kind of ad hoc, but they do get things done. All in all, I am very happy with my experience, and more importantly, I now have much better airmanship than when I entered the Academy. Time and money well spent. read more

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COST! I attended this so called cfi academy around mid February for a week before i walked out after i witnessed just how bad this place was. I was one the lucky one that didn't pay straight away and its one the best decisions i made. Everything from the previous review by Mando G is exactly what i experienced when got there so no need to repeat it. I didn't stay in the room and drove down each day for a week but the accommodation where very poor and felt bad for the people that payed to stay there. I think i was there during the time Mando G was there and i remember he had taken time off work and mentioned he might have to travel back to San Diego and come back to finish it up because it was gonna take longer then 3 weeks. When attended there were 12 students and half of then had been there more then 3 weeks and had only flown 2 hours due the piper arrow due to so many issues with the plane. The facebook page has 5 star reviews and all negative reviews are removed. There website makes out as if there are multiple instructors and a big fleet. In reality there was one Chinese flight instructor and Prince. The fleet consisted of a C-172, Piper arrow and Duchess. The arrow was in one the worse condition i have ever seen a plane. Poor maintenance and record keeping. It had so many issues that student were having hard time to get flying time. Everyone had payed close to $6000 up front so they pretty much were stuck and prince knew this. Before i left i spoke to some the students and they all felt demotivated and worried. Prince is con artist and he just wants your money, if you want to become a CFI i highly recommend you look for other accelerated school that can give you the correct training in a professional manner. Don't risk your life and your future students. This place has all the recipe for something bad to go down. read more