Professional Maintenance Oversight
- FAA-certified A&P/IA mechanics
- Strict oversight and documented standards
- 100-hour inspections on all aircraft
- Preventive maintenance beyond FAA requirements
About Pilot Rise
About Pilot Rise is built on the idea that training should produce capable pilots, not just logged hours. Every flight, sim session, and debrief fits into a bigger plan—quality instruction, real mentorship, and a training system inspired by the airlines.
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Beyond FAA MinimumsPersonalized Training
Flexible SchedulingFinancing Available
You learn faster, spend less, and walk away with skills that hold up in real weather and real-world flying. We’re located just north of downtown Fort Worth at Hicks Airport.
Train Smarter. Learn Faster. Spend Less.
About Pilot Rise puts quality first—everything else follows.
Better instruction and smarter systems create safer pilots, reduce wasted hours, and move you through training faster while keeping overall costs down.
1. Free Simulator Integration
- FAA-certified Basic Aviation Training Device (BATD) used in every stage of training
- Free, unlimited student use
- Practice procedures, emergencies, and IFR work without aircraft cost
- Saves thousands while reducing training time
- Allows scenario and emergency training not safe to perform in flight
2. Intelligent Training Records
Our proprietary element-based software system—inspired by airline AQP training—tracks skills, tasks, and knowledge individually instead of locking you into rigid lessons. This keeps training flexible, personalized, and easy to adapt to weather, progress, and your learning needs.
Your instructor can create custom lessons instantly, and any instructor can pick up your training without missing a beat. Switching schools? Your full record exports cleanly for a seamless transition.
- Structured yet incredibly flexible
- Personalized goals; no wasted flights
- Tracks skill trends and recency
- Clear post-lesson study summaries
3. Adaptive Training That Reduces Cancellations
We adjust lessons around conditions with two priorities—Safety and Training Quality. If there’s a safe, productive way to adapt, our instructors find it. If not, we cancel. This reduces unnecessary cancellations and strengthens learning through recency, effect, intensity, and exercise.
- Reduces unnecessary cancellations
- Adapt to weather and conditions safely
- Maintains steady progress through recency, effect, intensity, and exercise
- Ensures every lesson is productive
4. High-Level, Consistent Instructors
- Our instructors receive ongoing training.
- Standardized coaching ensures consistent progress no matter who you fly with
- High teaching quality = fewer plateaus and fewer repeated lessons
- Students learn correctly the first time instead of relearning or breaking habits
5. Learn How to Learn
- We teach you how to study, practice, and self-evaluate
- Strong fundamentals reduce training time
- Better preparation = fewer repeat lessons and faster advancement
- Emphasis on understanding why—not just memorizing steps
- Saves money and time
6. Mandatory Stage Checks
- Required before solo and checkride preparation
- Provides a second instructor’s validation
- Ensures quality, safety, and correct progression
- Prevents bad habits and protects training efficiency
7. Location Advantages
About Pilot Rise serves students across Fort Worth, Dallas, and the DFW area through Hicks Airfield (T67) and Dallas Executive Airport (RBD).
- Hicks Airfield sits about 25 minutes north of Downtown Fort Worth with virtually no departure wait times and direct access to the practice area.
- Dallas Executive gives students a real towered-airport environment with two runways, instrument approaches, and full-service fuel support.
- Nearby towered airports like Alliance and Meacham make it easy to add ATC communication and busy-airport practice without long repositioning flights.
- Natural crosswind exposure, practical airport choices, and shorter taxi or reposition time help keep lessons productive across both campuses.
- Broader DFW coverage means students can choose the airport, airspace, and commute that best fit their schedule and training goals.
Compare both campuses on our Dallas flight school and Fort Worth flight school pages, or see Dallas Executive Airport for more about the Dallas field.
8. Transparent Pricing & Pay-As-You-Go
- First DFW flight school to publish all pricing online
- No required upfront payments for courses
- You pay as you go—you’re not locked in
- Fair, simple, predictable
9. Financing Options
- Financing available for Zero-to-Hero or individual certificates
- Partnerships with multiple lenders
- Accepts third-party financing as well
- Quick online application process
10. Accelerated Programs
- Accelerated options available for faster completion
- Ideal for motivated students or career-bound pilots
- Uses all the efficiency advantages mentioned above to shorten timelines
Safety and Maintenance You Can Trust
About Pilot Rise treats safety as a system, not a slogan. It doesn’t start at the runway; it starts in the hangar. Our aircraft are cared for by FAA-certified mechanics in an on-site facility, inspected on tight intervals, and kept up to date with modern avionics so you’re not training on museum pieces.
On the pilot side, every instructor follows a structured, school-wide safety program built on clear weather minimums, checklists, and decision-making standards. The result is simple: reliable airplanes, consistent judgment, and a culture where “safe enough” is never the goal.
Professional Maintenance Oversight
- FAA-certified A&P/IA mechanics
- Strict oversight and documented standards
- 100-hour inspections on all aircraft
- Preventive maintenance beyond FAA requirements
Reliability You Can Count On
- Dedicated on-site maintenance facility
- Same-day repairs whenever possible
- Thorough airworthiness checks
- Proven Cessna 172/150 fleet and modern avionics
Safety Built Into Every Flight
- Safety is a system, not a slogan
- Published weather minimums
- Rigorous hiring, oversight, and instructor development
- Safety Policy, Risk Management, Safety Assurance, Safety Promotion
Proactive Risk Management
- Risks identified and mitigated before every flight
- Conditions reassessed in flight and adapted as needed
- Threats handled early to prevent errors or unsafe states
- Open reporting and trend monitoring
Training Beyond the Minimums
The FAA standards are the foundation. Pilot Rise also integrates 17 additional real-world training experiences covering judgment, aircraft control, systems, navigation, emergency response, and complex airspace. They are part of our training approach, not a separate enhancement package. Normal aircraft and instructor charges apply, total training time varies, and some experiences depend on weather, equipment, airport access, and student readiness.
Explore All 17 Training Enhancements- Advanced Crosswind Training
- Class B Operations
- Emergency Scenarios in the Simulator
- Pilotage and Navigation Without GPS
Our Story and Mission - About Pilot Rise
About Pilot Rise started with a simple question: “If this were my family learning to fly, would this be good enough?” At the school where he first instructed, founder Michael Forseth watched students rushed from lesson to lesson, boxes checked while his suggestions for better training were brushed aside. Most passed their checkrides, but they weren’t truly ready for real flying beyond the test—so they paid for more training later or carried gaps that could lead to violations, accidents, or failed training at the airlines.
Michael knew flight training didn’t have to be that way. In 2018, he founded Pilot Rise with a simple promise: quality instruction, real mentorship, and training that produces safe, confident pilots who actually feel ready to fly on their own. The goal was never to be the biggest school, but to be the place where those words actually mean something. Here, we slow down when it matters, drill the fundamentals until they feel natural, and push you when you’re ready—not just when the syllabus says so—so you can step into real flying with confidence.
That focus paid off. The students who set their sights on an airline career have gone on to fly for major carriers—not because we took shortcuts, but because they started with solid fundamentals and one-on-one guidance from instructors who care how they turn out. And we’re just as committed to anyone who simply wants to learn to fly well, whether the goal is weekend trips, business flying, or finally chasing a lifelong dream of getting in the air.
That same commitment was recognized in 2025, when AOPA named Pilot Rise a Distinguished Flight School and placed us among the top seven schools in the South Central United States. For a small operation at a local airport, it was a big confirmation that doing things the right way matters.
Today, Michael is an airline pilot and still keeps his hands on the controls of training at Pilot Rise. He works with our instructors to make sure every student experience reflects our core values of Quality, Mentorship, Safety, and Value. Our mission is unchanged: to help people achieve their goals in aviation through real teaching, strong fundamentals, and a thoughtful, honest approach to flight training.
Why Pilot RiseIf you have trained with us and want to share what that experience was like for future students, you can leave feedback on our review page.
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