FlyingToIST said:
What makes you to decide to take lessons from flight school A, vs. flight school B?
Is it newer airplanes? Or do you prefer a bit beat up but cheap?
New planes, new paint jobs, now anything is pointless. Safety is the point! Most trainers haven’t changed in the past 30 years, so new ones are just old ones with new interiors and avionics. New paint jobs look nice, but don’t contribute to flying safely, nor do new interiors. New avionics are good, but when getting your private, you should be looking out the windows to fly, not at the fancy LCD displays inside. Make sure the airplane is well maintained. The engine compartment should be clean, the interior of the aircraft should be clean. Newer is
Do you prefer online scheduling, or good old paper and pencil?
On-line scheduling is nice, but don’t pay a penny extra for it.
Does the office, teaching environment have an impact on your decision?
It should be clean and professional. The environment should be conducive to learning, nothing more. Every $ they spend on their lobby is a extra $ you pay for training.
Do you prefer "accelerated" training?
I do. See the 61 vs. 141 thread for more info on the differences. I’ve done both, and I think 141 pilots are more knowledgeable pilots. More knowledgeable pilots are safer pilots. Safer pilots are better pilots. It’s that simple. 141 training is also similar to military flight training, which is the best in the world. My personal opinion only. Good pilots can and do come from either side. You’ll get out of it what you put into it.
Do block rates mean anything to you? Can you live without them or are they a must?
Block rates are cheaper prices for the same hours. If you’re gonna’ need 60 hours to get your private, you might as well save some $. Anywhere that doesn’t offer block would have to explain to me why they don’t, b/c I don’t get it.
Is taking flight lessons an alternative to , say, golf, or just a simple past time thing that can be easly replaced?
Uhh . . . most pilots on this board are either professional pilots, or are aspiring to be pros, and could never equate one as an alternative to the other. I don’t think golf and flight training are even in the same league, personally. Golf, worst case you screw up, ball goes in the drink, mulligan. Flying, well, there are no mulligans in flying. You screw up, you could die, and take passengers and people on the ground with you. Flying requires the kind of dedication professional golfers devote to their sport, whether you fly professionally or recreationally. Fly safe, or don’t fly.
I hope I just misinterpreted what you were asking there.
Any ideas, any thought, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Find a couple schools you like, then talk to the students currently enrolled. They are the best gauge of a particular school. When you choose a school, insist on flying with multiple instructors at first, so that you can see the variety of teaching styles they bring to the cockpit, and you can choose which ones you like best. Part 61 programs give you more flexibility in your choice here, usually. Choose the school that you feel most comfortable with, the one that you feel is most concerned about flying safely. That is the school you want.
-Boo!