I want to fly my own damn skies.

November 2, 2007 3:30 PM

Seattle Area Flight Schools: Who's the best?

I am considering flight school in the Seattle area and expect that there may be a vast difference between offerings from different companies.

I plan on taking an intro class to begin with but wanted to know if there are any here folks who can share some personal experiences with any of the companies between Auburn and Everett. Thanks!

posted by trinity8-director to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

No specific recommendations, but here are some suggestions when you make your decision:

-The biggest factor in my opinion is what type of airport you want to fly out of. You might not have much of a choice, but if you do, figure out whether you want to operate out of a towered or non-towered field. Towered fields give you better experience with ATC and generally have longer runways, but also have much more traffic.
-Talk to an instructor at each school. You're really not looking for an amazing pilot as much as a competent teacher.
-Find out how many instructors and airplanes the school has. The last thing you want is to not be able to schedule flight time because of a backlog. Also try to sneak a peek at their scheduling system to see if they have a lot of airplanes down for maintenance.
-Ask about the school's insurance policy. You won't need it right away, but by the time you solo seriously consider getting your own renter's insurance.
-The very last thing you should look at is the fleet. Obviously the planes should be well-maintained, but honestly you don't need to worry so much about their appearance. Also, don't worry about if the planes have any fancy avionics.

My personal opinion is that you want to learn to fly on an airplane with the bare minimums - no GPS, no glass panel, no avionics other than a couple radios. This will force you to actually learn how to navigate and track your position, and it keeps you looking outside the airplane. Look for fancier equipment if you decide to go for your instrument rating.

Also, put a lock on your kid's college fund. Short of drugs, this will likely be the single most addicting activity you can pick up, and it will drain your wallet faster than you could ever believe. Have fun!
posted by backseatpilot at 3:56 PM on November 2, 2007

The instructor (CFI) is much more important than the flight school. You're going to be spending a lot of time with this person in a very small space under very stressful (for you) conditions. Fly with a few different ones and pick the most compatible one.

Also, read up on "Part 141" schools. That's a decision you have to make up front, whether or not to do it that way. Part 141 is a very structured program with milestones and phase checks and all that; if you're independent minded you might not want that route.

Above all, ignore everything they say about how much it's going to cost, or how many hours it will take. They will give you the lowest possible (i.e. unrealistic) number. Remember, flying doesn't become free after you get your ticket. Think of aviation as a steady $300-$1000 per month expense from this point on, just like your house rent. (Keep in mind, of course, that you can sleep in an airplane but you can't fly a house.)
posted by phliar at 3:57 PM on November 2, 2007

Terrific information. Thanks to both of you.
posted by trinity8-director at 5:05 PM on November 2, 2007

+1 to everything backseatpilot and phliar said.

One caveat on the importance of picking a school based on a CFI. Now is a really competitive time for airline hiring, so there's a lot of turnover in CFIs at a lot of schools. Many CFIs are building hours teaching until they have enough to get a job at a regional and nowadays regionals are hiring at 250 or 300 hours total time with little or no multi time. So, you don't necessarily want to base your decision primarily on liking or not liking your CFI. There are obviously lots of instructors who are not looking to move on, but no one is going to answer the question, "Are you building hours or are you going to be sticking around for a while?" with, "I'm just building hours."

Flying is awesome fun, and flight training is some of the best flying you'll do! Enjoy!
posted by MarkAnd at 6:26 AM on November 3, 2007