Anyone have any insight of training in Southern California vs Colorado?

[WBBulldogs]

I am about to move back to the US and I plan on starting lessons to get my PPL. I have an option to either go to San Diego ( I can finish my degree there) or go to Colorado Springs where my family lives. Don't really know a whole lot of people in Colorado anymore but that's besides the point.

My question is about flight training. Would one be better over the other to train in? I know there are major altitude differences. Would that make things difficult. What's your opinion. Should I go to Colorado for flight school or California?

 

[Fearless Tower]

This is a no-brainer.....Go to San Diego....join Plus One Flyers. Great fleet, great rates, tons of good CFIs in the San Diego area.....and then when you get your ticket, you can rent one of many planes to fly yourself back to CO.

 

[MAKG1]

The flying is very different.

San Diego has complex airpace. Two Class B's, and the ADIZ is nearby. It also has coastal flying, which means a lot of summer days where you can't fly in the morning due to instrument conditions. And rapid changes in climate with distance from the ocean, which encourages afternoon turbulence.

Colorado Springs has very simple airspace. Just a single Class C, and you can train directly out of it without much trouble.

But it's at 7000 feet, and there are high mountains to the west. The 7000 feet can be stunning to a sea level flier. I've seen a 177 take nearly 4000 feet to get airborne (KCOS has much longer runways than that -- not a problem, but it's weird). The same aircraft could get airborne in under 1000 feet at sea level.

The eastern Rockies are among the most scenic flights anywhere. Given the choice, I'd go to Springs. But I've already trained -- in complex airspace -- elsewhere.

It all depends on what you want to do with your flying. I enjoy mountain flying quite a lot. Real mountain airports in Southern California are rare. Big Bear certainly qualifies. There are several at more modest altitudes (like 4000 feet), but they are 100+ miles from San Diego.

 

[WBBulldogs]

Hmm, probably gonna be a tough decision. Only thing I worry about is the dangerous mountains in Colorado. It seems like there's a lot of accidents and deaths in the Rockies so I'm thinking it may be a little much for a beginning pilot to learn mountain flying. I'll stop by PlusOne and see how things are there and when I get to CO I"m gonna ask some instructors about the area and how new pilots like myself do in high altitude.

 

[Anthony]

If you go to flight school in the Front Range, you won't start out "flying in t he mountains". In fact you don't have to fly in the mountains at all. Denver or the Spings are as flat as a pancake. You have to go West to get into the mountains. Sure they're not far, but you have the entire eastern part of the state to fly in with no mountains. The only thing that is different is DA and the runways are plenty long enough to deal with that.

It is a great place to fly, and learn to fly.

 

[denverpilot]

If you're looking for an instructor in the Springs, give a holler in PM.

 

[35 AoA]

I loved flying in SD and around Socal/AZ/NV. It's busy at times, but it's really good for building all the basic skills of aviating. Awesome for learning to talk on the radio, building a good inside outside scan, reading charts, becoming familiar with lots of fields and how to get into and out of them.

 

[WBBulldogs]

I guess I was worrying for no reason. I grew up there for a few years there I should know that the majority of eastern Colorado are plains. Maybe I'll take a discovery flight in SD and Colorado. See how I like it.

 

[Everskyward]

I guess I was worrying for no reason. I grew up there for a few years there I should know that the majority of eastern Colorado are plains. Maybe I'll take a discovery flight in SD and Colorado. See how I like it.

Sounds like a good idea. The flight training available is more important than the physical environment of either place. They both have their plusses and minuses.