KISP Schools - Heritage Flight and Mid Island Air?

TangoEchoAlpha

TangoEchoAlpha

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KISP and KFRG Schools - Heritage, Mid Island Air, etc

Does anyone have any experience with these folks?

KISP:

Mid Island is quite up front about their pricing. Heritage? Not at all. They require you to go to them and get a consultation. Not a fan of that. Anyone know how much they charge?

Also, Heritage has a Citabria for $140 rental. Sadly, they told me that they only train PPL students in 172s.

I like that Mid Island provides transport between the LIRR train station and their FBO. Convenient. Not many places do that.

KFRG:
I'm looking into Global Aviation Corp, Long Island Aviators, Airborn Flight Services.
 
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Train from the city??? Why not FRG?
 
I got my PPL at Heritage back in 2010, rented from them for years afterward, and they're still my first choice if I need a CFI for a wings module, or getting current again, or something. Their chief pilot is fantastic, and every CFI I've flown with has been great. I'd highly recommend them.

I don't remember what their rates were offhand. I do remember they were a little more expensive when I was comparing schools, but after going through their training I feel it was definitely a good value.

Heritage will pick you up from LIRR as well. That was one of the advantages to ISP for me. If I didn't want to drive the train was just as convenient and I could study on the trip out while I was at it.

Also, I believe they sold the Citabria.
 
If you pay 140hr for a citabria (as in not a super D) slap yourself
 
Mid island was one of the first FBOs to jump on the light sport training.
 
TommyG said:
Train from the city??? Why not FRG?
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From eastern Queens. I'm looking into FRG too but I've been told that it is not uncommon for one to get stuck waiting a long time to get takeoff clearence. I'm not sure if people are serious about having to wait a full hour however.
 
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James331 said:
If you pay 140hr for a citabria (as in not a super D) slap yourself
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You're not from NYC are you?

The only other place I know of that rents a tailwheel is Nassau Flyers which rents out a Husky for $179 at their club rate.

I've seen some places in other states that rent Citabrias for $110 and less. Things ain't cheap here in NYC. Can't wait to get out.
 
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TangoEchoAlpha said:
From eastern Queens. I'm looking into FRG too but I've been told that it is not uncommon for one to get stuck waiting a long time to get takeoff clearence. I'm not sure if people are serious about having to wait a full hour however.
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On a nice weather Saturday or Sunday, it does get backed up. I have never had an hour though. Longest was maybe half hour. It get crazy busy some days so I do understand your thought process. That's why once I get airborne I go to ISP to have my students do touch and go.
 
TommyG said:
On a nice weather Saturday or Sunday, it does get backed up. I have never had an hour though. Longest was maybe half hour. It get crazy busy some days so I do understand your thought process. That's why once I get airborne I go to ISP to have my students do touch and go.
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How's it like on weekdays at noon time?

And if I'm not mistaken, KFRG has landing fees while KISP doesn't.
 
TangoEchoAlpha said:
How's it like on weekdays at noon time?

And if I'm not mistaken, KFRG has landing fees while KISP doesn't.
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Weekdays are pretty nice. SUNY is the only headache during the week. FRG has $2.50 a landing. But I take my students to ISP a lot anyway just for different experiences. If you are looking for instruction PM me I can fill you in on the operators at FRG.
 
TangoEchoAlpha said:
You're not from NYC are you?

The only other place I know of that rents a tailwheel is Nassau Flyers which rents out a Husky for $179 at their club rate.

I've seen some places in other states that rent Citabrias for $110 and less. Things ain't cheap here in NYC. Can't wait to get out.
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I fly down there with work often, but no I don't do personal biz down there.
 
I got my PPl with Heritage back about 5 years ago. The flight instructors are excellent! A lot have moved on but the guys at the top( chief flight instructor and assistant chief) are fantastic. It got insanely busy as I was finishing my PPL and I rented with them for about a year and then moved on. They are a good outfit to work with. The planes are well maintained( although virtually constantly flying) and I believe I got fantastic training. The one major downside is, while I was there, they don't use any scheduling program online so you can't really guarantee your schedule much in advance. You essentially give the guy who runs the school( Neil) the times you are available and he makes the schedule and calls you the night before with your times. It pretty impossible to plan your day and was eventually why I left because it's so hard to plan a trip with passengers when you don't know what time you are flying untl the night before.

I now rent with Mid Island out at Brookhaven. I don't have experience with them at KISP but the Brookhaven operation is first class. Online scheduling program and a great fleet of planes at a very reasonable rate, if you join their club for a very reasonable 500 per year( that goes down every year you re-up. You get about 14 dollars off their rental rate in return per hour.) Can't ask for too much more! I've taken a few lessons with their instructors and they seems fine to me.

I don't think you can go wrong with either outfit.
 
Well I'm back. And after a long journey, I have become the mysterious being that is a recreational pilot.

I did fly out from KFRG recently on a Saturday. 30 minutes for a fuel truck to get to us. The non-standard patterns (which in this case is to say EVERY pattern) weren't annoying, but really reflected the congestion. So KISP it is.
 
TangoEchoAlpha said:
Well I'm back. And after a long journey, I have become the mysterious being that is a recreational pilot.
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Just curious what made you decide to go with the recreational pilot certificate? That's an almost unheard of choice.
 
skier said:
Just curious what made you decide to go with the recreational pilot certificate? That's an almost unheard of choice.
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Strictly time limitations. I will pursue a private pilot license now. But getting an actual pilot's license provided a nice boost in motivation and morale.

I was down in Virginia for an internship and the company was right on the airport. For the first few weeks, I foolishly only took weekend lessons but as I was nearing the end of my work down there, it became evident that I would probably not be able to finish a PPL on time (I took forever to figure out how to flare properly. I've got around 150 landings by the time I finished my training). So I decided to switch to pursuing a recreational pilot's license which worked out great. I took my checkride the day before I left VA for home.
 
TangoEchoAlpha said:
From eastern Queens. I'm looking into FRG too but I've been told that it is not uncommon for one to get stuck waiting a long time to get takeoff clearence. I'm not sure if people are serious about having to wait a full hour however.
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The extra time (+30 min) you spend commuting to ISP is going to be less than your time waiting at FRG
 
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