Flight Instruction at Orlando's SunState Aviation Flight School

SunState Aviation, the nation’s fastest growing Accelerated Flight Training Center, offers Orlando area residents the best flight training for FAA Private Pilot through Professional Pilot courses. Accelerated and traditional flight training programs are available utilizing Cessna’s Computer Based Instruction syllabus to fit your needs perfectly. For out-of-town students, low cost housing accommodations and financing is available through Pilot Finance, Inc.

At SunState Aviation Flight School, our goal is to provide the highest quality pilot training possible, training you to be a safe and proficient pilot. Whether your goal is to obtain a Private Pilot License for personal flying, add on an Instrument Rating or a Multi-engine Rating, or to train to become a career pilot, we will work with you to design a flight training plan that will work for you.

For more details, please take a few moments to scroll on down and navigate through our web site. Here you will find a wealth of useful information and answers to many of your questions about our flight school and our flight training courses. Of course, you can also call us at 407-944-3592 to talk to one of our very knowledgeable representatives, or click here to email us.

For more details on our training courses, just click on one of the links below.

The SunState Aviation Advantage
We encourage you to shop around, check out other flight schools and see if they measure up. Feel free to use this handy check-list as a guide for comparison purposes.
	SunState Aviation			Brand X
	Yes	No		Yes	No
FAA approved flight training syllabus	X
Standardized curriculum	X
Integrated flight/ground training	X
Computer Based Instruction	X
Experienced flight instructors	X
One on one style training	X
Progress checks	X
New training aircraft	X
Technically Advanced Aircraft	X
Aircraft maintenance on location	X
Knowledgeable instructors	X
Helpful and attentive support staff	X
Complimentary practice exams	X
Written exam on location	X
Practical test on location	X
Student accommodations available	X
Pre-paid discounts available	X
Control towered airport environment	X
Multiple instrument approaches on field	X
FAA approved simulators	X
Garmin G1000 Level III cockpit simulator	X
Online scheduling	X
Great weather year 'round	X
Close to international airport/attractions	X
Customized accelerated training programs	X
Old, poorly maintained airplanes		X
Classrooms full of cadets		X
White shirts and epulets		X
Want all your money up-front		X
Hidden charges / fuel surcharges		X

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Meet Our Flight Instructors

SunState Aviation Instructors are mature, experienced professionals with an array of impressive credentials and an average of over 1,000 hours of flight instruction given. Listed below are our instructors with their respective ratings. 

	Steve Graham, Chief Flight Instructor - CFI, CFII, ASEL, ATP AMEL, FITS Certified Steve is also the co-founder and CEO of SunState Aviation. Steve had been giving accelerated style flight instruction for several years prior to starting SunState Aviation. Steve hails from Cullman, Alabama.
	Robert "Bob" Crane, Senior Flight Instructor - USAF retired, CFI, CFII, MEI, FITS Cessna Factory Authorized Instructor (CFAI) Bob Crane Sharing a Lifetime of Flying Experience   By Bernie Schneider   Bob Crane was first introduced to flying at a time when people were just beginning to understand the promise of aviation. His father learned to fly in the 1940s and bought an airplane he flew all over the United States. Acknowledging it was unusual for someone to own an airplane in the 1940s, Crane said, quite simply, “My father was an unusual man.”             Crane’s father took him flying when he was a boy. Those early flights in a low-powered all-metal two-seater were frightening. “He had a little airplane that had a [metal] strut that came down across the windshield,” said Crane, “and I remember that I tried to put my fingerprints in it a couple of times as we were flying around because I was scared to death.”   Crane eventually enjoyed flying with his father and wanted to become a pilot in his own right. After two years of college and one year of work experience, Crane joined the Air Force in 1958; “because,” he said, “I wanted to fly.” He went to the Air Force’s aviation school as an aviation cadet and went on, by his estimation, to accumulate about 3,400 military flight hours in 20 years of service: “Twenty years, six months and 23 days, but who counts?” he said.             In the Air Force, Crane learned to fly jets at the edge of the envelope, a place, as he describes it, where the high-speed and low-speed limits of the airplane are tested. “I flew jet fighters for almost 20 years,” said Crane. “We did a lot of strange things that most people might not really want to do. In the military, you always fly on the edge of the low-speed and high-speed [limits] because that’s where your airplane will do better than somebody else’s will as a fighter.”             In 1968, Crane was given a choice between a command post and a two-year Navy exchange. A command post would have taken him away from flying, which he was not ready to do, so he agreed to the exchange assignment. “I was told by my leaders that I had two options: to take the Navy exchange tour, or to go to a command post assignment. Well, a pilot doesn’t like to go to a ground assignment, so I very happily took the Navy exchange tour.”   Crane was sent to Kingsville, Texas, where he taught Navy pilots how to fly. But before he could teach, he had to learn the Navy’s technique of flying. Among other things, Crane had to learn how to land on an aircraft carrier, which demands a much higher rate of descent than he was used to. “It took me several hours of practice to land an airplane the way the Navy does,” he said.   After two years with the Navy, Crane returned to the Air Force, where he stayed until his retirement in 1979.   After retiring from the Air Force, Crane went back to school and studied to become a nurse, a career he would practice for 19 years. One day in the mid-1990s, Crane’s wife pointed out that he did not have to work the long hours as a nurse anymore. Crane quit his job immediately and put himself on a path to return to flying. At first, he took a day job as a security guard in a factory, which allowed him to earn extra money for flying on the weekends.             Yet Crane soon discovered that flying had changed dramatically in 20 years. “A lot of rust built up in 20 years,” said Crane. “They changed the names of all the airspaces while I was gone. I studied the FARs and AIMs for almost a year before I went back to flying because I knew I didn’t know what was going on at that time.”             Crane joined SunState Aviation Flight School in the spring of 2001 and has been busy teaching students from around the world since that time. He has watched the flight school grow from three to 14 airplanes—because of good management, he said—and he has now accumulated over 7,000 hours of flight time in all types of aircraft. “I like people and I love to teach,” said Crane. “I love to teach something that I enjoy doing, and I enjoy flying very much. Always have.”
	Ryan Sebek, Senior Flight Instructor - CFI Training Specialist, CFI, CFII, MEI, FITS Certified Ryan was born in Maryland, moved to Jupiter, Florida in 1986 and then finally making St. Cloud his home in 1999. Ryan has an Associates Degree in Computer Science from Palm Beach Community College. He obtained a Bachelors Degree in Aeronautical Science along with his CFI, CFII and MEI instructor ratings from Florida Institute of Technology graduating Magna Cum Laude. Ryan started working for SunState Aviation Flight School in February, 2002 and now has well over 2,000 hours of dual instruction given. His personal interests include automotive mechanics and auto body repair and painting. Flight training received includes Private, Instrument, Commercial, Multi-Engine, CFI, CFII, MEI
	Jeff Sullivan, Senior Flight Instructor - USAF retired, IFR Training Specialist, CFI, CFII, FITS Certified
	Ivan Rakyta, Commercial Pilot Training Specialist - CFI, CFII, IGI, Gold Seal Instructor, FITS certified Ivan grew up in central Florida, was a merchant marine for 16 years and retired in December of 2004. Ivan received all of his flight training at SunState Aviation and now has well over 1,000 hours of instruction given as a SunState Aviation CFI. In his spare time Ivan enjoys flying RC helicopters.
	Patrick Dunham, CFI, CFII, MEI, FITS certified
	Matthew Gallagher, CFI, CFII, FITS certified Matthew grew up in Ireland and England where upon graduating with a BA (Hons) in Philosophy he pursued a career as a professional Chartered Accountant working for blue chip multi-national accountancy and banking firms in the United Kingdom and Cayman Islands.   It was whilst in the Cayman Islands that Matthew decided to embark on a career in aviation. This bought him to central California where he trained for 12 months obtaining the following FAA Licenses. Airplane Land and Sea Single / Mutli Engine Commercial with Instrument Rating. Airplane CFI, CFII and MEI.  Helicopter Commercial with Instrument Rating.  Helicopter CFI and CFII.   Having obtained his FAA Licenses he then earned and obtained his European JAA (f)ATPL Licenses for both aeroplane and helicopter and his JAA FI rating at training establishments in England, Ireland and Florida. He has over 550 hours instruction given for both FAA and JAA licenses.   Outside of aviation he is a keen Scuba diver, holding a PADI open water instructor certificate and is a licensed Realtor® in the State of Florida.
	Luis Flores, CFI, CFII, FITS certified
Picture not yet available	Jason Gledhill, CFI, CFII, MEI - Multi Engine training specialist
	Joe Weatherford, Senior Flight Instructor - Lake Aircraft Training Specialist, CFI, CFII Joe is our Lake Aircraft flight training specialist and has given many thousands of hours of instruction in these wonderful amphibious airplanes. Joe will train you in your Lake aircraft.
	Mike Spangler, CFI Mike has been with SunState since its inception in May, 2002.  Mike is a local high school science teacher, allowing him to instruct with SunState part time during the summer months. Flight training received includes Private, Instrument, Commercial, CFI

A word about our pricing and rates: SunState Aviation's commitment to you, our students and customers is to provide the highest quality training and aircraft rental possible, combined with the very best possible customer service at the very best prices and hourly rates possible. We do not add fuel surcharges or any other hidden charges to our rental rates (a 7% local sales tax is added to non-instructional aircraft rentals), nor do we falsely inflate our rental rates in order to offer "special cut-rate deals." Our rates are competitive and our block discounts are already as low as we can possibly go. Please do not ask us to depart from our published rates. The prices and rates published on this web-site are the effective rates at the time that you viewed them and are subject to change. Thank you for your understanding.

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