How to Choose the Best Flight School

Are you an aspiring pilot wondering how to choose the best flight school? The team at Paragon Flight has a few suggestions for your consideration, entrusting that you’ll find we offer the best instruction available for pilots with any plans. 

What Matters in a Flight School

As a professional pilot, you’ll be responsible for the lives of civilians and passengers, so the choice of training source may just be the most important one of your life. This choice doesn’t have to be overwhelming when you know what makes a flight school superior.

Part 61 vs Part 141

Part 61 flight schools allow for flexible pacing and scheduling while Part 141 flight programs are highly structured, traditional paths. Many flight schools offer one or the other; rarely schools will offer both. Paragon Flight is one flight institution where you can choose either. We operate under both FAA authorizations, Federal Aviation Regulations FAR Parts 141 and 61. 

To attend flight training as an international student, as a veteran using GI benefits, or as a traditional student with government-backed student loans, you’ll need to participate in a Part 141 program. 

Paragon Flight can curate a program that will work for any given schedule or aviation dream.

Financial Concerns

Flight training can be prohibitively expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. From aviation scholarships to student loans and grants or personal lending options, every student can find an appropriate financial resource. Paragon Flight’s team is experienced and can help you as you work your way through the maze of options and identify the ones that work for your circumstances. 

Paragon Flight also supplies flight training options that save money along the way. From accelerated programs like the P3 Professional Pilot Program to access to the ALSIM AL172 Flight Simulator, various avenues at Paragon Flight will help you save on training.

Real Estate Issues

The location of the flight school that you choose is key to flight training experiences. Finding appropriate accommodations, enjoying practical training opportunities, and having suitable facilities and space for training are critical elements. Paragon Flight operates three locations – all out of their own home airports. The primary location is in Page Field in Fort Myers, FL, and we have two satellite locations – one out of Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) in Punta Gorda, FL, and the other in LaGrange-Callaway Airport (LGC) in LaGrange, GA.

Every location we operate enjoys terrific conditions for flight training. The weather offers ideal circumstances for takeoff and landing more than 300 days out of the year, so nothing stands in the way of your practical training experiences. 

Aircraft for Training

The aircraft that the flight school offers for training matters too. We at Paragon Flight, for instance, have the standard training models in-house. Each features Glass Cockpit technology and advanced avionics. The equipment we house include the Piper PA28 “Pilot,” the PA-44 Seminole, the Cirrus SR20, and the ALSIM AL172 Flight Simulator. 

Flight Instructors

As important as the other elements of training, and maybe even more so, the flight instructor can make or break your experience. We’re fortunate to have a deep bench of diversely experienced flight instructors, and we offer a best-fit promise.

Click here to book a program with Paragon Flight now that you know how to choose the best flight school and why we fit the bill.