PPL in Southwestern CT

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bryankloos

Filing Flight Plan
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Aug 20, 2022
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Bryan Kloos
Hey all,

I'm new here... Looking to get my PPL, and have no clue how to go about picking a school.
There are a few in Danbury and Sikorsky. I've taken a discovery flight and had a blast. I'm very eager to continue.

What's the best way to vet a school and choose a CFI? How do you choose which plane to learn in? How do you vet the CFI?

All help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryan
 
I have always found Danbury to be a nasty airport to fly in and out.
I would not want to be a student there.
 
Thanks for the useful info.
Short of Sikorsky, which has Three Wings (where I took the discovery flight) and Avia which seems at least from the website and on paper a bit larger scale would you recommend any other regional airports in the area?

I want to be somewhat. Lose to the field for training but would also drive a bit further for quality instruction and planes.

Thoughts?
 
It’s pretty much a crap shoot.
Pick the airport, then then checkout all the options.
Go with what looks best. If you go with an instructor building time for the airlines make sure they have a year or so of time left instructing.
Unfortunately your in an expensive part of the country to learn to fly. Budget 60-80 hours to get your license. If you have to save up, don’t let money be a limiting factor in taking lessons.
 
I took my PP ASEL training at Three Wing, KBDL. A long time ago! Since it is likely that all instructors from that period have moved on, I have no basis to recommend an individual CFI.

Go talk to the CFIs and pick one. It isn’t a lifetime decision. And welcome to POA!

-Skip
 
It might be worth your while to drive a little farther? East to Meriden or Chester, or northwest to Poughkeepsie or Montgomery in NY. Smaller fields = less time wasted on the ground.
 
Any reason to avoid training in a G1000 plane?
Melman out of Westchester trains in only Cirrus...
I wonder what that costs per hour wet?
 
There is a pretty big flight school out of Brainard. If you are just interested in day VFR type of flying there is also a cub and instructor at chester. They used to have a kappa there but it was in a takeoff accident and I’m not sure if they replaced it or not. I agree with the comment above about not doing your training out of Danbury. It’s a pretty busy airport and not great for practicing pattern work. You will spend alot of money just sitting and waiting for traffic. Same for Bridgeport. Your best bet is to just go to a convenient airport and ask around about who gives lessons out of there. There is also a ground school run as an adult Ed class in some of the community colleges across Ct. they are a cheap way to get the groundwork done and a great way to find out who the other students are flying with.
 
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I took my initial training at Danbury and soloed there in a C-150 in 1965 after 5 1/2 hours of dual. The airport has terrain challenges BUT if you are taught well that experience will pay dividends in the future!
 
Great people at Great Barrington (pun not intended), but that might be a bit of a hike for you, not sure. On selecting a CFI, I'd suggest just seeing if you get along well. For some people that's just natural, others not as much, but it's way more productive to work with someone you get along with, in my opinion.
 
Don’t be afraid of a busy class D. I learned at KASH Nashua NH and think I’m a better pilot for it. Ya it sucks to wait for some kerosene burner on takeoff but once your in the air a 360 or 10 mile down wind doesn’t really matter. You build the radio and controller skills a lot more.
 
kmacht said:
there is also a cub and instructor at simsbury. They used to have a kappa there but it was in a takeoff accident and I’m not sure if they replaced it or not.
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I think you're thinking Chester, not Simsbury. Chester had the Kappa, which hasn't been replaced, and still has the Cub.
 
Dana said:
I think you're thinking Chester, not Simsbury. Chester had the Kappa, which hasn't been replaced, and still has the Cub.
Click to expand...

You are right. I meant Chester and just edited my post to correct it. Thanks.
 
manac said:
Don’t be afraid of a busy class D. I learned at KASH Nashua NH and think I’m a better pilot for it. Ya it sucks to wait for some kerosene burner on takeoff but once your in the air a 360 or 10 mile down wind doesn’t really matter. You build the radio and controller skills a lot more.
Click to expand...

BDR isn’t really that busy. It is a good airport to train at.
 
Thanks all for the information.
I'll take a discovery flight at avia and compare to Three Wings.
What should I be looking at with regard to the aircraft?
 
:) half the people will tell you should learn in a high wing. half will tell you it's better to learn in a low wing. half will tell you to learn with steam gauges. half will tell you to learn glass panel. My vote would be to pick whatever you like best.
 
Albany Tom said:
:) half the people will tell you should learn in a high wing. half will tell you it's better to learn in a low wing. half will tell you to learn with steam gauges. half will tell you to learn glass panel. My vote would be to pick whatever you like best.
Click to expand...
Don't forget the vocal minority who will tell you to learn in a taildragger. :cool:
 
Kritchlow said:
I have always found Danbury to be a nasty airport to fly in and out.
I would not want to be a student there.
Click to expand...

I'm curious as to what you mean by that. The terrain? I currently fly out of there.
 
J.G. said:
I'm curious as to what you mean by that. The terrain? I currently fly out of there.
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Yup, terrain. It may be okay in a single, but I’ve done a fair amount turbo prop & jet out of there. No thank you!!

Honestly I find Aspen more terrain friendly.
 
Kritchlow said:
Yup, terrain. It may be okay in a single, but I’ve done a fair amount turbo prop & jet out of there. No thank you!!

Honestly I find Aspen more terrain friendly.
Click to expand...

Got it. I can definitely see how that could be interesting.

Oh wow...Aspen is friendlier lol. I look forward to flying in there one day.
 
ok so i live 4 miles from KHPN and Academy of Aviation - am I being ridiculous by not simply choosing them? wait times for departure can be a factor...is it enough of a factor to turn down the closeness of the airport? thanks all, don't mean to hijack thread, same topic sorta....
 
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