Wow What a great experience Kaylin Smith was very, very professional. She explained all the aspects…read moreof the flight from take off the landing she answered all of my sons questions and made sure he was ready and allowed him to fly the plane. my son had a huge smile on his face from start to finish.

I did a bit of homework before I booked a Discovery Flight as a treat for myself. I talked to a…read morecouple of aviator buddies, and all have said this place was really good. I've now been here twice, and the staff have been great both times. Initially, I came for a tour and then set up a Discovery Flight a few weeks later. I was paired up with a female CFI, and it was a really good fit. CL was amazing with me from start to finish and really took the time to show me things, and I really appreciated that. We did a flight pre check, and then both climbed in and got ready to fly. The great thing about this place is that they have all the same Cessna 172s to teach their students. And, they all use G1000s EFIS. Maintainence of planes are done in-house, and everyone talks about how regularly they upkeep their planes and all are in very good condition. It was really fun going on this Discovery Flight, and I'm hooked! The next step is to get the process going to get my PPL...so I'll be back here soon enough.

I highly recommend training at Scottsdale Executive Flight Training. Currently as a 777 Pilot and…read morecertified flight instructor myself, I sent my daughter here after a disastrous time at Sierra Charlie Aviation. She spent over 6 months at Sierra Charlie Aviation and because of their incompetence, lack of awareness and poor scheduling, I pulled my daughter out of their program and sent her to Scottsdale Executive Flight Training. She was paired up with her instructor Maddie Moles, whom I cant say enough good things about. Under Maddie's supervision and instruction, my daughter, Calie has far exceeded and excelled at this flight school. They keep you informed, aware of progress and have a plan in place to keep their students moving forward at all times. Not only was Maddie instrumental in Calie's progress, the Chief pilot and head of Cessna training, Nick Lane, went above and beyond to make sure Calie was ready to pass her check ride without issues. Calie is looking forward to continuing training here at Scottsdale Executive!

Booked a surprise flight pilot ride for my wife on here birthday, however, it was a flop, and the…read moreflight was canceled on her birthday due to bad weather. We got to know about it once we reached the airport. Anyways we had to reschedule and as per availability, got for 2 weeks later. My wife loved it and it was a nice experience overall. Not easy to handle Cessna's but worth the once-in-a-lifetime experience. The pilot who flew with my wife was nice and welcoming. He engaged in small talk and did not let my wife bore me during the flight by answering all the queries. Taking away one star since I had to followup multiple times for the downgrade difference refund.

Amazing school! I was about to sign up for another larger flight school then decided last minute to…read morelook at some reviews. I'm so glad I did. I've had great experiences, expectations have been exceeded, my instructors are professional and extremely knowledgeable. Easy access to DPE's which has saved me a lot of time and stress. I've heard horror stories from other people who have gone to some of the larger schools, and I'm lucky that I can't relate. Planes are maintained really well, great avionics, safe environment to learn. I've never felt pressured to do a flight that I wasn't comfortable with while still safely expanding my limits. I love that they tailor every part of the process to the individual. My instructors, Riggs, Andrew and Kyle are top notch. Even instructors that aren't assigned to work with me are willing to help and answer questions. Alex is my go to whenever I have a question! She is probably the most knowledgeable pilot I've ever met. I can't imagine where I would be in my aviation journey if I hadn't taken a second to look at the reviews. I'm so grateful I ended up at American Flyers!

Thank you Adam!! Just took the three day course to pass my private pilot written exam. The course…read moreand material was spot on. The instructor did a amazing job of answering questions and keeping us on track. Start of the first day I was nervous about passing. By the end of the third I had confidence to take the exam. I scored a 91% on the practice test Then a 90% on the actual exam!!!!!! Adam- your awesome!

Ben has been an excellent flight instructor for me and is honestly just a really nice guy who's…read moreeasy to learn from. He's a true people person who actually listens and understands how I learn, then adjusts his teaching to match. That made every lesson productive and comfortable. He's knowledgeable, calm, and safety focused, and the way he explains things makes challenging concepts much easier to understand. I was able to earn my Private Pilot License with Ben, and I'm now continuing my training with him as I work toward my IFR rating. His briefings and debriefs are always thorough and constructive, and I never feel rushed or talked over. Everyone else I've met at Leopard Aviation has also been awesome. The other instructors, including Logan, are always friendly and take the time to say hi when I walk in, which genuinely makes me want to keep coming back. I'd highly recommend Leopard Aviation to anyone looking for high quality instruction in a welcoming, professional environment.

I moved my wife and kids from Minnesota to Arizona in spring of 2023 to pursue my CFI certification…read moreat Leopard Aviation. Their estimated cost was $5,500 and completion in 6 to 10 weeks. I kept my schedule open for lessons. For the first 5 weeks, I met with my instructor about 3x/week. My check ride was scheduled for July, right on schedule with what the school had initially outlined. Two days before the check ride, for the first time in my training, my instructor said he didn't consider me ready and cancelled the exam. Shocked but following their judgment, I continued to study and work with my instructor. At this point he had stopped putting me on his schedule unless I specifically asked. Otherwise, I didn't hear from him. Eventually I switched instructors, but the new one was much the same; flying with me often for the first few weeks and then not communicating unless I reached out. In addition, I asked every week if there was an update on a check ride date, to which the invariable response was, "We're working on getting you a check ride next month." This continued for 5 months -- studying like it was my full-time job, pushing my instructor to put me on his schedule, paying for extra flights to keep up my skills while my instructor said that the check ride was just around the corner -- until January 2024 when I reached out to the owner of Leopard. I told him what was going on and, after his own digging, he told me that my instructor had no intention of scheduling me for a check ride and didn't believe I knew the basics of flight (I had at this point passed my PPL, CPL, and IFR rating and had over 300 hours of flight time). This was the first I had heard anything of this sort. I told the owner, and he responded, "you know, a lot of these young instructors would rather sugarcoat their feedback than be blunt." This meant leading me on for 8 months, over 30 flights and costing me over $15,000, his response was that I should either start over at Leopard or move on to another flight school. I called Red Rock Flight School in Mesa to book a "report card" flight with their chief pilot. His review confirmed what I already knew. The chief pilot said that I clearly knew what I was doing and that Leopard did not properly evaluate my skill level as I safely and successfully flew a plane I had never flown, with INOP gauges. I immediately started at another flight school flew with them 9 times (mostly to learn a plane I had never flown) and passed my check ride on the first attempt. Under no circumstances would I recommend Leopard Aviation. The integrity of a school comes down from the top. In Leopard's case, the owner did not take any responsibility for the way my instructors had led me on, cost me 3x the money and 5x the time with nothing to show for it. Instead he offered to let me spend more money at his school or leave my investment behind and start over somewhere else. To close, a quote from Leopard Aviation's website: "We focus on being efficient with your time and resources, providing clear guidance and strategies to success, and reducing the frustration and stresses that can develop with flight training. We believe anyone can learn to fly, and that there is no such thing as a bad student, only a bad instructor."

I met with Sawyer Aviation several times to work on a plan to accomplish a multi-engine/ commercial…read moreadd on. I was impressed with the professionalism and how structured the process was. I ended up working with them to get the rating done. Jonathan, the head of the flight school, was the CFI I'd be working with. I'm so glad I did. He was able to teach to my learning style and we worked really well together. We met early and stayed late to get me ready for the check-ride. Coming from northern California, I booked out a week to accomplish the task. Unfortunately, the DA-42 Twin Star broke. A broken fuel injector in one of the engines made it impossible to train in the limited time frame. I had to leave and come back. On my second trip back, the night before the check-ride, I got news of a friends passing in an aviation incident. Thanks to Jonathan's prep, the following day, I was able to pass the oral portion of the check-ride with flying colors and discontinued on the flying portion. I re-booked for a return visit. Upon coming out, the aircraft had an other issue during one of our flights. Sawyer's in house mechanics both times went above and beyond to get the aircraft back in service but the parts needed to be special ordered from Europe. Being in aviation and an aircraft owner, things like this just happen no matter how well an aircraft is maintained. Throughout this process, I was able to witness a side of aviation that most don't get to see. Sawyer's maintenance team rocks and worked their butt off to make sure things are tip top. Even though I wasn't able to finish my multi-engine commercial add on at Sawyer, they did take care of me. Jonathan built a foundation for me to finish a few months later back in northern California and I earned my ratings. I wouldn't hesitate recommending Sawyer Flight academy because not only did they treat me well, they training I received was top notch.

Recently met the owner of Sawyer Aviation and office personnel during a charter flight from LA to…read moreScottsdale and couldn't be more impressed with the owner. He was very personable,professional, knowledgeable about all aspects of aviation and willing to answer any questions I had about the entire process. He made our flight for both my fiancé and I as memorable and pleasurable as possible. I can assure anyone out there that you won't be disappointed in any business dealings with this fabulous company.

So after 5 months of silence, I got a brief email from a 'volunteer'...I'm told the owner is the…read moreonly MEI for the CE310Q and he was not flyable since October...and won't be for 2 more months. I wish the volunteer had emailed me 4 months ago.

I have waited way to long to get my single engine privet pilot license, it was a dream of mine…read moresince I was a little boy. I always looked around for a friend to do the course with and for the best school to learn at. I finally found the best school but never found a friend that will put their money where their mouth is! First let me tell you about the experience - In one word fantastic! Its fun and challenging! You would be surprised how bad you do under the slightest of pressure, I am a skydiver and do pretty well in the air but flying showed me that I have much more to learn about myself. Why this school? Its small so you will always fly with the same CFI (instructor) and the plane is always available. My schedule is all over the place, Larry was always open to my crazy days and hours, I once wanted to fly on Sunday at 7:30 am and when I asked him if that's okay he says this is my job, work comes first. That should say it all. Being in Arizona we have blue clear skies every day, that is key for doing this fast and cheap! I have a few friends that started and stopped in other schools the main issue was to many different instructors, I was doing approaches to land on my third lesson you can't do that if you switch CFI every lesson. Plane: Cessna 172 (2003). Great ride, well maintain and easy to learn on, Has just the right equipment, before I started I thought I wanted to learn on a plane with a G1000 and full glass. No need, you will pay more for something that you do not need. Don't wait. I waited around for a few years on friends that promised me that we will learn together, now its great if it happens - learning the ground school as a team will help you. But, the reality is your the pilot and your doing it on your own, looking back I am glad I did it alone. More people in the plane the more fuel and less performance = more cost. Price: When I did my shopping around it seamed like this school will cost me more because of Scottsdales fuel cost, but I live in Scottsdale and don't have the time to drive to chandler and back a few times a week. It ended up being cheaper then chandler because of the attention that Larry puts on your cost. He always made sure to be efficient so we don't do things twice. I was ready for my check ride in 45-50 hours. Tips, Everyone is going to tell you the same and its true, try to do it all in one shoot, 2,3 or even 4 lessons a week and read the PTS and other ground material from day one. Look for youtube videos on weather and other things you don't know. Get the test out of the way. I took a 5 week break and that cost me over $1000 learning how to land again don't do breaks. And try to pace it so that your check ride is in the winter. Last, when you go to Aerodyne flight center tell them I send you :)

Dana and Marc are the Castle & Beckett of Scottsdale. The 35 year detective veterans run an…read moreinteresting school that is taught from the perspective of veteran detectives. Their master class was very interesting and I learned a lot of all aspects of detective work. Classes are small enough that you get to know and become a supportive family with all who attend. The new office facilities are great, too. Highly recommend. They do process training, food safety training and fingerprinting, testing services, etc. They also run a full service detective agency for investigation work. Highly recommend!

From the owner: We specialize in unique education to train & certify investigators, process servers, liquor…read moremanagers, food safety managers, security officers... Our Professional Investigator Master Course is licensed by Private Postsecondary Education for a Diploma in Investigations.