Excellence, Experience, Value
Training pilots safely and successfully for over 18 years.

We combine the professionalism, convenience and quality of a large school with the personal attention and welcoming environment of a more private institution. Our facilities are all-inclusive; you will find everything you need to complete whatever training you wish to pursue.

What should you look for in a flight school?

Our Fleet
Exceptionally well-maintained

• 4 Robinson R-22 Beta(II)
• 3 Hughes 300C (one of which is an Instrument Trainer)
• 2 Bell 206BIII Jet Rangers
• Delivered in 2007: 1 Robinson R44 Raven II (also IFR)
• 1 FLYIT Helicopter Simulator — Delivered in 2006 — FAA Approved VFR & IFR Trainer

You will find that our aircraft are exceptionally well-maintained, due to the fact that we are a manufacturer authorized service center for all the aircraft we own and operate. This means, that there will not be delays due to lack of access to maintenance and our aircraft are consistently cared for by licensed mechanics. We rarely experience poor weather, but in such an event, students can continue to train in our high fidelity simulator.

Our Location and Facilities
Unmatched convenience in a desirable location

• On-site fuel and practice area
  • We fuel our own helicopters, thus a student would never have to fly somewhere to buy fuel (all our rates include fuel)
  • Our practice area is just across the runway. A student will not be wasting flight time travelling to and from the practice area. While the weather is generally beautiful in Southern California, we can still get to the practice area and conduct training when the weather is otherwise below VFR minimums
• Palomar Airport is a busy Class Delta airspace that will give anyone good communication experience, and we are near two Class B airspace that provide further challenges and experience
• Southern California weather is exceptionally well suited to flying year round. Not too hot, not too cold, perfect
• The greater San Diego area has a variety of terrain
  • You would be able to train in operations over water, mountain/high density altitude, desert operations, etc
  • While various environments are available, our facility is located near the ocean, thus one could avoid extreme heat and humidity. This is especially important as many people do not recognize the extent to which heat and density altitude impact helicopter performance
• We offer on-site testing for all written exams as a Lasergarde Testing Center

Our Programs
You determine what you learn

• Civic offers all the various types of training listed on the left
  • Very few schools/instructors offer the advanced training options you see here
  • Unfortunately, there are also schools and instructors out there that do not even provide sufficient emergency training at the Private Pilot level. We have encountered several students who have completed everything except for their emergency training, only to turn to us for such training and their final endorsement prior to a check ride
• You will be able to determine the pace at which you learn —
  • You will not have to sit in a classroom and complete all your ground school prior to ever setting foot in a helicopter
  • Flight Training and Ground School are conducted concurrently, allowing what you learn in the classroom to complement what you learn in the sky
  • You schedule your flights directly with the instructor and training is conducted on an individual basis
• FAA Approved VFR/IFR Simulator Training (New technology Digital Simulation)
  • Full sized helicopter cockpit allows for dual flight training, side-by-side seating
  • Cost effective training solutions
    • Reduce expenses by combining simulator training with the real helicopter
    • Private rating through ATP training
    • Conduct all Instrument currency requirements at a fraction of the traditional cost
  • Every day availability (never miss training due to bad weather outside)
  • Log VFR and IFR training time in our simulator
• No Surprises — We consistently offer the training we advertise and unlike some single helicopter, single instructor operations our there, we will be there for you from start to finish

Our Support
Don't get left in the cold

Civic will provide guidance and assistance from start to finish.

• Your instructor personally supervises every aspect of your training so that there is continuity from one lesson to the next and from ground instruction to flight training.
• Our administrative staff has developed an understanding of all the challenges a student faces and has clear solutions laid out in most cases. We provide assistance and guidance in obtaining financing, and continue to provide support throughout your training.
  • All of our administrative staff also have backgrounds in either flight or maintenance and have become good resources in overall planning of flight training, such as timing and strategic utilization of flight hours towards various licenses.
• We will provide help with everything from making arrangements for your medical examination prior to training to making the appointment for your practical exam.
  • We generally have all the training materials and pilot supplies you need to complete your training and will make an effort to meet any special needs if possible.
• International students and students coming from a long distance receive assistance in finding suitable accommodations, and if necessary, transportation from the airport upon their arrival at either Palomar Airport or San Diego International Airport.

What Should You Look For in a Flight School?
Be sure to do your due diligence

• You want to be able to fly consistently —
  • Be sure that your school has reliable access to everything they need such as fuel, parts and maintenance and practice areas
  • When you visit a school, verify that they have all the helicopters they say they do. All of the photographs contained in this site are of our helicopters, or helicopters that belong to Civic's students/clients, for which we consistently provide service and maintenance
  • Does the school you are considering own its helicopters? We do, thus we are not subject to helicopters suddenly becoming unavailable because the owner no longer wants to lease the helicopter. In addition, we just take better care of our helicopters both on the ground and in the sky, thus we take better care of our students as well
  • How is the weather? Are you going to be able to fly 6 or 7 days a week? Or is it raining and foggy half the time? Will it be too hot to fly half the time?
  • Our instructors fly as early as 6 AM and sometimes well into the evening, they do what it takes to get you finished in the amount of time you are aiming for
• You want to fly safely —
  • You do not want to train in an environment where issues such as the climate or elevation inherently make your training more risky on a routine basis; increased risks generally also coincide with less comfortable training conditions, if you are going to spend a good 3-4 months earning a Commercial License or CFI, you want to do it in a comfortable environment
  • You want to fly in well maintained helicopters; many different people fly training helicopters and they get a daily beating, you want to make sure you are flying in helicopters that are looked after by maintenance professionals
• You want to fly smart —
  • Have a conversation with someone who will talk you through what you will need in order to meet your goals, and how they will help you meet them; too many instructors fly on an 'hour to hour' basis without any overall plan
  • Fly in a place where you will be challenged, you want sufficiently busy airspace with diverse terrain; if you can fly well here, you can fly well anywhere
  • You want cost effective training
    • We are in a position to offer training at highly competitive rates because our great safety record affects our insurance costs positively, and we do almost all of our maintenance in house.
    • In a national survey done by the FAA, students in Southern California take 10 hours less than the national average to complete training for a Private Pilot License, most of our students are ready for their check ride well in advance of the national average
    • We have observed that use of the FLYIT Simulators in our training programs have significantly helped our students to develop their skills much more quickly than before; our students end up having to pay a lot less for their overall training by decreasing the hours they need to be ready for the practical exam, and the cost of instruction in the simulator is about half of what flight instruction costs in the real helicopter