Need recommendations for CFII in San Diego

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Blueangel

Line Up and Wait
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Scott
Dear fellow aviators,

I am moving to San Diego next month and looking to get going on my instrument rating. Do you have any recommended FBOs and CFIIs in San Diego area? The two main airports are Gillespie field (KSEE) and Montgomery Field (KMYF).

My game plan is to buy a nice trainer like a Cessna 172N or Piper Archer and use it for my IR and lease it back to a flying school or club to help offset the rental cost. Since I am working on the rating, I really don't need to buy a super fast plane like a 182 or Bonanza which costs a lot more to maintain and put gas in. That way I figure once I am done with the IR and keep it as a leaseback if I want to go father than 300 mile trips it will finally be time to step up to a Bonanza or 182.

Thanks
Scott
 
Welcome,

You'll get plenty of recommendations here. Dallas here just received his IR so hopefully he chimes in. I'll be happy to pass you a few CFI recommendations with the caveat I am not IR, but I can point you to some at PlusOneFlyers who are good people.
 
Outstanding and this looks like an awesome flying club with such a wide choice of good instructors and aircraft. I looked at Golden State Flying club and Coast Flying but this club has better selection of rental aircraft and instructors.
 
Go to Gibbs at MYF where Plus One Flyers is. Hang out. You'll find a match. In the mean start calling them and emailing them to see which ones are still active and available. The list isn't always up to date, many have limited avaiibility.
 
Thanks I'll do that. I'm really looking forward to flying San Diego.
 
Where in SD are you going to be living? You forgot one of the major airports which is CRQ in Carlsbad (better known as Palomar). I just got my IR as Timmer mentioned and I'm happy to share my CFII's info with you. He mainly flies out of Palomar though, so if you're gonna be towards the south or east ends of the county it'll probably be less convenient for you.

I also looked into doing exactly what you describe. Plus One is a great club, and all of the owners I've talked to seem quite happy. That said based on what they have told me if you get a 172 or cherokee and put it in the club you may have trouble scheduling it for yourself. The trainer type planes get used a lot, and you'll have to schedule your flights just like everyone else. When I ran the numbers on various planes I was looking at I found that for myself it made more sense to buy a plane and keep it for me. I ended up getting a Mooney, which was actually cheaper than most 172s I looked at, and I've put about 150 hours on it since January. No way could I have spent that much time in my plane if it was on the line at Plus One. If you're not gonna be flying it every day trying to build time and ratings the club may make sense for you though.
 
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@Dallas, I will be living in Point Loma/OB area since living close to the beach is what attracts me to San Diego. It is not too far from MYF airport but I did read a lot of runway construction is taking place at MYF so that sucks. My buddy lives in Santee and I can also fly out of KSEE even though it is a 20 mile drive but still way closer than CRQ and less traffic. I found a trolley that goes right by KSEE so that might work.

Agree I am also thinking of getting a retract like a Mooney or Bonanza since I have time in both and they are about the same cost now as a 172 or Archer. I've heard its best to do the IR in a plane you will fly after the rating. I looked at prices online for a 172 and Bonanza and the cost is not that much different to buy which surprised me! I love the Mooney but only weak point in a 201J is useful load compared to a Bonanza or 182RG. Anyways most of the time it is just me and a friend.
 
The trolley stop at SEE is pretty close. 5-10 minute walk to west side areas of the airport. Once you drive from OB to Old Town where you get on the Trolley, park and wait for the next train, you probably wouldn't save time. If SAN still had an FBO with rentals and instructors that would have been ideal for you but I don't think they do. I don't know much about traffic(auto) in Sacramento but you better start getting your head wrapped around some pretty brutal commutes if you can't avoid rush hours.
If you get an airplane and put it in the stable at Plus One and scheduling makes it hard to fly your own airplane when you want to you can always just price it out of competition. You set the rates for your airplane. Not sure what the point would be unless there is some tax advantage to having it in a "business." You can always just schedule it a lot in advance and then cancel it if you don't fly. It's the owners who lose money on cancellations, not the Club. Insurance is going to be "through the roof" compared to just owning it for private use. You do get a tie down though. A lot of the owners "hang out" at Gibbs. Pick their brains. There are a lot of "games" being played with scheduling. Instructors can be real creative when it comes to making sure airplanes are available for their students. It's a constant source of controversy.
 
There is a Plus One CFII named Dave Simpson who does accelerated Instrument programs. Gold Seal and solid pass rate. A bit pricey IMO, but he prepares you well.
 
luvflyin said:
If you get an airplane and put it in the stable at Plus One and scheduling makes it hard to fly your own airplane when you want to you can always just price it out of competition. You set the rates for your airplane. Not sure what the point would be unless there is some tax advantage to having it in a "business." You can always just schedule it a lot in advance and then cancel it if you don't fly. It's the owners who lose money on cancellations, not the Club. Insurance is going to be "through the roof" compared to just owning it for private use. You do get a tie down though. A lot of the owners "hang out" at Gibbs. Pick their brains. There are a lot of "games" being played with scheduling. Instructors can be real creative when it comes to making sure airplanes are available for their students. It's a constant source of controversy.
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From talking to several owners at CRQ you have it a little off. The insurance is handled by the club, but the owner pays. The 172 owner I talked to told me what he is paying, and it's roughly the same as I now pay for my Mooney. It's expensive for a 172, but not as bad as I would have thought. I think the clubs very good claim record is a big part of this. The tie down is NOT included by the club, which is why not all of the planes are kept in the same place. That's another one the owner has to foot. At CRQ almost all the planes are kept at Orion, but one of them is right across from me over at Western and another is in the hangar.

Sounds like MYF will be the most convenient for you. I flew in about a week ago and the closure of 28L definitely made things more hectic, but I suspect it'll smooth out as the controllers get used to having only one runway. I happened to have one of the CRQ controllers with me and she was kinda laughing because CRQ only has one runway, and a similar traffic load to what was going on at the time. You may end up flying over to SEE or CRQ or RNM for pattern practice more often than usual, but you're gonna be doing that some regardless.
 
StinkBug said:
The insurance is handled by the club, but the owner pays. The 172 owner I talked to told me what he is paying, and it's roughly the same as I now pay for my Mooney. It's expensive for a 172, but not as bad as I would have thought. I think the clubs very good claim record is a big part of this.
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It's not really because of a good claim record. Plus One has actually had a lot of claims in the last few years, including some aircraft totaled.

The reason the insurance is still reasonable is due to a few factors: For one, the club has a very good broker and a well established relationship with them. They also have a very active safety program and when there is a claim, the club is very proactive at taking steps to address the issue. Unfortunately, it means more rules and restrictions for the rest of us when someone does something stoopid, but it helps keep the rates down.

Finally (and perhaps most important), you need to account for the volume of business the club provides to the underwriter. When you have 50+ airplanes insured under the same policy, the underwriter still comes out ahead even if an airplane is totaled once in a while. I should stipulate that while the club has had several claims, I don't believe there have been any fatalities or serious injuries at least since I joined 8 years ago.
 
Well, considering the number of planes and the number of members I believe statistically the Plus One claim rate is one of the lower ones in the country. The fact that the club also pays a lot of the "claims" in house rather than going through insurance helps as well. Volume does also have its advantages as well though. Regardless, for the owner the rates are reasonable IMHO.
 
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