Cherokee County (KCNI) Flight School

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eventualpilot

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eventualpilot
The flight school, Cherokee Flight, at KCNI closed pretty abruptly 6+ months ago.

Has anyone heard anything about a new school coming in?
 
Got my ME there. Any word on why they closed?
 
Velocity173 said:
Got my ME there. Any word on why they closed?
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No idea. I was there in late November and spoke to a CFII about finishing up my instrument rating. Reached out a few weeks later and they were gone.
 
I heard they had financial issues and closed the doors with no warning to both customers and employees.
 
How is KCNI to fly in/out of? Trying to figure out whether to use that or KLZU when we make our trip out that way later this year.
 
elvisAteMySandwich said:
How is KCNI to fly in/out of? Trying to figure out whether to use that or KLZU when we make our trip out that way later this year.
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Easy. Way less traffic than LZU. Suppose it depends on your destination in the area but it has easy access to I-515 as well.
 
elvisAteMySandwich said:
How is KCNI to fly in/out of? Trying to figure out whether to use that or KLZU when we make our trip out that way later this year.
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If you're coming in from the south side of ATL IFR be prepared for them to give you a STAR.
 
Pugs said:
If you're coming in from the south side of ATL IFR be prepared for them to give you a STAR.
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And if you get an initial clearance without a STAR, be ready to copy an amended clearance when you get handed over to ATL approach.
 
Pugs said:
If you're coming in from the south side of ATL IFR be prepared for them to give you a STAR.
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Or East, West, etc......

Hang 4 said:
And if you get an initial clearance without a STAR, be ready to copy an amended clearance when you get handed over to ATL approach.
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  • Great point Pugs and Hang 4 make - I've also run into this. As we do arrivals much less frequently than approaches, may want to practice/review loading an arrival on the fly. Might want to read up on some of the various arrivals before hand to make it more familiar, easier to copy, etc.
  • I've not found KLZU to be busy, but I'm used to KRYY. MUCH less than PeachTree for example.
  • OP's original question - sorry to hear, and given the surge of pilot training, I'm surprised - maybe expanded too much, etc. Perhaps also the Covid surge in new hobbies is waning, inflation chilling people's spending, etc.
  • I know Superior at KRYY is busy, as they picked up the Liberty College business. They are focused on more 141 business though - it's changed quite a bit in past few years.
 
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Did my first night landing and takeoff there. Landing went okay. After takeoff (to the north), once past the runway lights, there was nothing. Immediately said "Your plane!". :eek:
 
I’ve landed at both. Day, night and IFR. The differences between the two are minor. Pick the one closest to your destination.
 
WDD said:
  • OP's original question - sorry to hear, and given the surge of pilot training, I'm surprised - maybe expanded too much, etc. Perhaps also the Covid surge in new hobbies is waning, inflation chilling people's spending, etc.
  • I know Superior at KRYY is busy, as they picked up the Liberty College business. They are focused on more 141 business though - it's changed quite a bit in past few years.
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I started my Instrument training with Superior at RYY in 2019 and had no complaints. I was nearly complete (all requirements met and had mock oral and flight portions of check-ride scheduled) and my CFII was in contact with a DPE to start the process of scheduling the actual check-ride when covid happened. My CFII stopped flying, ended up having some surgeries he had been delaying, and had not yet returned as of last fall.

Phoenix East bought Superior while I was training and you could see the writing on the wall for the focus on the 141 side. They sold the RedBird located in the main building and were planning to replace it with a full motion version in the 141 building. They also started getting rid of cheaper planes and replaced them with higher cost Phoneix planes from FL.

Also, to schedule a lesson, I would text/email my instructor with the time and plane I wanted to use (I could view in the on-line scheduler but not book). Management sent out an email stating that instructors could no longer book lessons, all future bookings had to go through a newly hired scheduling person and the students could no longer select specific aircraft. Even though I have not flown with them in 2+ years I still receive emails and everything I've received over the past 8-10 months has been solely focused on the 141 side.

I'm now only about 20 minutes from KCNI (over an hour from KRYY), which is why I initially reached out to Cherokee Flight.
 
Yes - Superior has changed a lot. I even stopped renting from them because they no longer have the Tiger, C182, etc. Prices are up. FWIW I did my ppl at Superior pre the new owner, but did my instrument start to finish at the LGE flying club at KRYY.
 
WDD said:
Yes - Superior has changed a lot. I even stopped renting from them because they no longer have the Tiger, C182, etc. Prices are up. FWIW I did my ppl at Superior pre the new owner, but did my instrument start to finish at the LGE flying club at KRYY.
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I don’t know anything about the new operations, good or bad, but I wish they would change the name because it’s not the same place I worked at for 16 years. How is the LGE flying club as far as availability of planes?
 
LGE is fairly good.
 
Dave Theisen said:
I don’t know anything about the new operations, good or bad, but I wish they would change the name because it’s not the same place I worked at for 16 years. How is the LGE flying club as far as availability of planes?
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Ironically, I got my PP with Superior (The Colonel). Moved to Palm Coast and Phoenix East now has a base at Flagler (KFIN). Definitely a puppy mill, uniforms and all.
 
WDD said:
Yes - Superior has changed a lot. I even stopped renting from them because they no longer have the Tiger, C182, etc. Prices are up. FWIW I did my ppl at Superior pre the new owner, but did my instrument start to finish at the LGE flying club at KRYY.
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I looked into LGE and Aeroventures at KLZU before I decided to go with Superior. Probably would have joined one of them had I not moved out to Ball Ground. Seems like both clubs have increased the number of aircraft in the fleet since then.

Aside from KCNI, closest airport is Pickens County (KJZP), but it appears the flight school there does not offer instrument instruction.

Maybe I’ll take a look at KGVL, as it would be closer than either RYY or LZU.
 
New school just started at KDNN but probably too far of a drive. C172 for instruments.
 
eventualpilot said:
I looked into LGE and Aeroventures at KLZU before I decided to go with Superior. Probably would have joined one of them had I not moved out to Ball Ground. Seems like both clubs have increased the number of aircraft in the fleet since then.

Aside from KCNI, closest airport is Pickens County (KJZP), but it appears the flight school there does not offer instrument instruction.

Maybe I’ll take a look at KGVL, as it would be closer than either RYY or LZU.
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Is Lanier Flight the only school at KGVL? If so, ouch.
 
FormerHangie said:
Is Lanier Flight the only school at KGVL? If so, ouch.
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Appears that there is also a school called North Georgia Aviation. Their website does not have fleet/pricing information, but their social media (Facebook, etc.) appears to indicate that they have some combination of Cessna and Cirrus aircraft.
 
North Georgia Aviation’s prices are in-line with Lanier Flight Center.

They have two TAA 172s (G5s/GFC500), one 172 G1000, and one SR20.
 
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