New Pilot in Minneapolis

T

tonyholland00

Pre-Flight
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
32
Location
Plymouth MN
Display Name
Display name:
Tony Holland
Hello, both my wife and I are going to be getting our pilots license in the next couple of months. We are evaluating who to train with, FBO or Flight Club etc. I am also interested in purchasing my own aircraft.

Couple of questions,

1. Are people ever wanting to sell part ownership in aircraft around the MPLS area, specifically Crystal and Flying Cloud? If so where is a good place to meet/find out about these deals.

2. 2 of my best friends are flight instructors, 1 lives in Rochester the other in Iowa would it be a good idea to train from them or a 3rd party?

3. Does anyone have any advise on whether to join flying club or just rent from FBO (Thunderbird) I have found that Thunderbird is not too much more than the flying club and I don’t have to purchase a share or pay a monthly fee.

4. With both my wife and I wanting to get our licenses any discounts or deals i could possibly work since we are wanting to do this together?

5. Does anyone in the MPLS area know of any Grumman AA-5B Tigers? I am seriously looking at purchasing one of them and wanted to see one up close and possibly go for a ride.

Thank You all for you input..

Tony
 
Welcome !

With two people intending to get a license, you may want to consider getting an IFR capable simple trainer such as a Cherokee140 or a Cessna 172 right up front. You could then use your buddies as instructors or go with any of the independents who will do primary students in the area. Insurance for a student will be high but you will have less issues with scheduling etc. Once you both have made it through the instrument rating, you can look into upgrading to something else.
 
Tony,

WELCOME TO POA!!!

1. The best place to check is in the FBO or flight school bulletin board. You will find aircraft for sale, partnerships and just about any other deal that's out there. Hit the local flight schools at multiple airports, they ALL have the bulletin boards.

2. Your call, it does get old driving a distance to a flying lesson. Ask me how I know....

3. I went the route of a flight school. Once my PPL was in hand I hooked up with a 4 person club flying a Piper Archer. This past october marked one full year of aircraft ownership.....what a whole new adventure it has been....a good one!

4. I'm a horse trader at heart, it's always worth asking, the most they can say is no. Flight schools are always looking for students, horse trade a good package deal.

5. Can't help you here. I'm sure someone will be along with good info or be able to hook you up with a ride in a Tiger.


Again, welcome to POA.
 
Welcome Tony!

I trained at Thunderbird in Eden Prairie. They are a part 141 school but they don't seem to be any more expensive than some of the other schools. The other advantage is that their internal examiner will give you the checkride.

Their 172's are pricey to rent (starting at $135 wet) but the Warriors, though older, are mechanically in good shape and rent for $105 wet. Transitioning from the Warrior to the 172 won't be an issue for you.

I was going to recommend joining a club and using a club CFI for the training, but with 2 of you, I'm pretty sure you'd need 2 shares and 2 monthly payments. Going the flight school route for PP-ASEL training would probably be the best.

Again, welcome, and if you have any questions about Thunderbird or flying out of KFCM or KMIC, drop me a PM and I'll give you my cell.
 
Tony, I sent you a PM. I would definitely go Part 61 route if I were you. :wink2:
 
tonyholland00 said:
Hello, both my wife and I are going to be getting our pilots license in the next couple of months. We are evaluating who to train with, FBO or Flight Club etc. I am also interested in purchasing my own aircraft.

Couple of questions,

1. Are people ever wanting to sell part ownership in aircraft around the MPLS area, specifically Crystal and Flying Cloud? If so where is a good place to meet/find out about these deals.

2. 2 of my best friends are flight instructors, 1 lives in Rochester the other in Iowa would it be a good idea to train from them or a 3rd party?

3. Does anyone have any advise on whether to join flying club or just rent from FBO (Thunderbird) I have found that Thunderbird is not too much more than the flying club and I don’t have to purchase a share or pay a monthly fee.

4. With both my wife and I wanting to get our licenses any discounts or deals i could possibly work since we are wanting to do this together?

5. Does anyone in the MPLS area know of any Grumman AA-5B Tigers? I am seriously looking at purchasing one of them and wanted to see one up close and possibly go for a ride.

Thank You all for you input..

Tony
Click to expand...
Three things come to mind at KFCM.

One is that three of my friends are partners in a fairly nice 152 and I believe they are looking for one or two additional partners.

Another is that the Twin City Cloud 7 is based at FCM and was once written up in Flying Magazine as one of the best managed flying clubs in the country. I haven't been involved in TCC7 for many years but they're still going strong AFaIK. http://www.cloud7.org/

Finally, a relatively new outfit called InFlight has some of the best deals in primary instructions in the Twin Cities. You should definitely check them out. In addition, they offer free pilot seminars (which usually qualify for FAA Wings credit) almost every Saturday morning at 8AM in their hangar. I recommend you check that out regardless of what you end up doing for training. You'll be able to meet plenty of other local pilot there as well plus there's free coffee and donuts. http://inflightpilottraining.com/
 
Thank you to all that responded. I will look into all of your advice. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Tony
 
tonyholland00 said:
Hello, both my wife and I are going to be getting our pilots license in the next couple of months. We are evaluating who to train with, FBO or Flight Club etc. I am also interested in purchasing my own aircraft.

Couple of questions,

1. Are people ever wanting to sell part ownership in aircraft around the MPLS area, specifically Crystal and Flying Cloud? If so where is a good place to meet/find out about these deals.

2. 2 of my best friends are flight instructors, 1 lives in Rochester the other in Iowa would it be a good idea to train from them or a 3rd party?

3. Does anyone have any advise on whether to join flying club or just rent from FBO (Thunderbird) I have found that Thunderbird is not too much more than the flying club and I don’t have to purchase a share or pay a monthly fee.

4. With both my wife and I wanting to get our licenses any discounts or deals i could possibly work since we are wanting to do this together?

5. Does anyone in the MPLS area know of any Grumman AA-5B Tigers? I am seriously looking at purchasing one of them and wanted to see one up close and possibly go for a ride.

Thank You all for you input..

Tony
Click to expand...


First off Tony Welcome to POA! Its a great place to be. Can't give you any advice regarding local issues but would say that you can explore the various options. I'd advise taking a few lessons before you decide to purchase. There is a chance that flying may not be one or the others cup of tea. I wouldn't say Flight School or Club or sole ownership is better as it all depends on the person and what works best for them. I will say a club is great for cost and comraderie.

As for Tigers, well yes they are great planes. I really enjoy flying them. Again in addition to taking a few lessons before you decide to buy or not you should also learn a bit about the various aircraft out there and their capabilities and cost to maintain. Anyway back to the Tigers. You don't have to limit your search to the Minni area unless you are just looking to rent. If your looking to buy then you can take on a national search. After all the best things about planes are you can fly them somewhere?
 
Jack Spectre said:
I was going to recommend joining a club and using a club CFI for the training, but with 2 of you, I'm pretty sure you'd need 2 shares and 2 monthly payments. Going the flight school route for PP-ASEL training would probably be the best.
Click to expand...

Things may have changed since I was a member but the cost at TCC7 for families was only slightly higher than for individuals, the only restriction being that the scheduling limits applied to the family as a unit so each family member couldn't combine reservation allowances unfairly.

P.S. Tony, feel free to PM me for my cell# if you want to talk further about any of this.
 
Last edited:
gismo said:
Things may have changed since I was a member but the cost at TCC7 for families was only slightly higher than for individuals, the only restriction being that the scheduling limits applied to the family as a unit so each family member couldn't combine reservation allowances unfairly.

P.S. Tony, feel free to PM me for my cell# if you want to talk further about any of this.
Click to expand...

I guess I need to double check the by-laws for Yankee Flying club...come to think of it, there might be some provision for immediate family members.

Definitely a question to ask if you are planning to join a club...
 
There is a nice flying club at Crystal that I considered joining when I lived up there - and wish it were an option down here.

http://www.clubcherokee.com/?page_id=12

I found that Flying Scotchman was a pretty good setup at Crystal. They were more affordable then Thunderbird if I remember right and I had nothing but good experiences with them. They had the best maintained Cessna 172P aircraft I've ever seen (the doors closed perfectly with a gentle closing).
 
I think flying scotchman is closing the doors on training from what I read on the website
 
Last edited:
tonyholland00 said:
I think flying scotchman is closing the doors on training from what I read on the website
Click to expand...

Wow that's too bad. When I flew there the owner was like 100 yrs old and they were trying to sell the place to someone that would continue operations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top