Google ratings
Best Flight Schools in Iowa (2026)
8 airplane flight schools clear the 10-review floor in Iowa. The highest review-weighted Google ratings in Iowa are Future Flyers of Iowa (Winterset), Vertical Vision Flight Academy (Des Moines), and ATD PILOT TRAINING, LLC (CEDAR RAPIDS).
Google rating, not an FSI score.
Last updated October 28, 2026 · Newest stored listing or Google Places timestamp among schools that cleared the review floor for this page
Qualifying schools
| # | School | City | Google rating | Reviews | Part 141 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Future Flyers of Iowa | Winterset, IA | 5.0 | 36 | — |
| 2 | Vertical Vision Flight Academy | Des Moines, IA | 4.9 | 168 | — |
| 3 | ATD PILOT TRAINING, LLC | CEDAR RAPIDS, IA | 4.9 | 40 | Part 141 |
| 4 | IOWA LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE | SPENCER, IA | 4.9 | 32 | Part 141 |
| 5 | CARVER AERO, LLC | COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA | 4.8 | 37 | Part 141 |
| 6 | MORNINGSIDE UNIVERSITY | SIOUX CITY, IA | 4.7 | 55 | Part 141 |
| 7 | INDIAN HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE | OTTUMWA, IA | 4.0 | 100 | Part 141 |
| 8 | COE COLLEGE | CEDAR RAPIDS, IA | 3.9 | 54 | Part 141 |
How this list is made
Airplane schools need at least 10 Google reviews. Listings that share a Google Place id count once. Order is a review-weighted average of the stored Google rating. The prior is the unweighted mean of the Google rating among every airplane school in that scope that remains after the review floor and the one-row-per-Place-id rule, not only the schools shown in the table. Google rating, not a FlightSchoolIntel quality score. Google rating, not an FSI score. Each page shows at most 10 schools and does not publish the rest of the list. Metro pages use a 30-mile radius from a city-center point. A city with fewer than 5 qualifying schools has no article of its own. Schools without map coordinates stay off metro pages and can still appear on a state page. Methodology
Questions
- How is this list ordered?
- Airplane listings need at least 10 Google reviews. Rows that share a Google Place id are one listing. Order is a review-weighted average of the stored Google rating. The prior is the unweighted mean of the Google rating among every airplane school in that scope that remains after the review floor and the one-row-per-Place-id rule, not only the schools shown in the table. Google rating, not a FlightSchoolIntel quality score. Google rating, not an FSI score. The weighted average is not published as a score. This page shows at most 10 schools.
- Is this every flight school in Iowa?
- No. This page shows all 8 airplane schools in Iowa that clear the 10-review floor. It is not a complete directory of every listed school. Schools with fewer reviews are left off.
- How many schools on this page have an FAA Part 141 certificate number?
- 6 of the 8 schools on this page have an FAA Part 141 certificate number on file. The Part 141 label is shown only when that number is stored.
- Who is listed first on this page?
- First is Future Flyers of Iowa in Winterset, with a Google rating of 5.0 from 36 reviews. Second is Vertical Vision Flight Academy in Des Moines, with a Google rating of 4.9 from 168 reviews. Third is ATD PILOT TRAINING, LLC in CEDAR RAPIDS, with a Google rating of 4.9 from 40 reviews.
- Which cities appear in this table?
- Cities in this table: Winterset, Des Moines, CEDAR RAPIDS, SPENCER, COUNCIL BLUFFS, SIOUX CITY, OTTUMWA.