Mountain flying course - recommendations?

I'd look for a place where the CFIs had more first hand real world hands on experience, when you have over 3,000hrs and most all of it is giving dual, it leads one to that old line about those who can't teach, with the exception of Rusty, the rest don't seem to be a good choice for a mountain course, career CFIs and airline guys wouldn't be my top pick.

Real world, want to learn about mountain flying, go get some glider training in the hills.
Presuming you have basic PPL or student pilot skills and can do performance calculations and have a little common sense, the rest of mountain flying is weather reading, making the winds work for you and energy management, all of which can be better learned, and for a good bit less money, in a glider.

http://www.ssa.org/WhereToFlyMap.asp
 
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James331 said:
I'd look for a place where the CFIs had more first hand real world hands on experience
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That is what I have learned in my research for mountain course...there are those that teach it and those that actually fly in it. Go find a CFI that lives it...everything else is available on Youtube.
 
Colorado pilots association offers a ground school twice a year, usually at the beginning and end of summer. They also have a list of flight instructors for flight training in the hills.

I don’t know the folks at Vail so can’t say yay or nay.
 
Are you looking for training in your aircraft or do you want to fly a different aircraft? What geographic area are you looking for training? How much time and $ do you wish to invest? The answer to those questions dictate what your options are. Most of the "backcountry" schools are pretty steep IMO. The best option is to find a competent backcountry instructor and train in your aircraft.

I forgot to add, if you're interested in flying Idaho, you may want to give these folks a call. They used to offer restricted memberships and may still. The aircraft rental rates aren't too bad and the backcountry flight instruction is excellent...

ponderosaaero.org
 
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Eagle (KEGE) is IN the mountains at 6500' with 14,000+ peaks nearby. So if you are flying out of there, chances are pretty good they fly the mountains. Ask them what all they teach, do they have a syllabus? Ask them if they fly patterns or just do straight ins (patterns are more challenging and fun but both work). The items I can think of is leaning for takeoff, shortfield takeoffs, canyon turns, full power runups so you can be certain you are leaned for max power, ridge lift, slow in the updrafts, fast in the downdrafts. Do they have access to a grass strip? I don't know of any public ones in that area. If they are in Eagle, they are probably pretty good. Good stuff around there abounds. But call and discuss.
 
In my opinion not all mountain flying is the same and I feel there is value in getting trained where you are planning of flying in the aircraft you are planning to fly.
 
thanks all. from their website, they do fly in the mountains, KEGE is surrounded by a lot of very high terrain that is beyond my service ceiling. i definitely want to learn in my plane and that something they offer, looks like they are willing to travel and meet east or west of Rockies and then fly to KEGE. here is their syllabus on mtn flying https://alpineflighttraining.com/mountain-flying-instruction
as a part of the training they will fly to various airports in the region Leadville, Aspen, Telluride, Glenwood Springs, Steamboat Springs, Meeker, Grandby, Gunnison, Salida.

my mission - eventually would like to fly to grand canyon, bryce, colorado and idaho. not thinking about backcountry right now, may be down the road, but with a low wing i am guessing i will be restricted to a lot of back country strips.

i will call them and get more info, just wondering if anyone here had been through their training, or other schools in the Colorado region
 
Vance Breese said:
In my opinion not all mountain flying is the same and I feel there is value in getting trained where you are planning of flying in the aircraft you are planning to fly.
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What differences do you perceive? Bottom line for me is that if I choose go out West, between weather and itinerary changes, I could end up a lot of places.

So I would need training that covers all bases, and maybe misses some of the depth which might be included in location specific training.
 
kyleb said:
What differences do you perceive? Bottom line for me is that if I choose go out West, between weather and itinerary changes, I could end up a lot of places.

So I would need training that covers all bases, and maybe misses some of the depth which might be included in location specific training.
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There are specific local weather patterns and various elevations. I feel like you are on the right track with a general course with the most severe conditions.


I feel it would help to take an hour with a local CFI if you are planning on flying near a particular location.


For example in my opinion flying in the Serra Nevada Mountains is very different than flying in the Rocky Mountains and flying on the lee side is very different than flying on the windward side.

In other words there is always something to learn.
 
kyleb said:
What differences do you perceive? Bottom line for me is that if I choose go out West, between weather and itinerary changes, I could end up a lot of places.

So I would need training that covers all bases, and maybe misses some of the depth which might be included in location specific training.
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The location specific stuff covers local airport/airstrip ops along with weather and things of a regional nature like high density altitude performance.

For example Idaho has lots of little backcountry strips compared to Colorado. In Colorado we’re generally dealing with higher elevation airports.

For training I wouldn’t worry too much about the ‘where’ as much as what can be covered. A little formal training along with a lot of self-study and a conservative approach to mountain weather will keep you pretty safe IMNSHO.
 
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