Aviation Adventures - Leesburg JYO

"I took my 13 year old daughter here as a part of a camp and the CFI Danny wouldn't let her touch the yoke. What a great way to inspire young girls into aviation?! Dear student pilots - if your CFI doesn't challenge you to overcome obstacle and excel then you are wasting your money."

"I have attended two flight schools previous to this one. I have been going to aviation adventures in Leesburg for a year now and I can safely say that coming to this school is one of the best decisions I made for myself. I live in Baltimore so the commute is long and there were other options closer to me but if I had to do it all over again I would still choose this school. All of the instructors I have worked with have been amazing, very knowledgeable, and truly care about helping you achieve your goals. All of the staff are always fun and pleasant to be around. If you are looking for a professional and high quality flight school in the area, you need to look here."

"I have been flying with aviation adventures for almost three years. I finished a part 141 private rating in June 2020, and am close to finishing a part 141 instrument rating. Despite being so close to the instrument check ride, I have decided to no longer give my business to this school. I will preface this review by stating that I have only good things to say about the instructors and staff; they are all very knowledgeable and personable, and were effective at teaching the material. That being said, this is a truly unorganized, free for all, chaotic mess of a school. It will be prudent to note as well, that there is a certain level of inherent uncertainty built into flight schools, and any student needs to accept the fact that various contingencies will always result in delays. I cannot control the weather, for instance, and neither can the school. I have spent an inordinate amount of hard earned money at AvAd, and its obvious at this point that they are unable adhere to the simple principle of honoring the time slots that I reserve on the website. I am fed up with getting to the airport on time for my reservation, only to find out that the airplane is still in the air over Frederick Maryland. By the time I was ready to go in this particular situation, I had only an hour left of my time. Feeling rushed does not result in an effective use of time and money, especially since the effort was ostensibly for check ride preparation. I surely could have just flown and been late for the next guy, but that is simply not fair to compound the schools disorganization. For both ratings, I have never had consistent availability of instructors leading up to the check rides. I've had to string together various different instructors, a lot of times based on last minute availability. Not everyone is on the same page about where I am in my training (not necessarily their individual fault). As a result however, I end up with an opaque, often times contradictory picture of what needs to be done to get over the finish line. This ultimately leads to further logistical challenges as I figure out as I go what actually needs to happen."

"Having just completed my instrument rating with this flight school, I cannot overstate the professionalism, safety, quality of instruction, and dedication to customers service at Aviation Adventures (Leesburg). Any time that you undertake flight training, weather, aircraft and instructor availability, and funding will be a constant no matter what flight school in the country you go to. Despite all of these factors, the staff at Aviation Adventures took a personal interest in my success, and they went well above and beyond in the time they spent in helping me achieve my goal. In particular, Elena Shakula, Mike Schwartz, and Ray DeHaan are phenomenal instructors, dedicated professionals, and most of all, extremely awesome people to be around. I never felt like a metric, and the late hours they stayed to accommodate my schedule when they did not have to, and the incredible amount of work they put in behind the scenes show a dedication I have never seen at another flight school. This clearly stems from a passion for what they do, that far exceeds what is simply good business. None of this is possible without the incredible dedication of the AvAd Leesburg customer service representatives, Dave Christy and Sam Hunt. Theirs is an incredibly demanding and largely thankless job, but I wish to take the opportunity to say that their professionalism and positive demeanor, even with students, pilots, and instructors making simultaneous and sometimes competing demands of them, is no small feat. Their dedication to ensuring that students are informed, aircraft are available and in a ready status, and providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere while simultaneously being incredibly busy themselves is incredible, and the customer service at Leesburg in exemplary. If you take the time to learn with AvAd instructors in Leesburg, you will fly with some incredible instructors that will teach you far beyond the minimum standard, and do so in some of the most complex and demanding airspace in the country. If you arrive and show dedication and determination, your instructors will match that and teach you to succeed. Lastly, the Leesburg Maneuvering Area located within the SFRA will also save you time and money, as you will not need to get clearance from Potomac TRACON every time you depart, cumulatively saving you substantial money over the duration of your rating from not having to idle in the runup waiting on a clearance for a VFR flight. In summary, if you are learning to fly in the national capital region, even if there are flight schools closer to you, I can think of no better value, no more professional organization, and no more fun place to fly than Aviation Adventures."

"Unprofessional instructors with an attitude problem. Over priced aircraft and the owner is notoriously rude. Much better options at Leesburg for a flight school. They have you fly with multiple instructors which in turn causes the student to spend more money instead of sticking with one primary instructor."