Looking for good flight instructor in Central Texas

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Steve4ustin

Filing Flight Plan
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Jan 18, 2014
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Steve Perkins
Hi,

I have been riding the fence about getting back into flight training after being away for about 7 years. I had only gotten about 15 hrs, so I think it makes sense to start from the beginning again.

The reason I joined the forum today is to get some advice on training choices. I would like to train full time and work to get my ppl within a couple months, if that is possible. I live in Austin, TX and took my original flight training out of a facility at Austin Bergstrom. Through some research, I learned about Redbird Skyport in San Marcos which is about 45 min south of Austin. They are asking about $10k for their accelerated flight training. The simulator aspect of Redbird Skyport looks interesting, but I wonder if the price is reasonable if I plan to be focused and organized in my training.

At the end of the day, I'd really like to find a flight instructor that is passionate about teaching, has a track record of training pilots to fly safe and is available to help me achieve my ppl in an accelerated time frame. I am willing to immerse myself in the training and do the work. I have an opportunity to take the time to do this, and I really want to make it happen.

I am a young 42 year old, so I'm not looking to become an airline pilot. I've just loved everything about flight since I was little and have always felt like I belonged in the sky. I feel like getting my ppl is an important first step.

Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks,

Steve
 
Paging DavidWhite... and JimNTexas....
 
The best instructor in the world is near Corpus Christi, TX. Bad news is I go home today...
 
Ken Wittekiend in Burnet, TX. I did my tailwheel endorsement with him a couple of years ago and have two days scheduled next week to transition into my Husky :). He's a great instructor that has some great teaching techniques. Hi company is ProMark Aviation. Phone: 830-385-1593. He's a Master CFI that isn't just building time for an airline job. Feel free to contact me if you need more info.

Joyce
 
If you are anywhere near Spicewood contact Barry Stein. PM me for his number.
 
I highly recommend Joe Stenger at Lockhart 50R. Phone number is 512-398-4359. Excellent instructor and a genuinely nice person.
 
...you can't do any significant number of hours in the simulator for PPL to make it matter anyway - simulator comes in handy for IFR.

I live in Austin (Leander actually) and finished my PPL at KGTU (Georgetown). There are a couple good schools out there and I can make personal assessments/recommendations based on experience. I was in almost the exact same boat - was 42 when I got mine (turned 43 on 12/31).

Big things are:

1) what kind(s) of aircraft do you want to fly
2) schedule demands/requirements
3) CFI 'vibe'

No substitute for just getting out and meeting some folks. It doesn't have to be a formal interview but take the time to talk about how the plan lessons, how many students they've recently had pass their PPL checkride, etc...

My CFI is an old school guy - tons of hours, flies everything...ATP, helicopters, gyro's, hot air ballons...you name it. He's also a A&P and works on a B-25 that's hangared out here. He doesn't take a lot of students...not sure why he decided to take me other than than I'm a nuts and bolts kinda guy and maybe he saw that. He certainly wasn't a 'lesson plan' or by the book PTS kinda CFI but that was OK for me - I know how to study and was very prepared for my checkride. I learned a ton from him and enjoyed his mechanic perspective of the airplane...had some great conversations on XC's. :D

There are several schools out at Bergstrom - my advice would be if you want to fly out of there take an afternoon and go walk from hangar to hangar and setup some time to talk to a few CFI's and see what you think.

You can always PM me if you want to chat privately. I started mine in December of last year, finished in September with 64 hours and just crossed 100 hours on my last flight. I'm a part owner in a Cherokee 235 out at KGTU - holler at me if you wanna go fly sometime and I can show you around over here.

Just took a buddy over to Llano for some Coopers BBQ yesterday... :)

 
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I have like 4 seconds, and I have to get back in the shop... Finally catching up!!!

CFI's are a personal thing, but I couldn't be happier with my instructor John Ekhoff at Redbird.
Oh and the Skyport system is worth every penny! I was certificated in 37 hours, and the MASSIVE amount of time I spent in the simulator before I went out and demonstrated in the aircraft was priceless, period!

The simulator is EXTREMELY helpful in PPL, IR, ME, etc. It helps you learn systems, radios, checklist flow, in-flight emergency procs, and the best thing about the sim, is the PAUSE button!

Go do it, and I'll see you there! :)

Ok, back to the shop! Miss you guys, and I'll be back soon!
 
I believe that Skyport is the only school I know of that charges a fixed price for a PPL course rather than by the hour. I've used them for some currency training and been pretty happy.

Above and Beyond at Bergstrom is run by George Farris, a very well respected CFI in Central Texas. All his instructors are highly experienced, no 200 hour wonders.

My flying club is based at Bergstrom, and we are tickled at having Awesome at our airport, because he has started a GA oriented maintenance shop, something we have not had for many years.

I got my instrument and commercial ratings at Pilot's Choice in Georgetown about 15 years ago. Pilot's Choice is a busy flight school run by a super-experienced pilot, Beth Jenkins. Beth's prices are pretty fair I think.

I wonder why there is no flight school at Austin Executive.
 
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I'll second George and the instructors at Above and Beyond. I did a couple of BFR's with them.

I'm surprised there isn't one at Austin Executive, but I don't think they allow T&G's.
 
yup...I think Aus Exec is trying to attract the jets so no emphasis on training. I never did any landings over there during my training but did hear they don't like/allow TNG's, so yeah...that would be a deal breaker for anyone wanting to open a school up there.

I did my training at Pilot's Choice. I had a different primary CFI but did my first solo with Beth. :)
 
kenjr said:
yup...I think Aus Exec is trying to attract the jets so no emphasis on training. I never did any landings over there during my training but did hear they don't like/allow TNG's, so yeah.
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Austin Executive doesn't allow touch and goes, but they do give every pilot and plane the red carpet treatment. I stop there fairly often on my way back to Bergstrom.

If you need touch and goes Taylor is two minutes away.

Executive has a good maintenance shop, and I know they have plans to further expand. Hopefully sometime they'll have ramp and office space enough for a flight school one day.
 
Wow, I've been offline this weekend and just thought to check this post before I left for work. Thank you all for the amazing response. :)

I'll have to go through this after work to really digest all the information. Looks like there are a lot of options.

Thanks everyone
 
Thanks again for all the responses. I do like the fact that there is a flat rate for Redbird Skyport, so I know about what my cost will be. Do any of the other recommendations you all made offer similar flat rate pricing for full-time flight training? Or are there reasons that going hourly outweighs the perks of getting a flat rate?

(BTW Kenjr, It would be fun to go for a flight sometime, you ever been to Wrights BBQ in Mexia? :) )
 
Hey Steve - check your PM (up at the top right of the page by your username) - let's do it sometime! Nope - never been up to Mexia but I'm building XC hours to start my IFR sometime this year so I'm up for it!

I kinda purposely didn't add mine up - didn't really want to know the exact damage. :) That said, it took my 64 hours and I was paying $45/hr I think and had around 30 of those dual. I only took a few lessons in the rental planes and bought into mine so my costs are a little skewed from that perspective but overall I figured it was somewhere in the $10k range.

There are other costs initially - headsets, ground school books, videos, various testing materials, E6B's, sectional maps, etc... to factor in as well.

I haven't read the fine print on their fixed price - but it probably works out better in your favor over the longer term. More in their favor if you're taking 2-3 lessons a week and can knock it out in 50 hours or so.

Honestly, for me - it was about convenience (how close is the airport, etc...), the vibe with my CFI, the type of airplanes available to me with the school (I like low wings) and cost was kinda low on the list. I figured it was probably about the same everywhere +/- a little and if you can find the price of training cheaper but it takes you 2 hours to get there and back then it's harder to make time, more draining, definitely more difficult to be able to jump in quickly should you get some time available, etc... And, what about the times where you might want to go out and see how the weather looks only to end up not flying...but 3 hours later it's good and now you're looking at 4 hours of round trip driving, etc... I think you get my drift...

For us over 40 folks with jobs, kids, etc... I'd prioritize finding a CFI and school that accommodate your schedule and has the kind of airplanes you want/like to fly.
 
That makes sense. Right now the drive to Redbird would be approx 45 min, 1 hour to Georgetown and about 20 min to Austin Bergstrom.
I was a bit nervous flying into Bergstrom when taking lessons previously. I never felt like I was solid with my communication with the tower. Maybe that's more reason to explore Bergstrom. Any thoughts on learning there versus a smaller airport?
 
Steve4ustin said:
I was a bit nervous flying into Bergstrom when taking lessons previously. I never felt like I was solid with my communication with the tower. Maybe that's more reason to explore Bergstrom. Any thoughts on learning there versus a smaller airport?
Click to expand...

Learning at an active Class D or Class C will help you become more comfortable in that environment with regards to protocol and talking on the radio. A tip when you start your training is to add "Student Pilot" at the end of your transmissions. This will alert the controller that you new and not to talk like a machine gun at 80 words per minute with gusts to 140.

Learning at a non-towered field will help you become more familiar and comfortable with that environment, including talking on the radio and keeping the Mark I eyeball searching for traffic that isn't reporting where they are or are doing something unexpected.

Bergstrom would eventually provide a comfort level mixing in with faster aircraft like the jets or faster turbo props. A trade off is that there will be times where you're sitting on the taxi way for a longer than expected time while the tower sorts through the arrivals, departures, and IFR releases. And while you're sitting there, the engine and the money clock is turning.

At the non-towered airport, you likely will be the only one or one of very few operating in the area at that moment. This means you will get to the runup area pretty quickly. Then once done with that, you're on the runway 15-20 seconds later.

Which is better, towered and busy versus un-controlled and sleepy? There is no best answer since both have their own sets of pros and cons. Best answer is to focus more on finding the best instructor who fits best with your personality and learning style. Then as you progress with training, ask him or her to give you plenty of opportunity to visit both locations.

A final tip: Soft Field and Grass Strip operations. One of the areas you'll practice is how to safely land and take off on non-paved runways. This can be simulated on a paved runway. But better is your instructor will actually take you to a grass strip and have you do some landings and take offs. Visiting airports served with grass or sod runways is often some of the best and most fun flying you will do. So like doing work at Bergstrom will make you comfortable with the large airport, so will training at the grass strips make you comfortable visiting them after you have your license.

Best of luck to you and keep us in the loop as training progresses!!
 
...how do you get to Carnegie Hall? :)

I trained out of Georgetown, which is towered and am very thankful for it. I get flight following on just about every trip I do just to get 'in the system' and get more experience with ATC.

On Saturday, I flew from KGTU down to KAUS to pick up my buddy before we headed out to Llano. He was up for driving up here but it was way more convenivent for him to drive over to one of the FBO's...and way more convenient if he met me at my hangar at KGTU...but I wanted more experience coming in and out of KAUS so I flew in to get him. I don't find it that much more challenging that flying around my Class D - only thing kinda new'ish to me over there is getting clearance every time you leave, the longish taxi's and taking off behind SWA 737's. :) I actually kinda wish I had trained out of KAUS but that's a good 45 minute drive for me using the toll roads and I knew it would kick my butt.

I'd say the only downsides that the plane's cost a little more (because the gas prices are higher there) and you'll definitely spend a little more time on the ground every flight on your way out. If you're not feeling good with your comm's, that's just a practice thing...takes a few lessons and you'll get it. I made a few comm mistakes getting out of there but that's why it's called a 'license to learn', right? :)
 
And a great reference for aviation radio communication is this book (click image to go to website). The author, Bob Garner, is a PoA member. And his other series, "The Complete Pilot" is also very good.

 
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As big airports go, Austin Bergstrom is about as GA friendly as one can be. Still, it always feels a little bit like a Space Shuttle launch to get out of there.

Watch out for ramp fees if you land there just to pick up a passenger.

Operationally, I've never had a significant ATC delay getting in or out, and I've been flying there for over ten years. It's the 9000 foot taxi out that gets tiresome. Or worse, the 12,000 foot drive to the big runway if the 'little' 8900' runway is close. :yikes:

The tower will let you do a touch and go if they are not busy, but I've never taken them up on that.

I rarely do touch and goes any more, but when I do I go to Lockhart or Taylor. In general I prefer a full stop and taxi back when I'm practicing landings. YMMV.
 
Bumping this, I would love to find a CFI a bit more west near Lakeway as that's where I live. ABIA, KGTO, and Austin Exec are a LONG way from me.
 
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