Advanced Pilot Training & Flight Testing at Lismore, New South Wales, Australia

“You guys deliver a great product”, Ben Wyndham, CEO & Chief Pilot, Airspeed Aviation (Ben has employed three of our previous students into his multi-engine IFR charter operation).

Train on industry-relevant aircraft (with both glass & six-pack cockpits) with current IFR charter pilots.

Over the last few years, over 300 pilots have completed their Multi-Engine Class Ratings &/or Instrument Ratings with us. Many of our new enrolments are referrals from previous students or their employers. We maintain a strong connection with our network of ex-students in the industry, and are often asked for recommendations to fill pilot vacancies when they arise.

We take pride in taking CPL holders from diverse backgrounds and turning them into employable GA industry assets. We are proud that many of our graduates have progressed quickly through to senior GA & airline pilot jobs.

Many of our previous students have been recruited by the airlines (e.g. Qantas Mainline, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Alliance, Qantaslink, REX, Link Airways, Air North, as well as many of the US-based jet operators) and major GA employers (including the RFDS) into multi-engine IFR operations, and we receive great feedback from employers about the product we produce. As a result, we generally book 4-6 months ahead for Instrument Rating courses. We occasionally have short notice training slots available though due to postponements – let us know your requirements and we’ll see what we can do!

Unlike some flight training organisations, we don’t rely on paid advertising and prolific social media posts to maintain interest in our business. We are proud that our reputation keeps us fully booked and busy.

We work as a collegiate group of instructors and examiners, and we consider and treat our students as our industry colleagues. Our students become part of our team while they are training with us. There are no epaulettes, no egos, and none of the other hierarchical distinctions between staff and students (and often between staff and other staff) that you will see at many schools.

All of our instructors have real world commercial experience outside of a flight school environment – many ME-IFR instructors currently in the industry have never flown with paying passengers!

Four of our instructors hold Grade 1 instructor ratings with over 5,000 hours of instructional experience each.

All of our instructors have been trained within our own training system. As we are very focused in the scope of training we offer, we are able to provide very standardised and consistent training while at the same time allowing our students to benefit from exposure to a breadth of industry experience.

Please note that we are not a VET Student Loans provider and we have no intentions of becoming one – we have investigated this process and on discovering how inefficient and costly the system is (for both the training provider and the student), we decided to focus on the segment of the training market that is looking for more personalised, flexible, cost-efficient and time-efficient training. Most of the VET Student Loan Instrument Rating courses take months to complete as they need large numbers in the courses to cover the Diploma administrative costs (that the student ultimately pays for) in comparison to our 4 weeks, and can cost up to 50% more than our course (on inferior aircraft). There is no industry demand or requirement for Diploma qualifications to gain employment, and as such these Diplomas constitute wasted time and money for the student, and they only exist and survive in the industry as a funding mechanism for the flying schools that offer them. These schools would not be involved in this system if they could offer a product that was attractive enough to the training market to survive without the funding option. We can offer a more cost and time effective alternative!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT VET FEE SCHOOL MYTHS & MISTRUTHS!

Please note the prices noted below may change from time to time in response to changes in costs (especially fuel, maintenance and insurance costs, which have risen markedly over the last year or so). Prices are correct as of January 2025.

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FAST Aviation provides the following training & testing at Lismore, New South Wales -

Instrument Rating (Multi-Engine & Single-Engine Aeroplane) including flight testing

Private Instrument Rating (Multi-Engine & Single-Engine Aeroplane) including flight testing

Multi-Engine Aeroplane Class Rating (including flight testing)

Commercial Pilot Licence (Aeroplane) (completion of non-integrated training, including flight testing)

Flight Instructor Rating (Multi-Engine Training Endorsement, Instrument Rating Training Endorsement, Design Feature Training Endorsement, Grade 2 & Grade 1 upgrades) (including flight testing)

Instrument Proficiency Checks (IPC)

Flight Instructor Proficiency Checks (FPC)

Beechcraft Baron (BE55 & BE58) general competency training

MPPC & RU Endorsements

Industry relevant training by current charter pilots

While many schools offer MEA & Instrument Rating training in FADEC aircraft such as Diamonds, or training twins such as the Seminole or Duchess, these aircraft types are not utilised in the real world of commercial general aviation. Training on these types of aircraft is like doing a jet type rating on a type that is not utilised in the country – you might get a qualification but you will eventually need to do more training to get the experience you need to get a real job.

Have you ever seen an AFAP job ad that asks for Diamond, Duchess or Seminole time? We haven’t, but we see plenty that ask for Baron time.

And our four Barons (which include 2 x B58s) are low-time, well-equipped, company-owned (and therefore not able to be taken away by third-party owners, and allowing us to have complete control over maintenance and investment in the equipment) and competitively priced.

Past Student Achievements

We are ideally located to take advantage of the navigation aids and controlled airspace located in Northern NSW & South East Queensland, but are fortunate to be based at a location where we are not forced to pass on the costs of operating at these expensive and time-inefficient aerodromes to our students.

If required, we have comfortable accommodation available for students AT NO COST while they are training with us.

The hourly rates below are accurate as of January 2025, and may change without notice.

Aircraft, Resources & Current Rates

Beechcraft B58 Barons x 2

Our two glass cockpit Beechcraft B58 Barons, VH-JML & VH-PRB, are equipped with Garmin G500txi PFD/MFDs &  Garmin GFC600 autopilots. JML is fitted with dual Garmin 430Ws, Garmin GMX200 MFD displaying traffic & stormscope, ADF, HF radio, UHF radio & integrated digital engine monitoring. PRB is fitted with Garmin 750 & Garmin 650 GNSS units, Garmin MFD displaying Garmin GTS 800 traffic information & Garmin digital weather radar, ADF & integrated digital engine monitoring.

Both of these aircraft are well-presented, low-hour, well-equipped examples of a widely utilised charter machine, and they are deliberately priced and positioned to offer an attractive alternative to the usual but less useful twin training options. They are also utilised on FAST Aviation’s charter & aerial work operations.

Dual BE58 Multi-Engine & IFR training $896.50/VDO hr including GST (paid as you go).
BE58 hire for flight tests and IPCs $830.50/VDO hr including GST (paid as you go).
These rates cover ALL landing fees & operational charges.

Beechcraft B55 Barons x 2

Our two six-pack cockpit Beechcraft B55 Barons, VH-EUZ & VH-BWZ, are both equipped with dual Garmin GI275s (AI & HSI). EUZ is equipped with a Garmin GFC600 autopilot, dual Garmin 430Ws, RMI, DME, HF radio & digital engine monitoring. BWZ, which we purchased in March 2025, is booked in to have a Garmin GFC600 autopilot, dual GTN750/650 GNSS receivers & Garmin digital engine monitoring installed by mid 2025. While equipped with reliable and accurate Garmin digital flight instrumentation and digital autopilots, we have maintained a six pack instrument configuration in these machines to complement our fully glass B58s for our flight training clients.

Both of these aircraft are also utilised on FAST Aviation’s charter & aerial work operations.

Dual BE55 Multi-Engine & IFR training $896.50/VDO hr including GST (paid as you go).
BE55 hire for flight tests and IPCs $830.50/VDO hr including GST (paid as you go).
These rates cover ALL landing fees and operational charges.

Elite Synthetic Trainers x 3

Our three CASA-approved Category B synthetic trainers are economical yet effective instrument training devices. They can be operated as single-engine or multi-engine aircraft, and allow training and testing on all navigation aids including GNSS. They feature a Beechcraft Baron set up that has a very similar panel to our Barons (two have Garmin 430W, and one has Garmin 750), and as such they facilitate an efficient transition from the trainer to our Baron aircraft.

Dual training $225.50/VDO hr including GST

Extras

Flight training in your own aircraft - $220/VDO hr including GST
Long briefings/ground theory - $104.50/hr including GST ($126.50/hr for FIR briefings)
Preflight briefings - no charge

Instrument Proficiency Check flight examiner fee - $935 including GST per IPC (plus aircraft hire if required). If a resit is required, this is charged at our usual dual rate.