Great flight school, I have been going to this school for a while now the service is absolutely amazing. I recommend a few of my friends here too.
They are great a great training program using motion flight simulators and great airplanes combined.
Also they are the largest flight school around, that meant better availability and pricing.
Go see Sheryl, she is the best.
Excellent experience,
Great flight school, I signed up for their private pilot package. I couldn't be happier with the service, airplanes and my flight instructor.
Highly recommended.
Before giving these people your money, do a search and read the news articles. Their planes are trash and I would not trust anyone I know and love to either rent or learn to fly in them. There are safer, cheaper, and more logical options than Encore. I did not feel welcome in their office and the owner who I met, did not seem trustworthy. Meet him yourself if you like, but I really suggest taking your business elsewhere. Their aggressive marketing strategy makes them seem successful and the only option in the area, but trust me, they're not.
Loved coming here. Never thought I would be capable of flying a plane and now it s all I think about! Super clean and organized. With a Humble and kind staff. Also really easy to find and park! Airplanes are nice and high tech.
Just took a tour with Alex!! I can t wait to get stared with this school. The syllabus looks amazing and it has absolutely everything I need to change careers at this point in my life!!
I had 2 flight experience with their piper N310EF, first flight we taxied to the gas station which they were out of fuel so we taxi back to encore , I paid 1.0 for aircraft and instructor for doing nothing!! I was charged $328 at that day.
Second flight experience was even worst!, we taxied to the gas station and luckily they had fuel this time so we spent about 0.5 for refueling. then we took off and flew over Simi valley doing couple of maneuver like power off stall, while recovering from power off stall when I added full power the engine started choking, So the instructor rush back to VNY .we had kind of emergency landing, So scary!!!. I am glad we made it back and I am alive!!
At that day my invoice was $433 which I had a chance of flying maybe 0.2
I hope the management see this review and do something about the issues at their flight school and refund me some of what I paid them.
Safety-wise and financially I do not recommend them.
I believe students shouldn't be charged for refueling which is school responsibility.
Great flight school, I have been a client for over 3 years. I have been renting almost all their aircraft, they are in a very good shape. They recently added some new airplanes and flight simulators, so I couldn't be happier to see than.
One of the best experiences of my love, Encore flight is amazing. Everything has been as promised on day one from my consultation. Great airplanes and flight simulators. Setup a consultation with Alex, he will go over all the needed information.
I couldn't be happier. Thanks Encore.
I went here for an intro flight lesson. Really pleased, very friendly and helpful.
Stay away from this company! I'm a military pilot that went to the company to receive training in the Piper Seminole for an ATP license. They delivered a mechanically defective plane without proper documentation of maintenance records. I cancelled the service without receiving any training from the company and I've been trying to get my $2000 refunded for 2 weeks. The company is a bunch of crooks. I later discovered from talking to other military pilots, an FAA examiner and another flight school in the area that they have a terrible reputation. Do not give these people your money! I'm going to see a lawyer next week.
In my opinion, I believe that Encore Flight Academy is a amazing place to go for discovery flying. The staff is very friendly, informative and capable of answering your questions completely and thoroughly. I would highly recommend this flight school to anyone that wants to start a career in aviation or just simply wants to do discovery flying.
As one of the local examiners that refuses to do check rides for Encore students put it, Encore is a disgrace to the aviation community . This pretty much sums them up. They have a terrible reputation at Van Nuys airport and is the worst flight school in the area. Their airplanes are junk, poorly maintained, and unsafe. If you are considering this scam of a school, do your due diligence. The president is a professional liar that has only one motive, to rip-off the student in any way possible. He has had his pilot license and teaching certificate revoked because of his illegal activities.
Hello all,
I wanted to take a second and write about my experience with Encore Flight.
I started my training with them about a year ago. I have been flying in the their Cirrus, and i also fly with Flight Simulators. The overall experience has been great.
I signed up for my course with Alex initially, he is one of the managers there. He explained how the program works and went over all the details. So far everything has been as he covered at the beginning.
Great flight school, the airplanes are in a great shape, also they have a full in house maintenance facility that works on their own aircraft 5 days a week.
There are also 7 FAA Approved flight simulators at the school, they make all the difference in training.
And lastly they have a great brand new facility at Van Nuys airport.
Great flight school to that utilizes many different techniques to teach individuals the fine arts of learning to handle a plane. I signed up a while back and my contract included training which taught me the bare essentials as well as flight necessities which I know will help me out. The memorable experiences I had here were definitely exceptional and to be remembered for years to come. Overall great academy.
I signed up for the career program with Encore Flight. Everything has been exactly as promised on the first day. I have been flying with Joy, she is a great flight instructor.
I really like the flight simulators, you can learn a lot using the sims.
Go see one of the instructors for a your of their facilities.
Amazing facility, great service, more like a flight university than a flight school. Highly recommend them... Arthur is my instructor and he is amazing!
I had a great experience with Encore flight school. They have great airplanes and simulator.They also have very friendly and professional staffs and instructors especially Erika . Overall it was an amazing experience.
I m having an amazing time great instructors and staff!! Excellent school
Super fun flight experience! The instructors are very knowledgeable and I enjoyed the full motion flight simulator:)
Amazing Flight school, I really love my experience with encore so far, I am almost done with training and I couldn t be happier. They have a great fleet and amazing flight simulators. Go see Alex he is amazing.
I just want to say they are amazing, I got my private license package for a really good price. They have the best simulator, very friendly staffs, professional instructors and their maintenance is great.
Great flight school, highly recommended. They have really nice airplanes and flight simulators.
Stay as far away from them as you can. Training at this place and giving them my hard earned money was the biggest mistake of my life.
What an amazing experience! Everyone must try it. Fantastic cusomter service. These guys are pros at what they do! Special Thank you to our pilot Bryan for making our flight more memorable!
Someone from this company is sending out counterfit checks in the mail do not cash
Such a good experience great simulator and airplanes
Brief background about myself. I am currently a full time pharmacy school student at USC and I have a part time job. I recently turned 25 and I have two years left in my pharmD program. I decided that I wanted to get a private pilot license as a hobby. The idea of flying is just so cool and it is a very unique skill to have. For anyone out there who is interested in getting their private pilot license hopefully you will find this review to be helpful for you. I will provide an overview of my experience in getting my private pilot license at Encore and what I liked and what I would have done differently if I had to get my license all over again.
First and foremost, Encore is a legit flying school. From what I can tell, the majority of Encore's instructors are nice people and have very useful information when it comes to instructing students and helping students become competent and comfortable to fly. They have plenty of planes to fly with and there was never really an issue when scheduling planes for my flying lesson. If one plane was under scheduled maintenance there was always another plane that my instructor and I could take up instead. Encore always has certified airplane mechanics on staff to make sure the planes are safe and compliant under regulation. Shirley, who works at the front and handles literally everything is beyond competent. Alex is the owner of Encore and he is a nice guy. If I had to get my license again I would still go with encore, but here are some things I noticed and here is what I would have done differently.
I personally underestimated this process. I thought that because I am an athletic guy and I got into a doctorate program so I should be able to get good at flying really quick. That wasn't quite the case. I passed my private pilot checkride (test) around the 70 hour mark. I passed first try but it definitely took longer than I had intended. There are definitely people that can finish sooner than 70 hours but just keep in mind that you may have to spend over 40 hours (the minimum legal amount) to become competent at flying the plane safely.
This brings me to my next point, if you are about to start flying, I would recommend finishing the whole process in one sitting. Be able to dedicate a few months to studying and flying and try not to take an extended hiatus. I had to take about 6 months off of flying due to school and as a result I had to relearn some things to become proficient for the checkride again so I ended up having to take more lessons and essentially pay more money. FINISH IN ONE SITTING. Don't fly for one month and take another month off and then come back to flying. It will save you a lot of money in the long run to have consistency in your training. Be super proactive about your training. You have to want it for yourself.
Finally, you may end up spending more money than you initially intended to. You may need over 40 hours to become comfortable enough with flying a plane. Buying extra study materials cost money. Decent flying headsets can cost 300 and up. The final checkride costs about $800. Insurance will cost a couple hundred dollars. Essentially, whatever you think flying is going to cost, add a couple thousand or more to that amount. Flying is an expensive hobby, there's no doubt about that. But it can also be a lucrative career if you are trying to fly for a commercial company.
I am beyond glad I got my private pilot license. I am not exaggerating when I say that it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Since I got my license, I have flown my girlfriend over Malibu. It was just such a sick experience to be able to fly passengers myself. I would encourage everyone to fly. If you want to become a pilot, Encore will take you to where you need to be.
Very professional staff with many years of experience. Great focus on safety. up to date fleet.
I had a great experience ar Encore . Staff and instructor are friendly I highly recommended Encore has a best simulator and airplane .
I'm working weekday but they open 7 days a week so i can come on weekend. The price also is better than any place .
Very bad school. They tell many lies to get your money. This is not a school for a serious pilot. The simulators are ok but the airplanes are terrible and always broken along with very low level instruction.
This is an amazing flight school. I did a ton of research before signing up here. The customer service is superb. They always have available aircraft and flight simulators, that's one of the advantages of having the largest fleet of aircraft in Van Nuys.
I have been flying in the Diamond and Cirrus aircraft. They are all newer model airplanes. My flight instructor is awesome, very knowledgeable and experienced.
I learned a lot, in the flight simulators as well.
They are open 7 days a week. Special thanks to front desk ladies as well.
They are so professional and friendly staff. They have best simulator .
The owner does not honor his words he promised to return our money now he does not return our calls
One of the best experiences of my life! My instructor Joy was amazing and informative of how and what different controls are done and how the radio works communicating with the tower. Definitely would do again!
Great operation. I saw a few negative reviews here that i believe might not be fair and/or accurate. So i though I should share me experience.
I initially started my flight trainig about 4 years ago, back then I met with Alex, he was one of the flight instructors. He explained all the benefits and hours requirements to get a private pilot license. I got the full private pilot package. My trainig took about 4 month to complete. I did most of my flight time in their Diamond airplanes, they have 3 of them. Maintenance was really good, and the aitplanes are in a really nice shape(you can go check them out any time, they will give you a tour). I also did a few hour in the flight simulators, it was a usefull experience.
And since then I have been renting airplanes from them for my personal use, I put my family in their aircraft for long ans short trips, my favorite these days in the Cirrus. Great airctaft.
Great place for flight training. Took my sister here for a flight experience and she LOVED IT. I got my private pilot license from here.Excellent maintenance on planes, never had an issue with them.
I had a really great experience with simulator and airplane. Staff and instructors are very friendly. They have a great maintenance. The price is also affordable.
This place is amazing, I have been a client here for while. My instructor is Alex, he is great, everything so far has been as promised on day one. I did a lot of research before enrolling, they definitely had the best pricing and the best airplanes. I highly recommend them.
One of the best experiences of my life, great customer service and aircraft. They have a brand new facility in Van Nuys airport, with more than 20 aircraft and 6 flight simulators. Pricing is very reasonable, I did a lot of research before signing up for a package.
They have an amazing flight simulator center with 6 FAA approved flight simulators. Go see Alex for tour.
great experiance and wonderfull staff
Highly recomend
Great place to learn how to fly the instructors really help you out to get what you need to pass your checkrides
I looked at their aircraft and scary is the word. I can see they don t put a lot into maintaining these aircraft, they look pretty beat up.
This academy is the best academy in LA. I'm so happy for being part of this awesome academy with their friendly instructor and staff , awesome airplane and simulator .
I can tell you guys you will not regret, i highly recommend Encore
Great place for flight training, they have a large fleet of airplane, I think over 20 aircraft. They also have 5 flight simulators. The staff is also really friendly, the front dest ladies are great and I really like my flight instructor.
I did a lot research before signing up, I believe they have he best pricing in LA area.
Encore flight academy flight instructor is very nice and detailed Alex also he help me a lot for my schedule to meet my need, I do recommended them to everybody want to learn.
The airplanes are really nice and I also learned a lot in the flight simulators. Thanks to my flight instructor Joy. SHE IS AMAZING.
I started the classes just a while ago
I really enjoy the classes and the staff .
I commend the encore flight for those of you interested in learning to fly.
Alex has helped me so much
Like the previous reviewers, I want to warn other potential students / renters about this place. I went there about 2 years ago, to rent a Piper PA-28 for a few days.
The planes looked great on the pictures, the owner was also very friendly on the phone. When I arrived, it however turned out that their fleet is only in marginal condition, with many of their planes grounded. Personally, I could not fly on multiple occasions, due to various technical issues like a failed transponder. During the run-up for the checkout with one of their flight instructors, I learned that elevator was stuck, I had to use quite some force to overpower it. As a side note: This was the second plane we used, after they couldn t find the key for the one they originally wanted to use. Great.
I was originally planning to make a longer cross country flight every day, but ended up with only one single cross country flight and a few shorter flights, mainly due to technical issues. On top of that, the management was pretty unorganized. Even though I always showed up as scheduled and on time, they always struggled to find a functioning plane. The most frustrating experience was however, when the keys for the plane were supposed to be dropped of at the FBO on the last day of my stay, which was a holiday, so that I could go flying and use up my deposit. Almost as expected, they forgot to drop of the keys. When I tried to call the owner and one of his employees on their mobile phones, neither would pick up return my call.
At the end, I still hadn't used up my deposit, due to the issues with this company. Needless to say, that I was really disappointed that my exciting flying vacation turned out to be a complete failure.
Gladly, the owner promised to return the remaining $200 or so Dollars - what he however never did, despite of me calling them multiple times and sending a number of e-mails.
Confirming a previous reviewers statement, I personally also know a DPE who refuses to work with them anymore, mainly due to the condition of their aircraft.
Overall, one of the most frustrating and disappointing experiences I ever had with a company.
If you what first class service you need to checkout Encore Flight.
I am current student at Encore, I started flying here about a six months ago. I signed up the complete package they offer, I am going to get my Private Pilot, Instrument and Multi engine ratings. The training has been a lot fun so far, I tried all their aircraft and I decided on the Diamond.
The main advantage for me has been the ability to cross train between flight simulators and the aircraft. With all their simulators, I usually practice the maneuvers in the sims before I get to try them in the real aircraft. This has been great advantage, when I get to the aircraft I exactly know that is expected of me.
My instructor has been also amazing, he is very knowledgeable and patient.
Overall excellent customer service, and great airplane.
As an engineer, I am very skeptical of safety issues and am generally very risk averse. So before I signed up for my flight training, I did a thorough research of different flight schools in the area. Encore Flight was the best I could find in the area, from friendly front desk, to having many aircraft that would allow you to fly anytime you want and with different types of aircraft, to very skillful instructors. They actually have their maintenance on site, and I have visited the facility and spoken with the mechanics there. They don't hide anything because they do everything to the highest quality. I signed up for my private pilot package, and I couldn't be more satisfied.
Encore Flight school has been the best since day 1. They have treated me with respect since the day I first came into the school and helped me prepare for my future. The instructors here are great. I recommend Ashish Patil as an instructor he is prepared for any zero hour students to commercial or CFI. There are a bunch of planes available which is great when it comes to flying there are no delays or issues with scheduling. Shirley is the best when it comes to the front desk, she is always ready to help you out. Alex the owner is also great. He welcomes you and shows you around the school. He is available for whatever you may need. I recommend Encore Flight School!
I do not recommend Encore Flight Academy for flight training.
On Sept 13, 2017, I put down a $5000 block payment for flight instruction for a multi-engine add-on. I have a commercial instrument rating. Encore's requirement was that any balance left in the account would be refunded back to me if and when I completed the training with them (i.e. passed the check ride). My requirement was that Encore would provide me as much flight instruction by Sept 28, when I was permanently moving from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. Alex A. the owner and I agreed to those terms. His words were "we can do our part; it's all up to you"
At my behest, Alex C, my assigned instructor sat down with me to create a training plan and to schedule a weeks worth of flights on the calendar. Unfortunately, all of the scheduled flights were canceled the day of or the day prior. The first was due to ceilings being too low, the second due to a plane missing in the hands of the mechanic who was supposed to have it ready by my schedule flight, and the remainder due to pop-up checkrides for other trainees. In the end, I was not able to log any flight time.
I asked my instructor Alex C. if it would be reasonable to ask for a refund as I had done my best to proactively schedule as many flights as possible. He instructed me to talk to the owner, Alex A. in-person the very next day. Unfortunately, the admin called me the very next morning to cancel my appointment with Alex A. because of a pop up emergency. When I asked to reschedule, she insisted I call him instead. I was able to reach him by phone on my first try. On this call, I politely requested he consider the possibility of a refund and that he would be in the right to exclude from the refund whatever service charges he might have incurred on those transactions. He said he would look into it and call me back in 2 days. Unfortunately, I have not heard back from him since, and my repeated calls to his admin at the office and his cell now go unanswered. I have asked my instructor Alex C. help in getting a hold of Alex A., but this is to no avail either, as he is slow to respond and claims he has not been able to do so either. I have strong reasons to believe their avoidance is deliberate, considering that for my very first visit, I was able to schedule an in-person visit with Alex A. with an impromptu phone call a mere 30 minutes in advance.
I don't recommend Encore because of their avoidance of customers who no longer present a revenue opportunity for them, and for their lack of values and ethics.
As of now, I have $5000 in an account with them that I am not able to use nor reclaim.
I wanted to make sure to write a review on Encore Aviation/Encore Flight academy to warn other prospective students about this scam of a flight school so they wouldn't have to go through the same headaches and massive troubles I went through. I put 2,000 dollars down for flight training to receive a multi engine instructor certificate (I'm already a CFI and CFII) and this was one of the few schools in the area that had a piper seminole I could find to do training. The person who owns the school was eager enough to take my money and made all kinds of promises about how they would work around my schedule and be able to get me done in a few weeks. Due to lack of instructors and an incredibly shoddy aircraft (so shoddy most DPE's refuse to administer checkrides) there were several delays. After not meeting my timeframe I still had over $800 dollars on my account and asked for it to be refunded. One of the women at the front desk said that the agreement I signed said the money was non-refundable (even though I signed no such document and even asked this upfront before putting a deposit down.) I finally got a hold of Mr. Abassi and spoke in person with him and he assured me the money would be returned. After months and months of waiting and dodging my phone calls and emails the money was never returned and in the end I had to go through my credit card company to get the funds returned.
I was just surprised at the flat out lies and deceit by a flight school and found it completely unproffesional.
Having worked at a number of flight schools I never even dreamed about someone trying to just keep $800 dollars of someone else's hard earned money that wasn't spent and was just sitting in an account. These people who manage this company worry about nothing but getting money out of you and if you're considering flight training you should have someone who looks out for your training and your best interests not just someone who wants to rake you over the coals for cash. As a student though make sure to do your due diligence. If you're seriously considering flight training check out a number of other flight schools and ask them on their return policies though. I found corsair aviation at vanuys a much much better school with much better aircraft to train on. There are many alternatives to going through places that will rip you off like this though.
Great flight school! I have looked at a few other schools and am happy I decided to get my private certificate at Encore.
They have plenty of pa 28 Cherokee planes available so there is always one available.
The instructors are not overbooked and available. They also seem to care more about their students than making extra money on the clock. I had Hayden and he made sure that I was ready to pass my check ride.
The weather at Van Nuys is great for VFR flying. I flew out of Santa Monica and always had to re schedule due to weather.
Learning at Van Nuys teaches you to be comfortable in the congested LA airspace.
The staff at Encore is great. Mike takes great care of the planes and answers all of my questions, and trust me I ask a lot. Seth and Shirley at the front desk are awesome! Shirley made a special effort to take care of me when my check ride was approaching and made sure I had the plane that I wanted and it was in good condition for my test day.
Great school and even after getting my private license I continue to fly with them.
Usually people write long reviews to share their experience with others. Unfortunately I'm not one of thoese people who writes pages In fact I don't like to write unless I'm super impressed and I must tell you this is one of those cases that I was beyond surprised with their service, staff and equipment. (A BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YOU) to the front desk with great attitude, to my instructor that patiently tolerated me and last but not least the big boss who helped me with my finance and payments.
You guys are awesome! ENCORE FLIGHT ROCKS
I've had a great experience at encore such a great simulator and airplanes
Friendly stuff and instructor
Amazing flight school! I'm so glad I found them! They take their time and make sure u are prepared! Great customer service:)
Incredible school and wonderful facility, with knowledgeable staff and management. We highly recommend them.
Great flight school, the service is amazing, great aircraft and flight simulators. They are in a brand new facility at Van Nuys airport, with total of 20 aircraft and 7 FAA Approved flight simulators.
Erika had a great actitud and is very positive.
Encore flight school Is wonderful!!!
Excellent flight school, I saw some of the negative reviews here and I thought i should share my experience with Encore flight. I personally got to know the owner of the school, he is very knowledgeable about aviation and as former airline pilot, he is very experienced in running an aviation program.
The aircraft an Encore Flight are absolutely the best, there are more than 20 aircraft on the fleet, more than any other flight school around. Also great flight simulators, the operate 4 full motion Redbird flight simulators.
Just called to get information and the guy who answered was really rude !! I guess that was a head up to don't go there.
Amazing flight school, I just purchased a trading package from Alex for my multi engine training. My flight instructor is really knowledgeable and experienced, the aircraft is in great shape as well.
Thank you encore
stay away from those guys you will live longer.
a complete rip-off don't fall a victim.
This place was amazing! New to the Los Angeles area and have always wanted to earn a private certificate. Encore was the perfect place! Great people, aircraft, and best of all...its right here at the busiest GA airport in the world! Super excited, I highly recommend Encore!!
Had an amazing time with the professional and experienced staff.
Hello all,
I wanted to take a few moment and wrote about my experience with encore flight.
Me and my boyfriend are both encore students, we did a lot of research and comparison between flight schools before choosing them. We stared flying about a year ago. I called and visited a lot of flight schools initially. My biggest concern was finding he right equipment (airplane and flight simulator). Other schools i visited either didn't have any flight simulators or good airplanes. Encore has about 20 airplanes(some older and some new ones) based on
our experience they are in a very good shape. I have been flying in their Diamonds and my boyfriend is flying the Cirrus. Also they have redbird flight simulators. They are full motion and great for learning the procedures and checklists.
We singed for their package and their pricing was better that all the other schools we checked.
Also I really like my flight instructor (Alex).
Overall a great experience, I am taking my check ride this week. I will definitely sing up for instrument rating next.
Thanks encore!
encoreflight.com
