IR training AZ/FL or CA

P

pilotmarcus

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
15
Location
New York
Display Name
Display name:
pilotmarcus
I'm planning to do my IR training beginning of May and was thinking to do it either in AZ/FL or CA. Since I just moved to the US I don't know how consistent the weather in NY/NJ is.

Would like to do the flying part in 2 weeks. Anyone can recommend any place / school?

A big plus would be if there is a large skydiving dropzone close by, so I can do some relaxing jumps after training.

blues,
Marcus
 
Not AZ/FL or CA but you could always talk to Jesse in NE. He can get it done in a couple weeks and he can let you jump out of a perfectly good airplane...
 
That is correct, but maybe a little bit too hot already in mid May. Florida might be raining season so was thinking of California around Perris Valley/Elsinore. Did a bit of flying a while ago with the school at Corona.
blues,
Marcus
 
NY/NJ is not is problem for IR training in May. One advantage over the Southwest is that you're much more likely to be able to get some actual instrument time. If you're thinking of doing it in an intensive format, contact PIC -- they have some FBO's who provide the plane while PIC provides the instructor. I've trained a couple of folks in Bridgeport CT that way. However, in that format, don't expect to have time for jumping until it's done.

Http://www.iflyifr.com
(800) I-FLY-IFR
 
I'm with Ron. Go where there is actual. As someone who trained and still flies in the Southwest, I only saw 0.2 of actual in my training and I've only picked up a few hours in the 1 year I've been Instrument Rated.
 
what would be a good place to go in the Southwest? I did 12 hrs in the UK instrument flying and nearly all of them where in IMC conditions...
Would you recommend to do the theory part before the flight training?
blues,
Marcus
 
pilotmarcus said:
Would you recommend to do the theory part before the flight training?
Click to expand...
Yes. The "theory" ("knowledge training" in FAA lingo) has limited relevance to the flight training for IR, and is largely just a square to fill. FWIW, PIC's 10-day course requires that the written test be passed before starting, and if it hasn't been, an additional four days are scheduled for 14 days total.
 
You mentioned "just moved to US", a US citizen?
If a foreign national, be sure to get the paperwork done to be approved for training before you move. The flight school you will use is part of the approval process.
 
pilotmarcus said:
what would be a good place to go in the Southwest? I did 12 hrs in the UK instrument flying and nearly all of them where in IMC conditions...
Would you recommend to do the theory part before the flight training?
blues,
Marcus
Click to expand...

If you want to get done quick, you have a few options. There are accelerated schools like Sheble Aviation in AZ (marginally equipped planes, but excellent CFI's). If you're interested in coming to NM, I can refer you to a great flight school (In ABQ. I'm actually hopefully about to become their next full-time instructor) that can do it in as little as 10 days or an independant CFII (SAF. He's one of the best in the business) that would likely take longer, but has alot of experience as a cargo/air ambulance/corperate pilot, which gives him a much broader perspective on working the system than your typical CFII could give you.
 
If you can wait until June, you are likely to get plenty of IFR in Southern California. We call it June Gloom, and is typically a marine layer with 800-1,000' overcast, tops around 2,500'. Visibility under the deck is usually pretty good, though a morning with <2 mi viz in haze isn't rare. Sometimes it shows up in May. Even if it is a "light" year for June Gloom, it can usually be found at the coastal airports - KSBA, KCRQ, KLGB, KTOA.

SoCal also has a great "Tower Enroute Control" IFR clearance system with is great for easy, short training hops between SoCal airports under IFR.

Jeff
 
pilotmarcus said:
I'm planning to do my IR training beginning of May and was thinking to do it either in AZ/FL or CA. Since I just moved to the US I don't know how consistent the weather in NY/NJ is.

Would like to do the flying part in 2 weeks. Anyone can recommend any place / school?

A big plus would be if there is a large skydiving dropzone close by, so I can do some relaxing jumps after training.

blues,
Marcus
Click to expand...


Living in New York you'll be better to do your IR in Florida as that is more representative of the weather you'll see in New York and you get some time in actual IMC during your training. CA IMC is different from East Coast because of all the cold water. There's little convection to bring the moisture up. Most of what you get is Marine Layer, a nice smooth few thousand feet of cloud. AZ does not have flyable IMC.

There's also plenty of skydiving around here as well as some great SCUBA diving. If you need a good CFI to get you done in SoFla let me know and I can hook you up.
 
Last edited:
I did my IR training over Winter in the SF Bay area. The majority of my time was actual instrument. You can count on the Sacramento Valley to be fogged or clouded over in the Winter, and the Bay Area to be fogged over in the Summer. When I was regularly flying between the Bay Area and the Sacramento/San Joquin valley area, I never had to do currency approaches as I often had an actual approach at one end or the other regardless of the time of year.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I did my IR training over Winter in the SF Bay area. The majority of my time was actual instrument. You can count on the Sacramento Valley to be fogged or clouded over in the Winter, and the Bay Area to be fogged over in the Summer. When I was regularly flying between the Bay Area and the Sacramento/San Joquin valley area, I never had to do currency approaches as I often had an actual approach at one end or the other regardless of the time of year.
Click to expand...


Yep, NorCal is great for smooth IFR, we flew up there nearly every day from LGB doing my IR training.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top