Friendly Flight Schools in LA/SM?

[MCube78]

Hi fellow pilots, newbe here..

I am on the move to a LA and can't wait to resume my flight training - in the shape of IFR training (3 years in the UK made it real hard to train..). There are various flight schools in LA (in fact, in Santa Monica) from american Flyers to Proteus Aviation to Justice Aviation, and to me they seem all the same.

Is there any SantaMonica/LA based pilot who has experience with one or more of the schools around there? As anyone else I'm just looking for a FRIENDLY place where I can learn, fly, and not have to be in line all the time because there is only 1 plain and it's booked till the end of the month..

Any input would be very much appreciated

cheers

MCube

 

[Areeda]

M,

I've done some training at Justice and can recommend them. Joe Justice is a well respected, pilot, instructor and now examiner in the area. A stand up guy who hires good people. I can recommend the outfit. Not cheap but worth the money.

I know a few people who used American Flyers. Some love it, some hate it. It is very formal lesson based. You will fly with multiple instructors and check off the boxes. For some the structured and impersonal approach works well.

I know nothing about Proteus.

Joe

 

[schmookeeg]

Another nod for Justice, great folks.

good time to IFR on the westside -- I'm having to file every day out of HHR for my commute eastward

 

[jhinman]

I got my PPL at Proteus, so perhaps I'm biased but I would recommend them. They have a small fleet of Cherokees, well maintained and usually available.

I've rented from Justice, and they are a great operation as well. I don't think you could go wrong there either.

Between the two, scheduling is definitely easier at Proteus. Probably because they have a smaller customer base, I never have problems with availability of airplanes at Proteus despite their small fleet. I actually stopped renting from Justice because the planes are never available when I want to rent them.

Good luck, and welcome to LA!

 

[BillTIZ]

LA... would that be "Lower Alabama" or Louisianna..

Just kidding.. welcome to SoCal...

I lived in Louisianna for awhile, and my NH license plates were shipped to Los Angeles CA.

Go figure the post office does not even know their own state identifiers.

 

[MCube78]

Guys, thanks to all of you! I am extremely excited to move to LA and - more importantly - to restart flying periodically!

Any more advice is always welcome

cheers

MCube

 

[SCCutler]

Keep us posted on your progress, OK?

And, Welcome to PoA!

 

[MCube78]

Will do, thanks!

 

[MCube78]

Keep us posted on your progress, OK?

So, I have been flying with Justice since about January, and I love it. I haven't tried AF or Proteus, so not sure how they score, but had zero problems fitting right in at Justice.

Well.. ok had a bit of a problem with an instructor, who just didn't make it for me, but it was as simple as scheduling with a different one and I'm back to being in love with flying and closer to my instrument ticket!

Since we are at it.. Does anyone have a friend or someone they know in the SoCal area who owns a Grumm Tiger? I'm curious to give it a try,as I daydream of owning my own plane.. :wink2:

Anyways, thank you all for the having shared your thoughts on the flight schools

cheers

MCube

 

[kimberlyanne546]

Welcome to POA. I'm in Northern California so I'm sorry I can't help you more. I look forward to you posting your training since one day I hope to become instrument rated.

Good luck to you.....


Kimberly

 

[schmookeeg]

Since we are at it.. Does anyone have a friend or someone they know in the SoCal area who owns a Grumm Tiger? I'm curious to give it a try,as I daydream of owning my own plane.. :wink2:

I don't, but when you're ready for a tall frosty glass of Bonanza kool-aid, lemme know and we'll go play

Glad Justice is to your liking!

Cheers,

- Mike

 

[MCube78]

Kimberly > so far IFR flying is great fun, you should try it So good luck to you too.

Mike > you must be insane, why have a V-tail when you could have a shimmy-(front)wheel?? Plus, I heard a wise man say the "Tiger is a light, flickably fast fighter-like nice XC cruiser that won't break the bank."

 

[schmookeeg]

Kimberly > so far IFR flying is great fun, you should try it So good luck to you too.

Mike > you must be insane, why have a V-tail when you could have a shimmy-(front)wheel?? Plus, I heard a wise man say the "Tiger is a light, flickably fast fighter-like nice XC cruiser that won't break the bank."

haha well played, sir... the koolaid offer is an open one. I'll keep my eyes out for an AA5 ride for ya in the meantime...

 

[MCube78]

haha well played, sir... the koolaid offer is an open one. I'll keep my eyes out for an AA5 ride for ya in the meantime...

Well, thank you (on both counts!). I would (in fact most likely will) take you up on the offer if you don't mind bringing me up for a ride. I really want to try out a tiger -- somehow my stomach tells me it might be a love story -- but haven't flown bonanza either since I've been in an (almost exclusive) relationship with C172s for the past 7 years..

I take it you fly out of Corona?

 

[SCCutler]

A Tiger is a fine ride- nothing but praise for the bird.

It will become invisible to you once you fly with Mike in his BE35.

 

[MCube78]

It will become invisible to you once you fly with Mike in his BE35.

haha

Hey, I'm all for being shown new horizons, so I guess my next post will be a BE35 v AA/G-5B smack-down.. (or at least, my personal version of it, since I'm sure this must be one of those never ending topics..)

 

[schmookeeg]

I take it you fly out of Corona?

Naw, my aviation-based-hobby and cash-disposal-furnace is in Corona. The Bo hangs out in HHR.

Spike is right, though, the two are really different things altogether, and not meriting a smackdown face-off

If you've been stuck with rental C172s, though, you'll be amused with nearly any or all offers

 

[SCCutler]

Mike:

Where can one find link to video you did of the commute between HHR and Corona?

 

[schmookeeg]

Mike:

Where can one find link to video you did of the commute between HHR and Corona?

I have a handful of em -- friend me on facebook

If you're facebook-averse, I think a selection still exist on Youtube under schmookeeg

I should dust that camera off again -- I've done some cool and unusual trips lately. Shame not to put em to music to annoy my non-pilot friends with.

 

[MCube78]

Re: Friendly Flight Schools in LA/SM? -- UPDATED

So, I have been flying with Justice since about January, and I love it. I haven't tried AF or Proteus, so not sure how they score, but had zero problems fitting right in at Justice.

Well.. ok had a bit of a problem with an instructor, who just didn't make it for me, but it was as simple as scheduling with a different one and I'm back to being in love with flying and closer to my instrument ticket!

[DISCLAIMER: this post is only representative of my personal experience and meant share it with other pilots deciding where to spend their money for training..]

UPDATE: After a while I ended up leaving Justice for American Flyers. I think there were 2 main issues:

1. I had to chase the instructor all the time, and we kept flying, but there was no structure to what we did so often times I kind of felt like I didn't know why we were doing things. At AF I found things to be much better organized and structured, which made it much easier (and cost effective) to learn.

2. (Perhaps the most important factor) I got bored of the attitude at Justice. Personally I love the feeling of community and camaraderie among pilots, and in more than 1 year at Justice I never found anyone who would say more than 'hi'. On top of that, the fellow behind the counter is just plain unpleasant. Feels like you are just bothering him when asking to get the keys to a plane or the bill, he was always sitting there kind of rolling his eyes to anything. I thought I had somehow rubbed him the wrong way, but then it turned out I was not the only one to feel this way.. AF is much more of a community, which to me is much more fun.

That said, AF is more expensive, for one, so up to you to decide what matters..

Anyways, this is just my 2 cents.

Happy landings

MCube