Real Pilots - Help deciding on flight schools

[dkohl 0]

Hi fellow Fly!'ers.... I could use a little advice on choosing between an FAA Part 61 or Part 141 school. I posted a question in the Flight School forum at http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...sg_id=368&page= I would appreciate any feedback from you guys.Please post in that forum.Thanks.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v44.03, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest dannol]

I'm still a student pilot, although nearly done. My flight school is the 2nd highest rated Cessna training center in the country (McAir Aviation at Jeffco Airport in Colorado). Their program is highly respected, organized, and clearly defined but they are not part 141. In the end, I'm quite glad I chose a part 61 school because of the increased flexibility. Its hard enough to get my training with potential cancellations due to weather. But at least my training program allows me to get in whatever we can on that day. For example, if I was on a part 141 program and at the point in my training where I needed to fly my solo x-country but the weather was not good enough for a solo flight, I could not skip ahead in the training outline for some dual instruction. I've had to do this a couple of times and it has really kept things rolling. I know many of my instructor's students have had to postpone their solos week after week when the weather wasn't just right. I'm interested in a career change to aviation in the future and was concerned that perhaps I needed to have a part 141 education to get respect, but many I've talked to have told me its not that big of a deal. The cost is an important consideration. My biggest decision was whether to do my instruction in old 172 N models, or go for the brand new 172 SPs. In the end, I opted for the newer models and have been grateful for the experience with the latest avionics and have had no cancellations due to unexpected maintenance. Thats my 2 cents...hope it helps. Let us know what you decide!Dan

[Guest Bart]

If you're going for a career in flying I'd consider only slightly the 141 route, looks good on the resume but that's about all, otherwise do the 61 and have fun. Part 61 you go at your pace and don't have a set curriculum to follow. It might be a bit farther drive but if you're not doing it for a career, part 61 is a lot more relaxed environment to learn in. Another thing to consider is there a control tower at the closer field, you'll burn a lot of time "waiting" at a controlled field.I did part 61, I had .8 hours of ground school, scored 100% on my written, soloed in 10 hours and took my flight test at 40.5 hours. It's not so much what the school or type can do for you but how much you put into it yourself, as far as 141 producing a "safer" pilot out of the box....horse feathers!, all flights are only as safe as the PIC makes them.Go to www.aopa.org and sign up as a student pilot, you'll get 6 months free membership and a flight training magazine sent to you every month. Plus you can review all the past issues and pick up a mentor if you want. They also have the Air Safety Foundation, it's set up with a bunch of online Q&A's you can take, when you get through them you get a nice certificate to print out. Some of them even qualify for the FAA's Wings Program, nice addition to show come flight review time AND to impress your instructor while you're training!!Hit www.sportys.com and go to the sutdent pilot section, you can study for the written test there.Get a book by Rod Machado "Private Pilots Handbook" at www.rodmachado.com, you can get it at Amazon.com too. He also has a lot of info about where to get started on his site. Read his book front to back TWICE, and then thumb thru it just for good measure. Also get a book called Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche, it was written in the thrities but it tells you why airplanes do what they do and how to make them do what YOU want them to do.Drop me an email, any help I can give you I'm more than willing to! :)c ya :-waveBart flyhelp@zoomtown.comhttp://bartsflyplace.tripod.com/bart_logo3.jpg

[dkohl 0]

Thanks very much. Note my reply in the Flight School forum.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v44.03, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest ErikU]

David,If you have a choice, find a school that has a Diamond Katana -- it's an unbelievable ride with a fantastic view.And as soon as it's finished -- hint, hint, Bart -- we'll all be able enjoy that ride in Fly II! Erik