James Smith

Review of Calgary Flying Club

Several months ago I went for an intro flight at t...

Several months ago I went for an intro flight at the Calgary Flying Club where my pilot was 30 mins late, offering no explanation or apology. Instead it felt very rushed with little explanation about anything in the aircraft. When I returned looking for a tour of the school I was met by a sales pitch and booking without seeing past a briefing room. Since then I've had instructors late and cancellations 20 minutes before scheduled lessons. No apologies or making it right for wasting my time and money. There is very little structure to the training. They don't follow their own syllabus making it difficult to prepare for future flights. It feels very much like people trying to build hours and move on at the student's expense. As for the aircraft the majority are old and beat up compared to other schools in the area.

Building is nice enough, food on site and never had much trouble booking aircraft. Most of the staff are also friendly.

Overall the experiences at CFC turned me off flying altogether. It's very much run like a club and not a school or business. If you're looking for a flight school know what you're in for. Never met the CFI and doesn't look like management here is involved at all with the students. Some leadership would go a long way to making this place the best in Springbank. Disappointing given the rich history of this club.