Windy City Flyers

Liz was great in arranging my written exams. While I did not train there, they have always been helpful, professional and cordial.

I’ve been a customer at Windy City Flyers for quite some time now earning several ratings including Private Pilot Single and Multi Engine, Instrument, High Performance, Complex, High Altitude as well as advanced Cirrus transition training, whilst they were the first company I’ve ever flown with during my time as a customer I frequently looked around at others flight schools at clubs to see if there were any better options. Yet over the past 3 years of being a frequent customer it was been near impossible to find a company that came even close to the high standard of Windy City Flyers.
There are many important elements that a potential customer considers when «shopping» for a flight school and/​or flying club such as quality of instruction, aircraft availability, success rate, quality of aircraft and most importantly how much money will be handed over at the end of the day.
Windy City provided me with 24 access to their aircraft, with no overnight fees as well as a stellar fuel compensation programme. They have everything from Diamonds, Cessnas to a few posh new Cirruses… Cirri? You get the picture! Most of their C172 are G1000 equipped whilst having a standard gauge 172 on the line therefore you are prepared no matter what you step into in the future.
On the topic of instruction, I have worked with several Windy City CFI’s, and I have yet to find one that disappointed me. To be honest they probably have the highest pass rate in Illinois on every rating — don’t quote me but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has failed. Now to be completely honest, Windy City trains their pilots and students above and beyond the average training. They train super pilots. While this may cost that bit extra — you will be prepared for everything and be confident every time you taxi onto the runway. Think about it this way, when you’re flying some black magic sorcery flying contraption you want to be sure you know what you’re doing.
It’s a flying club and flight school that you will want to keep coming back to even on the days your not flying. You’ll make friends and discover new places to fly to, see things that most of the world will never see and have an experience of a life time.

MY best friend gave me a certificate for our first flight clas with Windy City Flyers and it was amazing. Jason Gatz was our instructor and while has a über baby face don’t let that fool you– he is great! he knows everything about planes– is very patient and we left feeling like we leanred alot. We are most defintely going back and may try and earn enough flight hours to get out private pilot’s licenses. This is one of THE best experiences you can every have– you see beautiful scenery while actually flying a plane– I mean what else could be better? highly highly recommend this place.

The discovery flight lesson was one of the best experiences I’ve had! We did a night lesson over downtown Chicago & it was simply amazing. I highly recommend you have Charlie as your instructor. Charlie is great at what he does & really puts you at ease with any concerns you have, & is very accommodating. Overall, we had an amazing experience with a great instructor!

We just did the Discovery Flight over downtown Chicago this morning & it was amazing! Charlie, our flight instructor, was awesome… super nice & funny, personable guy & incredibly good at explaining any & all details. We had a blast & would highly recommend Charlie @ Windy City Flyers if you are looking for flight instruction! Totally awesome experience & everyone there was great :)

I did some flight training here a few years ago. My background: graduate of US Army flight school at Ft Rucker, AL where I got my helicopter experience. I was looking to get my fixed wing ratings. Since I already had my Commercial Helicopter with Instrument — Helicopter, I knew I could do things a little easier and with less hours. Not according to these clowns! They tried to interpret the FAR/​AIM to say that none of my time was worth anything in the fixed-​wing world (WRONG!). Also, be aware that this is technically a flying club and if you go beyond your PPL (private pilot license), you will be expected to join (read: drain you of more money). Shop around and you’ll find aircraft and quality instruction for less, and that’s without blowing $$ on dues. One instructor doing a check-​out on me was so snarky, condescending, and with a self-​inflated ego, I was absolutely dumbfounded. He’s since moved on but their Cheif Pilot who tried to snow-​job me hasn’t. If you’re serious about aviation, think twice about this place. By the way guys, I enjoyed spending over $ 30k SOMEWHERE ELSE for all my ratings because you guys can’t read the FAR/​AIM to save your lives.

My flying lessons was hands down one of the greatest experiences I have had. I fly every week for my job but still find certain things nerve racking on planes. Charlie, our instructor, put me at ease with all my fears as well as made the actual flight very comfortable. I would highly recommend Charlie if you are interested! He really knows his stuff.

I was looking for a place to sign up for a basic intro flight lesson to sign my girlfriend and I up for what would be a Christmas gift. Aside from safety and reliability, I was looking for a place that didn’t treat it’s flight lesson like a roller coaster ride (AKA take-​off, snap photos, and land). I called 5 – 6 places, some from Groupon others from searching Google, but as soon as I called Windy City Flyers I know it was going to the best. Liz was great about telling me about all the options and helping me schedule.
Charlie e-​mailed me the morning of our flight to confirm our 2:00pm flight. Around 1:00pm he e-​mailed me again letting me know that our plane was arriving a few minutes late and that we would start around 2:00pm. Since we were coming from the city we had already left, but our early arrival was welcomed with an extended briefing. Charlie went over all the options and encouraged us to discuss what we wanted to do.
In our 2 hour flight on the Cessna 172S we flew over my parent’s home in Highland Park, my apartment in the city, my girlfriends home in Munster, IN. We landed and took off at Gary Airport, then did a few touch-n-go’s in Wheeling. Charlie was more of a coach than an instructor. He was quickly able to assess our flying aptitude and pushed us accordingly. I can keep going on forever, but honestly it was an awesome experience.
I love adrenaline sports, and my girlfriend is on the more cautious side. Never have I seen someone who was able to keep both types of people entertained and comfortable at the same time.

Best experience ever and worth every penny. We coordinated fly byes over the houses of friends and family while being exposed to the greatest view of the city I’ve ever seen. Fly with Charlie!

I’ll update this review when I actually fly a plane, but from my experience so far, which has been via e-​mail and phone, the folks here are very friendly and answer all your questions. They have even offered to let me and my fiancé take our engagement photos with the planes months before we can take a lesson. I love good customer service! They made everything so easy for me and I know absolutely nothing about planes or lessons. I recommend them for their service. (Especially Liz, she’s fantastic!) Can’t wait to update this review!