In a perfect world, your instrument ratingwould be earned like this: You would walkinto your FBO to announce that you havesuccessfully passed your written test and areready to begin the practical part of your instru-ment training. Twelve certified instrument flightinstructors (CFIIs) would be lined up, each ofthem with thousands of hours of experience.You would be matched up with one that bestsuits your style. That instructor would dedicatean entire week to you alone and at the end ofthat week, you would be qualified to flythrough the clouds with the FAA's blessing.

Typically, though, when you walk intothe FBO, it's hit or miss to find a CFII, an in-

structor who is licensed to teach instru-ments. If you find one, chances are prettygood your instructor is a young person re-cently graduated from a fine aviation pro-gram, on his or her way to flying for theairlines. That CFII would fit you into aschedule to fly every Wednesday eveningfor the next six months. Of course, thereare no guarantees that you'd actually beable to fly all of those Wednesdays butthat's alright, you can extend the trainingand continue weekly until you are ready foryour check ride. And if your instructorreaches his/her minimum required hoursfor a job with a commuter airline, you'll

wish her/him the best and meet anotherCFII who will take over your training.

AcceleratedFlightInstrument TrainingHere's a secret from me to you. You can stepacross "typical" and reach for "perfect." Thereis an organization that was started in Califor-nia sixteen years ago that comes prettydarned close to everything a pilot couldwant. Accelerated Flight Instrument Training,AFIT, is one of the best kept secrets in the in-dustry, but that is rapidly changing. They offera ten-day instrument training course withhighly experienced instructors based at your

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Earning The Ins

A.F.I.T.:

trument Rating

By Karen Workman, Photos Provided by A.F.I.T.

Perfect World Training

airport for one fixed fee, guaranteed. Itsounds almost too good to be true so I'll re-peat it: Ten days. Your airport. Highly experi-enced instructors. Fixed cost. Guaranteed.

TenDaysTony Montalte, president of AFIT, points out dis-tinct advantages to completing the course in tendays. Most of his clients cannot afford to stringout their training over the course of months. Hisclients are, for the most part, successful profes-sionals who cannot predict what their availabil-ity will be from month to month. They aredecisive people who want to commit then getit done. A ten day package is ideal for them.

Also, as traditionally trained private pilotsknow, only the very first lesson is completeprogress. The following lessons need to beginwith a refresh of where the last training ses-sion left off. Instrument flight is complex andrust can quickly grow on newly-acquiredskills. If the last lesson was two weeks ago,much more review is needed than if the lastlesson was only a week ago. If the lessonwas just yesterday, though, very little refresh-ing needs to be done. As one AFIT instructorsaid, "With us, clients don't regress, they PRO-gress. The training is always moving forwardand building on what was just learned."

YourAirportThere are other flight schools offering accel-erated courses but training is done at their lo-cation, in their aircraft. With AFIT, aninstructor comes to you. You can fly right outof your own airport no matter where you live.You are trained in your home environmentand most importantly, in your own aircraft.That is powerful since, in most cases, yourflights will start or end at home.

Since many of AFIT's students are workingprofessionals, the eight to ten hour training

day can begin at whatever time the clientchooses. If a he is a morning talk show host,for example, training can begin after noonand run until early evening.

Alternatively, a client may choose to havethe training done away from home for a myr-iad of reasons. AFIT can accommodate thatas well. One client of theirs needed a checkout in a Saratoga he just bought and alsowanted his instrument rating. The instructormet the client in Virginia to pick up the plane.The two of them flew the Saratoga from Vir-ginia to the client's home in California, accom-plishing the check out and the trainingenroute. It was a satisfying, memorable ex-perience for both of them.Experienced InstructorsThe exceptional instructors are the key tosuccess at Accelerated Flight InstrumentTraining. Each of the forty six CFII's arehand selected by Tony Montalte, the pres-ident of the company. He boasts, "Youwon't find better instructors anywhere. Wehave the best of the best."

Every instructor has a minimum of 8,000hours in their logbooks, along with decadesof flying experience. Interestingly, none of

these instructors are retired airline pilots. Theygained their experience hour by hour in smallplanes. A general aviation pilot can find him-or herself in some wonderfully interesting sit-uations that airline pilots never see. I doubtyou can argue the wisdom gained with morethan 8,000 hours under a pilot's belt.

All AFIT instructors are over age 55. Theyare stable and mature. They are teachingbecause they love to, not to build hours fora better job.

The instructors are scattered all over thecountry and have rich, diverse backgrounds.One of them, John, taught author StephenCoonts to fly a Stearman. He cautioned hisstudent that if he didn't pay close attentionevery moment the engine was running, theplane would bite him in the rear end. Sureenough, before training was finished, Mr.Coonts got "bit" when he let up during acrosswind landing. Mr. Coonts loved thatplane and went on to write a best sellingbook about it titled, "Cannibal Queen."When John isn't teaching, he's flying aCessna Turbo 210 at flight level 260 doingatmospheric research for the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Course/CostInstrument training is the core business of Ac-celerated Flight Instrument Training but theyalso work with students for their private pilotlicense, and commercial and multi-engine rat-ings also. They frequently fly with men andwomen who just bought an airplane andneed a check out to meet insurance require-ments. Recurrent, transition and glass cockpittraining is done as well.

The instrument course has a flat fee of$595 a day and is completed in ten concur-rent days. It begins with four or five days ofcross country flying to establish the primaryconcepts of instrument flight as well as allowthe instructor and student to become ac-

quainted while accomplishing the requiredcross country training component. The rest ofthe time is spent on approaches and prep-ping for the oral. If training is completed inless than ten days, the client pays only for thedays used.

If the fees seem steep to you, consider theway instructor John looks at it. What is thehourly cost of your single engine plane? Whatis the hourly price of your instructor? Instruc-tion costs a fraction of the plane's hourly ex-pense but it is much more valuable andenduring. Still, we pay more for an airplaneeach hour than we pay for instruction that willlast a lifetime. Think about it. Invest wisely inboth.

SuccessThe men and women at Accelerated FlightInstrument Training are dedicated to theirclient's success. Their goal is to leave thestudent confident and competent to fly ininstrument conditions. They will fly in actualinstrument conditions whenever it is possi-ble during their training. Bill, another in-structor, had Mike Corcoran, doctor for theChicago Bears, as a student who pre-sented a double challenge. Mr. Corcoranhad a Garmin 1000 glass cockpit panel in-stalled on his plane. He had absolutely noexperience with it but wanted to use it gethis instrument rating. Bill said, "He workedreally, really hard. He really wanted it." In

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Anyone who has ever considered getting an instrument rating can appreciatethe freedom the rating offers. A pilot gains more finely tuned skills, a better un-derstanding of an airplane's systems and more comfort working with a valuableally, air traffic control. Best of all, an instrument rated pilot is empowered to flyin and through the clouds that keep others on the ground, enabling them to com-plete trips instead of cancelling them. A pilot's license gives you wings. An instru-ment rating lets you go places.

Another successful instrument ticket!

My flight instructor John and I gettin’ high...

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ten days, the doctor made a successful tran-sition to the glass cockpit and passed his in-strument check ride.

While the course is guaranteed, it doesnot mean an instrument rating is assured."I'm just the instructor," said Bill. "The stu-dent is the one who gets the rating." AFITwill stick with a client until he/she is quali-fied. The company pass rate is 98%. But,sadly, there have been one or two clientswho believed they could "buy" their ticketwithout investing themselves in learning. "Itdoesn't work that way," Tony said. Thoserelationships never got off the ground."Safety is the foundation of what we do."

The vast majority of clients are motivatedand hard working. They are focused oncompleting the course so they can havemore freedom in their flying, whether it isfor business or pleasure. People come fromaround the world for the AFIT experienceand are enthusiastic about the results. Theysend gushing letters, expressing their ap-preciation for patient instructors, thetremendous knowledge and skills theygained, and the real-world experiences

they had. As one student wrote, "I learnedmore in the last ten days than I did in tenyears!" AFIT's website is chock full of testi-monial let ters from business owners, sur-geons, attorneys, executives, professionalsports players, all who have taken the timeto say "Thank you!" in no uncertain terms.

For more information about AcceleratedFlight Instrument Training, explore theirwebsite at www.afit-info.com. You can con-tact the good people there by calling (866)

270-8224 or sending an e-mail toafit@cox.net.

There are several ways to get your instru-ment ticket. In a perfect world, how wouldyou do it?CO

Karen Workman is an instrument rated pri-vate pilot living in Minnesota with her hus-band who is also a pilot.