Northampton Airport — Local services in Northampton

A nasty place

I decided to learn to fly and signed up for lessons there. They set me up with Mike K, one of their instructors. He is a sarcastic guy from Germany, and while I thought his cutting remarks may help me become a safer pilot, the fun ended one day when Mike told me to perform a maneuver he never explained – to reduce both speed and altitude. When I fumbled, he took over the controls and threw the plane into a violent dive, then just as violently pulled it up. “If you stare at instruments, that’s how you’ll end up flying” he said, but I could not respond because my lunch was in my throat. I could not fly and continued to feel sick for the rest of the day and the next morning.

Mike was casually apologetic and wanted to schedule the next lesson, but I wrote back that I would never get in a plane with him again. I felt he physically roughed me up, only not with his hands but using an airplane.

The manager of the airport, whom I cc-ed, ignored the event, and when I called him brushed me off. I went to the FAA safety office, and after their inspector got involved, I got a note of apology from the airport owner’s clerk and a promise of a refund for that last ‘lesson’ – that dragged on for over a month.

This airport has “the home of friendly flying” painted on the office wall, but...

I bought a Groupon for flight lessons here and the experience was INCREDIBLE! They had to reschedule due to weather and I initially was concerned that they were blowing me off but when I got there I realized how legitimate this place is and how serious they take their business; which made me feel safe. I would recommend this place to anyone. Which, in fact, I did and now my friend is taking classes here for his...

For those giving this a 1-star, give me a break. This is by far one of the best flight schools in my region. All of the personell are incredibly easy to get along with, and the quality of the aircraft could use an upgrade, but is by far fun to fly. Always coming back for more flying, and more flying. They call it "Friendly Flying" and they are not...