Part 141 or part 61?

eduardomr99

eduardomr99

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Hector
What's the difference between a part 141 or part 61 school? Which one's better?


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Either one is fine. 141 is a formal flight school (some advantages) while 61 (also w/ advantages) can be a flight school at your local airport or an independent CFI. It comes down to the CFI, and a good one can be found at either 141 or 61.
 
It depends on how you study,and how structured you want the class to be. There are advantages to both.
 
Some Part 61 guys aren't organized enough or have other jobs and that can hurt you time wise. It shouldn't, if your instructor is dedicated and you study the regs and know the requirements for the certificate from Part 61 for student pilots. Part 141 is a lot more organized, formal, etc... but I've seen students given the run around in various ways that tend to eat up more money than they were told it would at the beginning. Happens fairly often. There can be good or bad instructors in either environment, but I'd lean towards Part 141 instructors at bigger schools being bigger rookies many times. Check them both out, choose your own instructor if you can, don't let people give you bad service or a run around and either can work.
 
141 is cookie cutter, it's the safest bet if you don't want to shop for a individual CFI or put in the time to find the best schools and options, 141 take some guess work out.

61 is VERY customizable to the student and any specialized training, this is great if you have a good higher time CFI and/or are training in tailwheel, gliders, seaplanes etc. 61 can offer the highest level of training custom tailored to exactly the type of flying the student plans on doing, draw back is it much more depends on your individual CFI.

So, if you can find a good CFI, or know where to ask to find a good CFI, go 61.

If you don't want to deal with finding a good CFI and are OK with generic training, basically just want to get er' done, 141.


* I should add, I did my PPL (In a tailwheel) SEL&SES, IFR, CPL SES & SEL, CFI (FSDO ride) and ME ATP, all part 61, also all the instruction I have given has been 61 due to the nature of the clients I had.
 
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University programs (as discussed in your other thread) are often part 141.

But many a good pilot got their start under part 61.

Be sure to check out this document for more information on flight training: AOPA Field Guide to Flight Training
 
The only part 141 near me is ATP. They are very by the book and geared towards people wanting to fly for a living. They have structured classroom, and flight times, and basically set milestones where you are expected to be at defined times during training. You are basically expected to be with them until you at least receive your IFR rating, and usually up to CFI level. Most of their instructors are recent ATP graduates who are building time before moving on to commercial flight training themselves. It is basically aviation community college. The biggest advantage is you will generally get there faster, and if you need a structured environment they will provide that.

Part 61 is much more flexible and can be tailored. This is good and bad. If you are a person that needs a structure, and very clear goalposts, it may not be the place for you. It will mean more self study, and schedule juggling with the CFI. There is also somewhat more variability in CFI stile and a "loser" lesson plan and progression.

Both have their place, and each works better for different people and goals.
 
Read up on ATP Inc, it's far from a college program and I believe they are also pt 61.

I've received a good amount of instruction over my time flying, frankly ATP Inc was the worst instruction I've ever received, I'd sum it up as fast food style instruction, they are also very expensive.
 
James331 said:
Read up on ATP Inc, it's far from a college program and I believe they are also pt 61.

I've received a good amount of instruction over my time flying, frankly ATP Inc was the worst instruction I've ever received, I'd sum it up as fast food style instruction, they are also very expensive.
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Not disagreeing with you. The flight school I use is part 61, but gets many ATP CFI's because there is an ATP only 20 minutes away. My first instructor was and ATP graduate, my second is not. The difference I noticed was the ATP CFI was very by the book. Patterns needed to be at the textbook right distance, at the defined specific speed for each leg, so very flying by the numbers. ATP trains uniformity in their pilots. Now I know there is logic to doing things in that fashion, and is the right way for many people. My current CFI has his stated goal of making you safe and comfortable. If that means your pattern is slightly bigger than perfect, or you speed numbers are slightly different from the textbook, that is not the end of the world. Safety is number one, not the textbook. How you get to your perfect landing may be slightly different from the next pilot as long as it is legal, works for you, and is safe. Stressing more about getting a feeling for the plane, as opposed to initiate decent in downwind leg at 1500 RMP, 1 degree flaps, and 90 knots. Neither is wrong just different, and I responded to the second style better.
 
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ATP is Part 61 last I checked.

I personally can't stand Part 141, including flight schools that pretend they're Part 141. If you're good at one thing and suck at another, too bad, you're doing them both at least N number of times, whatever the syllabus tells you to do. And the syllabus tends to be used as a crutch in lieu of an analysis of how best to serve a student's needs.
 
For a PP there's not much difference between 61 and 141 other than structure as already noted. For instrument there are some aeronautical experience requirement differences (eg under 141 there's no 50hr x/c requirement, the min instrument instruction is 35hrs, etc).

Also if you are a Veteran and want to use GIBill benefits to pay for instruction it has to be 141, among many other criteria.
 
I agree with some of the other comments. I received my private pilot and instrument training through a Part 141 school. That environment was very structured, and while the flight instructor still mattered, the structure of the program helped to make sure that the training was thorough and complete regardless of who you were assigned as an instructor. But, there wasn't a ton of flexibility in the program.

I had a long gap in my flying, and came back to flying with some refresher training through a local Part 61 operation. The training seems a lot less structured and formal in that environment, but it's also easier to work on specific issues you want to focus on, and it's easy to get with another instructor when you want to learn from different styles of instruction (that wasn't an option with the 141 program I went through — you were assigned an instructor, and that was your instructor. And, like someone else mentioned, the syllabus was the syllabus, and it was fairly rigidly followed).

I should also mention that my 141 training was done through a university program, so it was slow moving but detailed. Other 141 programs seem to take a different approach, with intensive training over a short period of time. One of my original ground instructors was a gal who had gone through the ATP program. She received all of her ratings in a short period of time, but told me that she would have preferred to have gone through a university style program instead (citing the fact that there were a lot of holes in her knowledge when she first came to work for the university… she felt that the university program was more thorough). I have no idea if ATP is 61 or 141, but they definitely go for the high speed training.

Like anything else in life, there are pros and cons to each route.
 
Thanks for your answers guys that was helpful
 
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