Learning to fly
November 23, 2010 8:19 AM Subscribe
Learning to fly a plane in the US -- suggestions and resources
What are some good schools in the US for a private pilot's license?
This is not for flying commercial, just a visual flight PPL through an accelerated program. (You go there for 3 - 4 weeks, work intensively, and get your license -- if you pass.) The medical and visa part are already taken care of.
- Looking for accelerated flight schools only. Any part of the country is fine. Any recommendations for particular instructors would also be much appreciated.
- I've heard it's a good idea to do ground school through distance learning before to be more prepared and spend the time at the school more profitably. Which distance learning programs have you used and liked?
- Other suggestions for books to read, blogs to read, resources, things one should know, etc.
What are some good schools in the US for a private pilot's license?
This is not for flying commercial, just a visual flight PPL through an accelerated program. (You go there for 3 - 4 weeks, work intensively, and get your license -- if you pass.) The medical and visa part are already taken care of.
- Looking for accelerated flight schools only. Any part of the country is fine. Any recommendations for particular instructors would also be much appreciated.
- I've heard it's a good idea to do ground school through distance learning before to be more prepared and spend the time at the school more profitably. Which distance learning programs have you used and liked?
- Other suggestions for books to read, blogs to read, resources, things one should know, etc.
Sporty's is a big name in flight training. They have the accelerated training you're looking for, but if nothing else, they have some great home-study DVDs that I used to pass the written.
One thing to consider - I know you said your fine with any part of the country, but I would suggest heading south (e.g. Florida has a ton of flight schools) if you're going to do this training anytime between October - March. Its not to say you can't train further north during these times, but you're more likely to run into cancelled flight training days due to poor visibility or bad weather conditions.
posted by dicaxpuella at 8:54 AM on November 23, 2010
One thing to consider - I know you said your fine with any part of the country, but I would suggest heading south (e.g. Florida has a ton of flight schools) if you're going to do this training anytime between October - March. Its not to say you can't train further north during these times, but you're more likely to run into cancelled flight training days due to poor visibility or bad weather conditions.
posted by dicaxpuella at 8:54 AM on November 23, 2010
Excellent! What backseatpilot said. I think people tend to recommend Florida or Arizona where you're likely to be able to fly most days, but I trained in Ohio and Massachusetts and didn't have too many canceled lessons. I always enjoyed training a lot more in winter than summer -- the only really bad part about winter training in the north is the part before you get into the plane.
I would find the school/instructor first and ask what they want you to do before coming. The PPL written info is stuff you'll need to know for the oral, so I don't think it makes sense to study for it intensively beforehand. The PPL is not that hard. I found the King School DVDs not terrible if you do want to dig in beforehand.
The AOPA and Pilots of America boards are not bad places to ask about flight schools.
posted by MarkAnd at 9:08 AM on November 23, 2010
I would find the school/instructor first and ask what they want you to do before coming. The PPL written info is stuff you'll need to know for the oral, so I don't think it makes sense to study for it intensively beforehand. The PPL is not that hard. I found the King School DVDs not terrible if you do want to dig in beforehand.
The AOPA and Pilots of America boards are not bad places to ask about flight schools.
posted by MarkAnd at 9:08 AM on November 23, 2010
I did ground school when I was 16, and passed the FAA written test with something around a 94%. I scheduled my checkride when I was 18, about 2 months before my written test expired (24 calendar months).
Short story short, even though I reviewed to a level I thought was appropriate, I failed the oral. The examiner decided to take an unofficial checkride with me, which I "passed". 3 years later, I still haven't built up the confidence/money/time to go back and finish my license.
Lesson: do not dawdle. Self-study ground school is excellent, and they usually offer a "pass or refund" policy, but make sure to stay on top of the material between the test and your checkride
posted by bodaciousllama at 12:14 PM on November 23, 2010
Short story short, even though I reviewed to a level I thought was appropriate, I failed the oral. The examiner decided to take an unofficial checkride with me, which I "passed". 3 years later, I still haven't built up the confidence/money/time to go back and finish my license.
Lesson: do not dawdle. Self-study ground school is excellent, and they usually offer a "pass or refund" policy, but make sure to stay on top of the material between the test and your checkride
posted by bodaciousllama at 12:14 PM on November 23, 2010
backseatpilot's right about a Part 141 school. I'd start looking for one by joining AOPA and asking on the forum or looking at magazine advertisements.
A couple of caveats.. Many of the part 141 programs are targeted to foreigners who want to inexpensively become commercial pilots. Here in the Bay Area we have a school full of Indian students, another full of Japanese students, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but you may want to pick a program with students like yourself. Also there's a lot of sad stories in pilot training programs where the school takes the money and then goes out of business. Pick a program that's been around for awhile and has a good reputation.
posted by Nelson at 1:43 PM on November 23, 2010
A couple of caveats.. Many of the part 141 programs are targeted to foreigners who want to inexpensively become commercial pilots. Here in the Bay Area we have a school full of Indian students, another full of Japanese students, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but you may want to pick a program with students like yourself. Also there's a lot of sad stories in pilot training programs where the school takes the money and then goes out of business. Pick a program that's been around for awhile and has a good reputation.
posted by Nelson at 1:43 PM on November 23, 2010
Response by poster: Anyone have personal recommendations about the school they went to? I've joined AOPA and looked around, but I value the opinions of those on the green.
posted by alternateuniverse at 3:57 PM on November 23, 2010
posted by alternateuniverse at 3:57 PM on November 23, 2010
I wish I could help you, but like most US pilots I got my PPL via Part 61, a much more casual program of a few hours of instruction a week from an independent CFI. This AOPA advice on choosing a flight school might be a good place for you to start.
posted by Nelson at 4:13 PM on November 23, 2010
posted by Nelson at 4:13 PM on November 23, 2010
Well, I learned to fly here. This was almost ten years ago, and I haven't been back in about five or six years, so I don't know how the facilities have changed. They were fairly experienced with Part 141 students, but I didn't go through that program. There's a motel and a restaurant on the field if you wanted to stay there and do nothing but work on your instruction. They use the King DVD series for ground instruction and they had a VFR/IFR simulator when I was there. The fleet was pretty aged, but sturdy and well-maintained.
I've flown out of a couple different airports and used a few flight schools' planes in the Boston area and all the instructors and ground crew have always been incredibly nice. Can't speak to any of their programs, since I just rent aircraft from them.
One thing I do want to mention, and I would consider it one of the dirty little secrets of flight instruction - instructors do not stick around for long. Flight instruction is seen by most professional pilots as "time building" in order to log enough hours to qualify for a slot at an airline. So, I could tell you a number of CFIs I had a great experience with, but they've all moved on by this point.
On the other hand, as a Part 141 student you're a guaranteed source of income for at least a month or two, so the instructors should be pretty accommodating to you.
posted by backseatpilot at 4:17 PM on November 23, 2010
I've flown out of a couple different airports and used a few flight schools' planes in the Boston area and all the instructors and ground crew have always been incredibly nice. Can't speak to any of their programs, since I just rent aircraft from them.
One thing I do want to mention, and I would consider it one of the dirty little secrets of flight instruction - instructors do not stick around for long. Flight instruction is seen by most professional pilots as "time building" in order to log enough hours to qualify for a slot at an airline. So, I could tell you a number of CFIs I had a great experience with, but they've all moved on by this point.
On the other hand, as a Part 141 student you're a guaranteed source of income for at least a month or two, so the instructors should be pretty accommodating to you.
posted by backseatpilot at 4:17 PM on November 23, 2010
Why does he have to go Part 141? Accelerated training, as I understand it, works better in the 61 environment vs. 141. Or am I misunderstanding?
posted by Thistledown at 10:18 PM on November 23, 2010
posted by Thistledown at 10:18 PM on November 23, 2010
Part 141 is exactly designed for this sort of schedule - it would be like taking a community college course (in fact, here's one). Part 61 is meant more for your weekend warrior - think of it as taking $300 piano lessons.
Part 141 is usually pay-up-front, which gets you ground instruction, a certain number of hours in the air, and some other benefits. Part 61 you pay as you go, full price. Part 141 is usually discounted slightly, and the hours requirements are less (because, theoretically, you don't need to relearn all the stuff you forgot from your last lesson two weeks ago before you get on to the new stuff).
posted by backseatpilot at 6:05 AM on November 24, 2010
Part 141 is usually pay-up-front, which gets you ground instruction, a certain number of hours in the air, and some other benefits. Part 61 you pay as you go, full price. Part 141 is usually discounted slightly, and the hours requirements are less (because, theoretically, you don't need to relearn all the stuff you forgot from your last lesson two weeks ago before you get on to the new stuff).
posted by backseatpilot at 6:05 AM on November 24, 2010
Response by poster: The community college programs look amazing! Where might I find a list of accelerated cc programs? Google is not working too well.
posted by alternateuniverse at 6:24 AM on December 1, 2010
posted by alternateuniverse at 6:24 AM on December 1, 2010
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The accelerated program should include ground instruction. You may want to get your hands on a book before starting training, but I wouldn't bother doing the whole training or trying to pass the written test before showing up. In fact, I wouldn't even know how you would take the exam outside of the US.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:38 AM on November 23, 2010