Seattle Flight Training

[cole]

Anyone have a good recommendation for flight training up in SEA area? A buddy has his private and is looking to get the rest of his rating fast and at a reasonable price.
Thanks

 

[JPAustin]

"Wings Aloft" at Boeing Field has a good rep. Also up at Paine in Everett there is another reputable one, but I forget the name, however it is the biggest one up there. And I hate to say it, but ALL ATPS has a "campus" at the Tacoma Narrows airport.

 

[NW_Pilot]

Watch it in the "Soviet State Of Washington" and it's Simi-Socialist State To the South Oregon Lots of milking of the students going on up here.

 

[flytheblue]

Outside of ALL ATPS at TIW, you might have to head to the south or midwest for better prices. The west coast flight schools charge mucho dinero. Probably because the weather usually sucks so there are more cancelled flights than other places.

 

[lowtimedriver]

I flew out of the FBO, can't remember the name of the school right now, at Renton. They have a couple of old 172 N's, a Cardinal, a Citabria and one or two twins. The 172's are in cherry shape and the rates are way lower than the schools mentioned at Boeing Field or KPAE. I think the 172 I rented was 95 per hour. This was about one year ago.

 

[BenWA]

What specifically are you looking for? How far away are you willing to go from the greater Seattle area?

Boeing Field is the closest to downtown and has a number of schools...Wings Aloft, Galvin Flying, Aviation Training Center (ATC), to name a few. They have newer aiplanes and nice fleets but are, IMO, unreasonably priced. For example, Galvin has a few newer non-glass 172 SPs that are $135/hr, plus an additional fuel surcharge, and that's the rate you get after you pay their club fee of a few hundred dollers per month, if I recall correctly. I remember doing the math and it worked out to something around $180/hr after all is said and done. But on the flip side, they have nice airplanes that you can't rent elsewhere, such as a new Columbia 400 w/Avidyne Entegra for the low low price of $308/hr, plus fuel surcharge, plus monthly membership fees. The also have Diamond DA42s, Beech A-36, etc. Instructor rates are not cheap--$55-65/hr depending on the training (!)

Paine Field in Everett also has a number of schools...Regal Air is the most popular, but they are also unreasonably priced to many folks, and their fleet isn't as nice as Galvin's. You'll be paying at least $150/hr for a Skyhawk after all is said and done with membership fees, fuel surcharges, and the like.

Tacoma Narrows has ATP (as mentioned in the post above) and a school called Pavco, if I remember correctly. I don't know much about them, but I do know they have a couple of newer Skyhawks well equipped, and a couple of Stationairs.

I would recommend ProFlight in Renton. They have some older M-series Skyhawks, but one of them is nicely refurbished with GNS430s, if I recall, and they have a Cardinal RG and a Dutchess(?). They recently lost a Cardinal in a presumed crash, sadly. Their rental rates are more reasonable, closer to $115/hr for their Skyhawks, and $140 or so for their Cardinal RG.

 

[lowtimedriver]

What specifically are you looking for? How far away are you willing to go from the greater Seattle area?

I would recommend ProFlight in Renton. They have some older M-series Skyhawks, but one of them is nicely refurbished with GNS430s, if I recall, and they have a Cardinal RG and a Dutchess(?). They recently lost a Cardinal in a presumed crash, sadly. Their rental rates are more reasonable, closer to $115/hr for their Skyhawks, and $140 or so for their Cardinal RG.

This is the FBO I referenced above. Thanks Ben. I would give this FBO a top notch recommendation.

 

[aldassy]

I can assure you that there are very few operations in the Seattle area (or anywhere else for that matter) that are getting rich off charging 'high' rates to the flying public. While we can all lament the increase in rental rates, it simply is the cost of doing business. If you were to finance a new 172, it would cost $1800/mo, insure it for another $900, fuel it for $45/hr, and maintain it for $15/hr (under warranty, higher outside of the warranty period), and still find room in there to keep the rest of the operation going and (god forbid) turn a small profit.
I've run these numbers before for all types of training aircraft and with each, you get what you pay for. A new aircraft will cost more, as the operating expenses are higher. A cheap aircraft will still cost a bit because you have to maintain that antique.
I've run the numbers. Believe me, no one is getting rich off the backs of pilots in General Aviation.
I've got a few places I could point to that we could all vent our frustration towards, but that is for another thread.