Riverside Flight Academy

I recently took a intro flight and was extremely disappointed? The simulator kept banking left and was non responsive. We then got into the 172 and I immediately commented on how the instrument panel is over my head! That’s how the flight went . I could not see over the instrument panel so I never took over the controls. On our decent I finally saw over the instrument panel. For this instructor not to notice or to care that I couldn’t see is a problem for my trust for them to teach me to fly. I DO NOT Recommend this company. Paul M.
1 8 years ago (20-05-2018)

A couple of years ago I did a flight lesson here with an instructor named Sam. I was flying their Piper Arrow, N55130 which I am sad to say is no longer there. So we took off and flew to lake Matthews and after a few circles and a bit of turbulence which caused my dad to lose his lunch, that buckethead of an instructor got it into his head to make a quick landing and takeoff at French valley. We aborted because my dad was furious at poor Sam. We specifically had asked for a one-hour flight and the time had already passed. We headed back to Riverside, but the gear wouldn’t come down. We did a few flyovers and some trouble shooting, and Riverside tower even suggested that we land at Ontario because they had better emergency services. Sam Called a buddy of his on the ground who told us how to open the gear doors manually and let the gear drop down. We landed safely but lividly with the fire department awaiting us. We taxied to the flight school shortly after and met my very perplexed family who had waited more than two hours and wondered who the fire department was trying to save. We thought that was all the bad news we would get that day. Not so. Riverside flight academy charged us $400 dollars! The price to fly in the Piper arrow for an hour was $120! The flight school made us pay for the mistake Sam had made AND the time spent fearing for our lives! Afterwards, my dad was going to sue them but they gave us a credit for the flight time they had overcharged us for. I am not mad at them for the gear trouble. I understand that, however rare, these things happen and I am very glad that we landed safely. I am angry at the fact that they overcharged us almost $300 dollars and we never saw a penny of it ever again. We never used the credit, because I never flew again with them. I hope their customer service has changed for the better, but if not you should definitely choose another flight school!
2 8 years ago (02-03-2018)

If you need to go through aviation ground school and aren't afraid of putting in time, work, and study. This may be the place for you (depending on your location). You can also get hours added to your flight logbook by going through them. If you can't dedicate approximately 2 months of study (meeting once or twice a week in aviation classes), they offer an accelerated program which by all accounts is pretty intensive. The 2 day course is pretty hardcore and runs 9am-5p for 2 days. You must have read and/or familiarized yourself with all the material PRIOR to showing up to class. The class is meant to clarify and reinforce ideas from the reading. If you want to fly, just to see if its for you... You can call and make a appointment. They will put you in a FDA approved flight simulator and go over all the controls as you take off and land at Chino airport. From there, you're off to the real-deal Cessna 172 to start on a 30-45min journey. Lots of fun.
4 11 years ago (02-10-2015)

I had such a great time here. In the hour and a half that I was there I got to fly a simulator for 30 minutes and then an exploratory flight which went for another 30 to 45 minutes in a real airplane! I was give the opportunity to take off and pilot the plane to Lake Elsinore and back. I can't even communicate how much fun this was. If you want to try it, and you live nearby, this is the place to do it. Thanks again Dave and Johan. :)
5 14 years ago (14-10-2012)