CRAFT Flight Training & Simulation

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 2 months ago

If you are looking for a solid accelerated flight school, you really need to check this place out. I spent far too long “saving money” while spending way more than I saved because I couldn’t stay proficient. I picked Craft and recently went down to CHS and did their accelerated IFR course. 6 full days of ground instruction, Simulator and plenty of time in the sky. Matt was my instructor. Very personable, knowledgeable and patient. He helped me work through anything that wasn’t fully clicking either in my head or in the airplane. Their fleet of DA40NG aircraft are all in decent shape. They even managed to keep me and my dedicated instructor in the same tail number the entire time. Your check ride is already scheduled for day 7 so there is no worry about not flying. These guys are so good that they have planes and pilots that can send you a rescue plane to your check ride if something mechanically fails on the plane you have at the time. They are capable of so much more than most schools and from a fleet quality and support perspective, they really do stand out.

Thomas Brainsky

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 3 months ago

Came for an accelerated CFII. We got it done ✅. My CFII, Brad was excellent, knowledgeable, great sense of humor, and very relaxing to fly with. Amber at the desk was wonderful and made sure we had the right plane at the right times. Had the pleasure of listening in on some of the other CFIs and it's a knowledgeable and professional group. As always, milage may vary. My experience was five star and I do recommend.

Paul Case

★★★☆☆ 3 out of 5 4 months ago

Review regarding their accelerated instrument rating program and their communication. They were unresponsive to my emails, requests or contact form submissions. When you fill out the contact us form they send only an automated email and phone number to call; which never gets answered. I spoke to a person once but they kept pushing back the program or checkride start date by weeks and months, starting from almost last November. They may have a huge backlog but their tone didn't sound like they wanted to work with you. Finally I went with RVAFlyers and got my instrument rating early this month. The best part is that 100% of the training at RVAFlyers occurs in a real plane without using any simulator. Your checkride will be in a real plane with some turbulence, and training in the real setting is worth every penny. I tried to reach CRAFTCHS many times without success

Prathap Manthini

★☆☆☆☆ 1 out of 5 6 months ago

This is the worst business experience I have ever had. The company advertises an expedited program, yet failed to follow through with the required check ride. What was sold as a one-week expedited course has taken nearly a year to complete, despite costing over $15,000. Even after this excessive delay, they are demanding additional time and more money to finish the course. Communication is extremely poor—they rarely answer the phone. The owner is rude, unprofessional, and dismissive, and made multiple inappropriate and disrespectful comments when we asked reasonable questions about the contract. Overall, this has been an extremely frustrating and unacceptable experience

SCandy

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 4 years ago

I’ve unfortunately had experience at 6-7 different flight schools, starting with my private years ago, more recently my instrument rating, and now a commercial/multi-engine rating (AMEL) If you have had any experience with the flight school system, you figure out quickly that the whole program is pretty flawed: Mediocre instructors who are more interested in building time than their students’ success, equipment that is maintained to the bare minimum of the Reg’s (and often below that min!) and back office/admin function that is slipshod at best. Basically, 5 stars in this field is a low bar, but CRAFT clears it handily. These guys are well run, use contemporary, glass panel equipment (Diamonds are the best training aircraft bar none) and the team members are professional and well managed. Finally, I checked them out with the most important constituency in the process, the FAA DPEs who will be testing you. Clearly they respect the CRAFT team and anticipate that you as the student are likely well prepared. Let me tell you, that trust is priceless when you are on the verge of a high pressure checkride. Charleston and Summerville are great airports to fly in and out of. My only recommendation is that you should schedule these guys early enough not to get stuck with dates in August like I did! They’re busy so book ahead!

Brandon Hull