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CAPTAIN KURT FISTER IS A SCAM ARTIST


Laura

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I just want to let anyone that is looking to buy equipment and train through Captain Kurt Fister FLIGHT JUNKIES to NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, my husband spent over ten thousand dollars we drove down to Florida so he could train with KURT he deceived my husband and wasted our time. We were in Florida for 2 weeks arrived on a Friday and left two weeks later on Saturday. Yes I will say Kurt can’t control the weather but he had two full weeks to train my husband. The Thursday before we left a 24yr old kid showed up for training his first Day and Kurt put him in the simulator he never once put my husband in it, told him he didn’t put you in the simulator till you were ready to fly, yet he was putting this kid on his first day of kitting with only two hours of kiting, another thing we have only been gone from Florida for two days which means he has only had 5 days with this kid and of the five three days the weather was bad, yet he already has a video of him in the air flying his paramotor, MY HUSBAND NEVER EVEN GOT OFF THE GROUND AND WE WERE THERE 14 DAYS!!! It was pay back cause when we sent the money to him, he told us to make sure he didn’t have to sign for it, to have the mail service leave it at the door. The  post officer protecting us highlighted signature required which pissed Kurt off, cause he had to track the mail down cause he was leaving the next day, that’s number one. Number two he tried like hell to get my husband to go with a trike and he kept telling him NO he wanted to foot launch. Every day my husband drove 2 hours to go train, KURT told him to call him every morning at 9 so he could check the weather and every day he never answered his phone, not ONE DAY. when he would go over to Deltona Kurt would be distracted, with family, or phone calls, shooting the crap, instead of focusing on training my husband. His attention span is about as long as a two-year-olds penis. He tells one story after another that he doesn’t even remember what he says, he is a bullshitter every word out of his mouth is bullshit. As a guy he seemed decent but as a business person and trainer he is the worst I’ve ever encountered. He would tell us one thing and than not even remember what he said. He said he wanted my husband in Deltona so he could show up at a moments notice so we got a hotel room, with our 5yr old, so my husband could train, and when we arrived he was like you shouldn’t have came over without checking with him first even though he said he wanted us in Deltona. COME ON MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Now my husband has to spend more money to have someone train him, so he can use his equipment he bought, cause Kurt is a joke. Please please be careful if you decide to go with Flight Junkies. He doesn’t do anything in his business name, checks are made out to HIM personally, which I think is sketchy, he doesn’t give receipts, when you ask for one he makes excuses to why he can’t. I believe HES DOING SOMETHING ILLEGAL. The whole trip was a complete waste of time, Kurt acts like your suppose to know everything about paramotoring when you are there to train and you’ve never done it before.He doesn’t show or explain anything just expects you to watch him and pick it up. There was one other guy who showed up the same day we did and the way Kurt pushed the trike the other guy paid the extra $2500.00 for a trike even though he told my husband and I he wasn’t doing a trike, but ended up cause Kurt pushed so hard, I honestly think he was punishing my husband for the whole mail signing thing and not going with a trike, so it was easier on Kurt. This man should not be in business, and I just want others to know what we went through. 

UPDATE

Kurt contacted my husband and was furious about this post.When he first called my husband he thought he might be calling about coming back to finish up training but that was not the case.The only  reason for his call was to try and get this post removed.When he didn’t get the answer he wanted he was  very belligerent it started screaming at my husband. My husband hung up on him then Kurt called him back a little while later and still didn’t get the answer he wanted ,my husband had to hang up on him a second time.This guy is so full of himself, he doesn’t care about anybody but himself. My husband said that all Kurt did was bash other trainers on  A frequent basis when they were training.Would  anyone expected anything less from the Captain. Anybody that has a 5 foot tall cardboard cut out of themselves in his living room is definitely full of himself. All  I can say is narcissist.  Captain Kurt is just ruining this sport because all he does is run his  mouth about everybody that he is threatened by. He needs to do the paramotoring  Community a favor and just stop the bashing because everyone is sick and tired of this kind of behavior and want it to end. A little advice from someone that made mistakes getting into para motoring Is to get your training first, pay the money for training. The reason that they get so much money for training is because they supply the equipment you train on and training takes more than three days if it is a quality trainer. Remember there’s no such thing as free anymore and if it is free there is probably  a problem with it. 

 

 

Edited by Laura
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I'm always dubious of most american trainers who go online and just slag others off, if your that good why try humiliate and abuse other trainers.

Laura are you UK based and went to USA for holiday or permanent US based ?, only asking i know someone who can help but only if your in UK.,

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My trainer was also training a guy Kurt pushed to a trike. Obvious that he pushes people to trikes if they "aren't getting it" and probably makes more profit too. He may not charge for training explicitly but you are paying for in the gear cost. Mind I ask what wing he sold? At least he seems to have been selling a wing made design within the last decade from his newer videos. 

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Unfortunately from personal experience a large percentage of American training places are more interested in the bottom line than getting you trained safely and flying safely. Last I saw he pushed Edel gliders...not sure where they come from since they have not been made for many years. I talked to many trainers back when I was trained and turned away from many after just a five minute conversation. Finally found a good one and been flying ever since.

 

BH

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It could be worse, at least you didn’t buy a flat top.

Let Laura’s experience be a lesson to our American cousins, there are two people you just don’t go near,  Mr Fister and his arch nemesis, Dell Schanz’ - turns out they are both utter cunts.

Who’d have thought..

 

 

 

 

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Carrying on the Capt Kurt line i normally ignore youtube video's regarding Paramotor Trainers, but earlier today i watched one of his and he's bigging up Freshbreeze Paramotor and trike both brand new, but my surprise was he goes i'll show how easy it is to start these brand new products,

IMO total madness as he starts the Paramotor on the floor even after checking throttle operation, but then after starting the Paramotor whist still on the floor he proceeds to go large handfuls of throttle, obviously the owner is unaware of lack of breaking in procedure and Capt Kurt don't give a stuff as it's not his, and must of never seen or heard about safety starting procedures and subsequent accidents from said actions.

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On 27/03/2019 at 08:41, kiwi k said:

I'm always dubious of most american trainers who go online and just slag others off, if your that good why try humiliate and abuse other trainers.

Laura are you UK based and went to USA for holiday or permanent US based ?, only asking i know someone who can help but only if your in UK.,

KIWI K no I am US based, and live about 1300 miles away from Flight Junkies. Thank you for offering to help but live in the US. 

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21 hours ago, Bluebanshee said:

My trainer was also training a guy Kurt pushed to a trike. Obvious that he pushes people to trikes if they "aren't getting it" and probably makes more profit too. He may not charge for training explicitly but you are paying for in the gear cost. Mind I ask what wing he sold? At least he seems to have been selling a wing made design within the last decade from his newer videos. 

Yes Kurt does push to a trike he tried and tried but we were very stern on foot launch. It weren’t the fact that my husband couldn’t get the foot launch it was he wasn’t even showing him how just wanted to push the trike, because he owns the company that makes the trike, but has someone else build them for him. That was out of his mouth not second hand information. The wing is the air design. 

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19 hours ago, papagyo said:

Unfortunately from personal experience a large percentage of American training places are more interested in the bottom line than getting you trained safely and flying safely. Last I saw he pushed Edel gliders...not sure where they come from since they have not been made for many years. I talked to many trainers back when I was trained and turned away from many after just a five minute conversation. Finally found a good one and been flying ever since.

 

BH

I am glad you found a good trainer and are flying. Wish we could have gotten him up in the air. That is what my husband did he talked to many trainers and passed on them, when we found Kurt we honestly thought he was a standup, honest guy, loved training and getting his customers in the air safely and with good instructions. However that was not this case. The only two things that Kurt is concerned about is making a buck, and putting another notch on his belt when someone gets in the air. 

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19 hours ago, Patrick1 said:

It could be worse, at least you didn’t buy a flat top.

Let Laura’s experience be a lesson to our American cousins, there are two people you just don’t go near,  Mr Fister and his arch nemesis, Dell Schanz’ - turns out they are both utter cunts.

Who’d have thought..

 

 

 

 

I couldn’t have worded it better myself. Writing with a smile on my and my husbands face lol. They are ruining the sport. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

He's a very convincing guy.   But it makes sense that a guy who has a cardboard cut out of himself is probably a bit of a narcissist.

I was honestly all set to start buying equipment from him and schedule training.   But his claim that ONLY FRESH BREEZE has Nikasil linings and/or roller crank bearings gave me a hint that something wasn't right.    Then when I saw a Fresh Breeze motor and the one position attachment point for the harness at the top, I was convinced that the quality just wasn't there.

Thanks for the post Laura.   Many other posts have obvious "other" motivations for their posts and it's easy to see that.  But your post seems genuine.   Good luck and be safe.

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On 27/03/2019 at 17:42, Patrick1 said:

It could be worse, at least you didn’t buy a flat top.

Uh oh.   I saw Mark Hunnicutt's flight and review of the Flat Top and Dell's video on the comparison of the FT to the FB.   Dell seemed on point on that video and many agreed.  I noticed the FT had MUCH better netting behind the pilot where the FB has large gaps and wide openings. 

   Flat Top = Fresh Breeze ??   DANG!   So are there ANY good Paramotors out there?

 

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Here we go.. I can’t help myself.

It’s not so much the equipment as the person who sells it.

Dude, us Brits are a bit subtle and no one on this forum likes to be a dick and speak Ill of people but... well, let me speak bluntly.

Experienced folks will generally tell you that there are two people who you should probably avoid - Mr Dell schanz and Mr Fister. Both will say and do anything to make money from you, both have negative attention. Fister is just a little bit dodgy like a car salesman but dell is dodgy and dangerous. One sells fresh breeze, the other sells Flat top. 

Not sure there is any thing majorly wrong with either a fresh breeze or a flat top from a technical or safety perspective (though there are probably better machines out there) the issue is the people who sell them.

Both these characters are good at marketing and get hold of newbies who buy their sales pitch (which is mostly total bullshit).  Both make great videos which we all enjoy and I’m sure they both have some some happy students somewhere but they also have too many black marks and crossed too many people. Basically, I’d recommend avoiding their gear and training based on neg experiences of others.

 

 

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Unless you have posted this elsewhere then this must mean that the Captain is among us if he called you about this post... But I have to thank you for the heads up while this is a mainly uk forum I know that there us members here and im sure that there are people who travel or consider traveling  to the US for training.

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  • 4 months later...

I’m brand new to this sport to the point that I’m untrained, don’t own any equipment, and not well enough educated to know what questions I should be asking to begin with.  Therefore, I’m not going to bash anyone, but I’m not about to start complimenting them either.  I will say this for Kurt Fister...he was the first and so far the ONLY one to reach out to me with regards to training.  I have no intention to go out flying without first being proper trained.  I take my safety very seriously.  Obviously the “FREE TRAINING” caught my attention, buy certainly not enough to keep it there.  That’s because I have no problem with the thought of paying for training.  In fact, I fully expected to do so.  I also want to go through a standardized training course that uses a training syllabus that outlines to the trainer exactly what the students are supposed to away from each of the various parts of their training.  I certainly know enough to expect at least that much.    Admittedly, my background as a certified Master Training Specialists in the United States Navy as an Electronic Warfare Instructor and Course Manager taught me that.   I won’t go out flying unless I know that I’m fully capable of flying safely.

When Kurt reached out, he did push his trike though, but may have done so because I’m a disabled Veteran with a horrendously bad back that’s been fused from the lower ribs on down to the bottom.  So a trike certainly doesn’t sound like a bad idea. However, I’ve also been using a personal trainer to get myself back in shape for more than 4 years now, so a foot launched paramotor certainly isn’t out of the question.  In fact, I’m leaning towards that route.  After watching numerous videos, I just like having more options available for taking off and landing.   That and the idea of sitting in what amounts to little more than a boat chair with a lap belt while flying up to several thousand feet in the air really doesn’t sound all that safe, especially when you have as much bad luck as I’ve had.  I can’t possibly over emphasize just how bad my luck really is.  I had another guy, who I asked about an HVAC compressor warranty during a repair, tell me that I really didn’t need to worry about it, because it was just a fluke that the first one broke.  He told me I was just “paranoid” about the bad luck thing.  Less than an hour later, my house was struck by lightning.  There’s another reason why I would skip on this specific trike...Kurt pointed out that his trike is stronger because of it’s steel tubular frame.  I can’t say it is or isn’t.  I’m just not knowledgeable enough to know either way.  But while that might be strong, it presents another issue I can’t dismiss...RUST.  Rust is a very serious issue when you live only three blocks off the ocean.  I’m not talking about surface rust on the outside that undoubtedly would start to take place in just a season or two, but rust on the inside of the tubular walls, where it can’t be seen.  ANYTHING THAT CAN CORRODE DOES CORRODE HERE.  Thus, that’s also going to be a priority issue when I purchase my first paramotor setup as well.  

I certainly appreciate any advice I can get going forward that aides in educating me on the sport of Paramotoring.  I’m really excited to be getting into this.  It’s always been a major desire of mine to be able to go out and fly.  I can’t wait!!!   BUT I WILL.  That’s because I want to do this right.  I especially want to be completely safe (if there is such a thing...nothing is EVER 100% completely safe, but I at least know enough to mitigate the dangers to the lowest extent possible).  So even before I start getting professionally trained, I’m reading books and researching throughout the Internet.  That way I’ll be well enough prepared that once I’m in school and buying my own equipment, I’ll at least know what I should be asking upfront.  I used that approach when I get certified for Scuba diving years ago and have never once had any sort of incident of any kind whatsoever.  And statistically, scuba diving is considerably MORE dangerous than Paramotoring, or even skydiving for that matter. 

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I have had 5 spinal fusions and 2 discectomies (3 emergencies to relieve paralasys). I am fused from thoracic to pelvis and have a 30 degree froward bend. I now cannot walk more than a few meters unaided. I still foot launch because it is fun and more convenient than trying to get a trike out. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I did a lot of research and found Fresh Breeze to be well built and reliable.

The only problem is, the person or people you buy them off, Fresh Breeze are a well respected company and it’s a shame they even allow Fister to promote for them and scam people.

Our rep in the UK is the one to talk to.

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  • 1 year later...

Got sucked in for $1,000 for his "free" training. The entire course was some online videos and a commonly available flight checklist. The idea of sending people up without giving them ground handling school was absurd. Without being able to properly maneuver the trike on the ground, take off and landings can be extremely hazardous. My trike has the exhaust right behind my head, so without noise cancelling comms, I couldn't hear him... almost flew into the forest on aborted takeoff. The guy before me was a foot launcher with a new machine, probably could not hear either. He crashed and did damage to the engine cage and prop. All on the first "flight". He hadn't accelerated fast enough for takeoff.

Everyone seems to be more or less correct... two days and bye. The few that get airborne are without doubt, entering a dangerous arena of crap training and a false sense of security. I can only suggest that people read up on him before committing a nickel to his coffers. The people showing up are suckers for his show and tell. Good luck.

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  • 2 months later...

I'm late to the party....but I'm here.

My name is Scott. I am an RC guy with a huge interest in Paramotors. I was initially drawn to Kurt for more reasons than just his training.

I have in the last year gone back and forth on whether I believe in the guy or not. I actually find myself wanting to believe in the guy but with every 2nd step forward I go back 5 steps to a red flag.

That said, I am currently working on a YouTube video project entitled "A Message In Response to Kurt Fister's Message To Tucker Gott".

It is a project I am carefully drafting to be sure it is backed by verifiable sources and void of hearsay. It will be respectful, but to the point. 

I will post here on this thread when done 

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On 10/04/2021 at 11:04, Scott Steward said:

"A Message In Response to Kurt Fister's Message To Tucker Gott".

If my memory served, Kurt's vid was a cheap shot at utilising Tuckers popularity for his own ends.
If Tucker hurt himself (a risk we all take) Kurt would be all "I told you so".... "I am the oracle of all wisdom" etc. etc......

Its a horribly cynical tactic to crowbar the cracks that we ALL carry, including Fister.
RISK... We all aim to minimise it without removing the spice and we all like different amounts of spice :) 

If Kurt followed his own advice, he might cut the pies and get a stair-master... But why should he... And why should Tucker dial back his own risk-reward dial?

 

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  • 3 months later...

My experience was almost identical to Laura’s and I could write a book about my experience. The ‘training’ was an absolute joke and Kurt was rude and belittling of everyone. After I got back home, I got quality instruction from a guy who had been flying for decades. He told me there’s only two people uniformly hated in the paragliding world; Captain Kurt and Dell Schanze. I believe it! Stay away from either of these guys!

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  • 2 years later...

I have been a paraglider instructor for almost 30 years. I am certified, these paramotor instructors. Most of them are not certified just because far isn't demanding of them to have certifications in the paragliding community. You're not flying someone else or teaching them. Unless you've got an advanced rating and experience to become eligible to get into an instructor course, to get a chance at receiving instructor certification. Beware of these guys that say training's free. Nothing's free and especially in this man's case. I've heard a lot of bad s*** about him for 20 years.

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