The business aviation training industry built an infrastructure almost entirely around simulation — because simulation is cheaper, more controllable, and more schedulable than aircraft operations. All of that is true. What is also true is that a pilot who has completed a type rating in a simulator and never flown the actual aircraft is not the same as a pilot who has done both.
"What would a type rating program look like if the organization had the capital, the aircraft, the certifications, and the instructors to include actual flight time in every program — without compromise?"
That question is what Apex was built to answer.
Apex Jet Academy is a FAA-certificated Part 142 training center operating at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (KFXE). Every program offered at Apex includes actual aircraft time — not as an option, not as an upgrade, and not at additional cost. That is not a marketing claim. It is a structural feature of every program Apex operates.
The organization operates 90 aircraft across 30 type certificates — owned outright, maintained in-house by factory-authorized technicians, and available for training without the scheduling constraints that force simulator-only programs to be the default. The fleet was not assembled incrementally. It was funded, selected, and acquired as a complete inventory before the first student enrolled.
Apex holds 60 Training Center Evaluator (TCE) designations across all 30 aircraft types. A TCE designation is the FAA authorization that allows an Apex check airman to conduct the practical test in the actual aircraft — not in a simulator. Without that designation, a practical test can only be conducted by an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector or in a simulator. Apex holds all 60 designations. Most training organizations hold none.