Fly_Chick
Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2004
- Posts
- 311
At DCA (in their part 141) you will only fly four types of planes, C152, C172, Arrow and Seminole. You will follow their exact syllabus, even as an instructor. You will never give a Flight Review, and IPC, or even an aircraft check-out. You will not land on a grass strip.
You will learn to do everything exactly by the book (their book). You will learn to memorize everything, checklists, emergency procedures, standards.
You will only fly to approved airports, using approved routes.
My recommendation is to go to your local FBO. You will have more variety in the planes you fly. You will have more opportunity to fly with different people from different aviation backgrounds. You will learn to be graceful in your flying, learn to apply your decision making to the circumstance at hand, adapt to new environments and challenges. You will learn to work with people from all aspects of aviation (new 16 yr. old private student to 65 yr old retired Eastern Airlines pilot wanting a Flight Review).
You will be able to fly to almost any airport of your choosing, make your own decisions. I met a flight instructor from DCA who deviated to the airport that I fly out of, and he told me he had to write a report when he got back as to why he deviated since he landed at an airport not on the approved airport list. That same weekend, I flew to an airport of my choosing, got weathered in, called to tell the owner the plane would not be on the ramp the next day as we were staying the night in FLL due to weather. The owner's reply, "Thanks for calling. See you tomorrow. Have a good night."
You will learn to do everything exactly by the book (their book). You will learn to memorize everything, checklists, emergency procedures, standards.
You will only fly to approved airports, using approved routes.
My recommendation is to go to your local FBO. You will have more variety in the planes you fly. You will have more opportunity to fly with different people from different aviation backgrounds. You will learn to be graceful in your flying, learn to apply your decision making to the circumstance at hand, adapt to new environments and challenges. You will learn to work with people from all aspects of aviation (new 16 yr. old private student to 65 yr old retired Eastern Airlines pilot wanting a Flight Review).
You will be able to fly to almost any airport of your choosing, make your own decisions. I met a flight instructor from DCA who deviated to the airport that I fly out of, and he told me he had to write a report when he got back as to why he deviated since he landed at an airport not on the approved airport list. That same weekend, I flew to an airport of my choosing, got weathered in, called to tell the owner the plane would not be on the ramp the next day as we were staying the night in FLL due to weather. The owner's reply, "Thanks for calling. See you tomorrow. Have a good night."
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