Flight Training in Doral, Miami | My Flight Time — Fort Lauderdale
25 minutes north from Doral via I-95 or Palmetto Expressway • 300+ VFR days/year • 12hrs/day, 7 days/week
Flight Training Near Doral
Doral, located in western Miami-Dade County, is home to one of South Florida's largest Latin American communities. My Flight Time at KFXE is approximately 25 minutes north, offering Doral residents competitive flight training and time building programs.
Why Doral Pilots Choose MFT
Doral's large Latin American community includes many pilots seeking FAA license conversion, US-based time building, or complete flight training programs. MFT's foreign license conversion program ($17,500) and competitive time building rates attract many Doral-based international pilots. Our team has experience with pilots from Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and throughout Central America.
Programs Available
Foreign license conversion ($17,500), PPL ($11,750), CPL ($3,125–$10,250), time building from $60/hr. We understand the unique needs of international pilots.
From Doral the trip runs north on the Palmetto Expressway to I-95 or the Turnpike, about twenty-five to thirty-five minutes depending on the hour. Students commuting from the Doral business corridor usually fly mid-morning or after 18:00, both of which avoid the worst of the Palmetto.
How Doral Students Schedule Training
A large share of Doral students arrive holding an ICAO licence from Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil or elsewhere in the region. Those pilots normally begin with FAA verification of their foreign licence, then move into the conversion path and start building US-logged hours immediately — often combining conversion training with a time-building block in the same visit. Pilots starting from zero follow the standard Private-to-Commercial sequence with bilingual ground instruction available throughout.
Local Airports and Routes Doral Pilots Fly
Doral students are already familiar with the Miami side of the airspace, so training emphasises the northern half: Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach controller handoffs, KPMP and KBCT for field variety, and long westbound legs across the Everglades to the Gulf coast. Multi-engine time builders from Doral typically fly extended cross-country blocks that mix Class B, Class C and non-towered arrivals in a single sortie, which is what airline interview panels want to see in a logbook.
What Doral Pilots Get at MFT
25–35 minutes north via the Palmetto and I-95
Foreign licence verification and conversion support
Bilingual ground instruction throughout
Time-building blocks that mix B, C and non-towered fields
Flight Training Services for Doral Pilots
Doral sends us more licensed Latin American pilots than any other city we serve. The breakdown below covers conversion, ratings and hour building the way Doral-based pilots actually use them.
Foreign License Conversion — $17,500
Most Doral inquiries start here. The program handles FAA verification of your Colombian, Venezuelan, Brazilian, Argentine or Central American license, TSA vetting where it applies, required written exams, differences training and the FAA checkrides. Verification through your home authority is the slowest step, so we file it before you start flying. Our staff works in Spanish and Portuguese, and we are direct about which existing hours the FAA credits toward US certificates — that expectation gap is the most common source of frustration for converting pilots.
Time Building — $100/hr down to $60/hr wet
Doral pilots building US hours toward airline minimums use our block rates: single-engine at $100/hr casual, $90/hr at 10 hours, $85/hr at 50, $80/hr at 100, $78/hr at 200, $76/hr at 300 and $60/hr on a 1,500-hour block; multi-engine from $210/hr to $160/hr. Blocks are flown solo, with a safety pilot or split with a second pilot logging cross-country. Twelve-hour days seven days a week mean a pilot on a visit can log serious hours in a couple of weeks rather than a couple of months.
Instrument Rating — $11,500
An FAA instrument rating is usually the credential that makes a converted license commercially useful in the US. Training covers approaches at KFXE, KPMP, KFLL and KBCT, holds, partial panel and IFR cross-country planning, with real IFR conditions mixed in. Doral students commonly pair the rating with a time-building block so the required cross-country hours and the rating progress together instead of sequentially.
Commercial Pilot — $3,125 single-engine, $10,250 multi-engine
Commercial single-engine at $3,125 focuses on the precision maneuver set and commercial tolerances. Multi-engine at $10,250 adds twin time in the Seneca or Duchess with engine-out work, drift-down and single-engine approaches — the multi-engine time most Latin American carriers and US regionals want to see. Doral pilots frequently combine multi-engine commercial with a multi-engine time-building block to reach a specific hour requirement in one visit.
CFI and CFII — $4,250
Instructing is legal, paid hour building for pilots with the right work authorization, and it is the fastest legitimate path from 250 to 1,500 hours. The course covers fundamentals of instruction, right-seat flying, lesson planning and the CFI oral, with CFII included. Bilingual instructors are in constant demand across South Florida, so Doral graduates who instruct here are rarely short of students.
Every rate above is published on our pricing page and the aircraft are listed on the fleet page.
Cost and Timeline for Doral Students
Most Doral pilots are converting or hour building rather than starting from zero, so the relevant numbers are $17,500 for FAA foreign license conversion and block time building at $100 per hour casual single-engine down to $60 per hour on a 1,500-hour block, with multi-engine from $200 to $160 per hour. Adding an FAA instrument rating is $11,500, Commercial Single $3,125 and Commercial Multi-Engine $10,250. For a converting pilot, elapsed time is dominated by license verification through your home authority, not by flying, which is why we file it first. Once you are flying, aircraft availability 12 hours a day seven days a week means a focused pilot can log more than 100 hours in a few weeks. Starting from zero, Private Pilot is $11,750 and takes four to six weeks full time. We are direct about hour credit: the FAA recognises total and cross-country time from your existing logbook, but specific training and recent-experience requirements still apply, and we review your logbook before you spend anything.
Who Trains With Us From Doral
Doral sends us more licensed Latin American pilots than any other city we serve — Colombian, Venezuelan, Brazilian, Argentine and Central American license holders who live in or pass through western Miami-Dade. Some are working toward a US airline job and need FAA certificates plus hours toward 1,500. Others already fly for a carrier at home and need US multi-engine or instrument credentials for a specific requirement. A third group is younger students from Doral families entering aviation from the beginning, often with a parent or relative already flying professionally. The common thread is that these pilots know what they need and want a school that can document it correctly. We produce training records in a form both the FAA and foreign authorities accept, which matters when a conversion back is part of the plan.
How to Get Started From Doral
Send your license, medical and logbook before booking anything. We will review what the FAA credits, tell you what remains, and start license verification with your home authority the same week, since that step controls your timeline. TSA vetting applies to certain courses for non-US citizens and we handle the submission and fingerprinting as part of enrollment. From Doral the drive is roughly 25 minutes via the Palmetto Expressway to I-95, which is fine for part-time training but long twice a day on an intensive schedule — pilots flying a large hour block usually use our accommodations near the field instead. Bilingual staff will walk you through the whole sequence in Spanish or Portuguese if that is easier, including what the checkrides involve and how the oral exam differs from what you may be used to at home.
One more thing for Doral pilots: keep your original logbook and your FAA logbook cleanly separated and consistently totalled. Verification and future employers both check them, and sloppy carry-forward totals are the most common cause of delay we see with converting pilots. Our instructors will show you how to record US flights so both the FAA and your home authority accept the entries, and we keep copies of your training records here in case a carrier or authority asks for them years later.
Other Cities We Train Pilots From
Driving in from somewhere else in South Florida? These pages cover commute times and local routes for nearby cities:
My Flight Time Aviation Academy — Serving Doral Pilots
Our one staffed location at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (KFXE) trains pilots from Doral and across South Florida. These are the exact business details listed everywhere online.
Listed name, address and phone number (NAP) are identical on every page and directory listing.
What Our Students Say
Verified reviews from our Google Business Profile
“Flight Time out of FXE is the best place to build time!! The absolute best prices and of upmost importance to me the flexibility is top notch! I was able to build time incredibly fast while at the same time having a flying job. This allowed me to hit ATP minimums in time for my upcoming class date. The aircraft are well maintained and any squawks are promptly addressed. I was able to forge new friendships and easily hit over 8 hours of flying every day I flew. I would love to highlight the incredible kindness of the staff and emphasize how well they treated me! Shout out to Johnny, Lexi, Mark and Stefan and the other Flight Time staff for all they did to keep the pilot group safe and keep us flying! Blue Skies and Tailwinds!”
“If you’re serious about building time efficiently, this is hands down the best place in the country to do it.
My name is Tony, I’m from Nashville, Tennessee, and I’ve been here since February. I came in with 300 hours and the goal to reach my ATP minimums as quickly and as cost-friendly as possible and this place did that for me. I fly 8 hours every single day and the operation here makes that kind of consistency realistic.
The biggest advantage is the fleet. All the planes are actually well-maintained, reliable aircrafts that you never lose a day of flying because of availability or maintenance. That alone sets this place apart.
The flexibility is amazing. You make your own schedule, go wherever you want, fly when you want, and fly with whoever you want. You can fly as much or as little as you want, which is huge depending on your goals and pace.
On top of that, the pricing is unbeatable. These are EASILY the best priced airplanes you’ll ever fly.
For anyone coming from out of state, they also offer housing, which makes the process easier.
Overall, this is the number one time-building and flight training operation in the nation. If your goal is to build hours quickly, efficiently, and without headaches, there’s no better place to do it.”
“I’m currently in private pilot training, and I’ve really been enjoying everything so far. I’m still in the process, but I’m very grateful I chose this school and I’m excited to keep going.
The instructors are all great, especially Fernando. They are very knowledgeable, patient, and easy to learn from. They take the time to make sure you actually understand things instead of rushing through lessons, which makes a big difference when learning to fly.
What surprised me the most was the size of their fleet they have a lot of Piper and Cessna planes also multi engine planes all in really good condition. It makes me feel very confident in my training knowing the planes are well maintained.
They are also very flexible with scheduling. They really work with you, especially when you’re trying to balance flight training with everything else going on.
Overall, it’s been a great experience so far, and I’m looking forward to finishing all my licenses here at Flight Time.”
“HANDS DOWN, best time building operation in South Florida! Don’t go anywhere else if you’re looking for a good 61 school or a place to build time! The planes are super well maintained with a diverse fleet of aircraft. The school director Cris, is a standup guy as well. Everything is well maintained and the staff are very friendly and accommodating for whatever you need.”
“Flight Time helped me achieve my goal of hitting my ATP minimums. The faculty, the planes, and the people that I met along the way made my journey rewarding and enjoyable. There is no better place than Florida to build your time and polish your skills as a pilot. You won’t find a better place for the price point. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and couldn’t recommend it more.”
“If you’re serious about building time efficiently, this is hands down the best place in the country to do it. I came in with 300 hours and the goal to reach my ATP minimums as quickly and as cost-friendly as possible and this place did that for me. The biggest advantage is the fleet — well-maintained, reliable aircraft, and the pricing is unbeatable. Overall, this is the number one time-building and flight training operation in the nation.”
Does MFT have experience with Latin American pilots?
Yes. We regularly train pilots from Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and throughout Central and South America.
How far is Doral from KFXE?
Approximately 25 minutes via I-95 or the Palmetto Expressway.
Will the FAA credit hours I logged in Colombia or Venezuela?
Some of them. Total time and cross-country experience generally carry over, but specific FAA training requirements and recent-experience rules still apply. We review your logbook up front and tell you plainly what counts before you spend anything.
How many hours can a Doral pilot log in one visit?
With aircraft available 12 hours a day, seven days a week, a focused pilot can log well over 100 hours in a few weeks. Multi-engine blocks run $200 per hour down to $160 per hour, and single-engine blocks fall to $60 per hour at 1,500 hours.
Do you help with TSA approval for Doral-based international pilots?
Yes. TSA vetting applies to certain courses for non-US citizens, and we handle the submission and the fingerprint appointment as part of your enrollment rather than leaving it to you.
Is Doral a practical base for a full-time training program?
Yes for part-time students, though the 25-minute drive twice a day gets long on an intensive schedule. Pilots flying full time or working through a large hour block usually use our accommodations near the field instead.
