Whiskey
Filing Flight Plan
Can anyone who has got their PPL in Arizona recommend a good instructor? Or have heard good references of one?
Thanks,
Thanks,
Recommended flight schools in Arizona
- Thread starter Whiskey
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tlglenn
Line Up and Wait
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Ted
Where in Arizona? If Tucson I recommend http://www.kellysaviation.com/
She used to be a high school teacher until she discovered aviation. She was my CFI for my instrument and commercial ratings.
She used to be a high school teacher until she discovered aviation. She was my CFI for my instrument and commercial ratings.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
If in the Phoenix metro area....I highly recommend avoiding DVT like the plague.
I've heard Falcon Executive at FFZ is not bad.
I've heard Falcon Executive at FFZ is not bad.
German guy
Cleared for Takeoff
We rented a 172 from Westwind Aviation at DVT and highly recommend these folks. The prices are also reasonable.
The airport is however quite busy, with at least one controller who appears to have fun talking extremely fast and inarticulate, even during slow times. But then again, it's a good opportunity to sharpen your radio skills... :wink2:
A taste of KDVT ATC: http://www.vimeo.com/18855219
Cheers,
Oliver
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
Westwind is probably okay to rent from, but I sure wouldn't want to do any kind of private pilot training at that airport. Tons of green pilots (many who do not speak english very well) combined with green controllers (DVT is a training tower).
The biggest problem with doing training at DVT (aside from safety) is that because of the volume of traffic, you will be spending alot of your hobbs time sitting on the ground waiting to depart. Since you spend more time on the ground and less in the air, that translates into alot more time and expense to get the training complete. I once sat on the ground for 25 minutes waiting to depart VFR!
Good point about the radio skills, though. If you can handle DVT, you'll have no problem going into JFK or BOS.
SkyHog
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Everything Offends Me
Man, it had been so long since I heard "Parpa Arfa" on the radio. I was really hoping to hear it again, but apparently they use a call sign now? So disappointing.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
Probably so it is easier to avoid them. That particular school had at least 4 NTSB-reportable accidents in 2010 and at least two of them were fatals.
German guy
Cleared for Takeoff
Sorry, but I don't get this one!? Some explanation would be appreciated... :wink2:
Let me guess Transpac?
I agree DVT is a mid-air waiting to happen, to many "English proficient" student pilots who dont understand WTF they are doing.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
Combine that with the green controllers and no radar coverage and you have disaster waiting to happen.
SkyHog
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Everything Offends Me
Pan Am Flight Academy has some of the most god-awful radio voices I'd ever experienced in my life when I flew out of KHII (and into KDVT a few times).
They were mostly Japanese First, English Second students, and the language barrier was very strong there.
My favorite story was a flight coming into Needles, went something like this:
Me: Needles traffic, N123GA, entering left downwind runway 29, Needles.
PA: Oh...uh, Needers traffic, N123 Parpa Arfa, (unintelligible)
Me: I didn't catch that, where are you at?
PA: Oh...uh, crosswind
Me: Which runway?
PA: (unintelligble) Needers
Me: I'm turning left base, runway 29, I don't have you in sight
PA: (unintelligble) base, Needers.
Me: Are you also on base? I don't see you
PA: (unintelligble)
Me: (not sure what to do) ...
PA: (unintelligble) Downwind
Me: (more confused) I'm going to fly upwind, and depart back to Lake Havasu
PA: Lake Havasu Traffic (unintelligble)
And it went on from there. He wasn't dumb, I'm sure of it, but he didn't speak English well enough to be safe on the radio, IMHO. This was quite frustrating.
German guy
Cleared for Takeoff
You might want to start a support group with this controller at JFK: click
You guys are talking about 'green', 'English proficient' pilots - do you refer to my radio skills in the video? Even so I'm 'green' and only 'English proficient', I thought that I'm doing OK on the radio!?
SkyHog
Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything Offends Me
You might want to start a support group with this controller at JFK: click
You guys are talking about 'green', 'English proficient' pilots - do you refer to my radio skills in the video? Even so I'm 'green' and only 'English proficient', I thought that I'm doing OK on the radio!?
Yours were fine. Accents are no problem, provided there's no bar to communication.
The Pan Am pilots take that to a whole new level, though.
German guy
Cleared for Takeoff
Whiskey
Filing Flight Plan
I'm in Northern Arizona, but I would travel further south if there was a really good instructor that is highly recommeded.
You couldn't ask for a better CFII than who I'm working with out of the Wiseman FBO at Flagstaff-Pulliam (KFLG).
I can't recite Fred Gibbs' CV, but he is terrific and has an FAA background (along with some type of ongoing consulting with the FAA). Fred is a well-respected safety speaker/columnist, and a local mountain flying expert. I plan to train with Fred for my instrument rating after I get my PPL and my own C-182 (IFR, of course).
The one training downside is that Wiseman's training/rental fleet consists of two Cessna 172Ms, steam gauges, VFR only.
The other positive is that KFLG is at 7,000 ft. so density altitude awareness is "real world". The airport is Class D (control tower) so there's your radio proficiency training. It isn't too busy either (most of the time) and the controllers know the trainer N numbers and generally go pretty easy on us.
Whiskey
Filing Flight Plan
You couldn't ask for a better CFII than who I'm working with out of the Wiseman FBO at Flagstaff-Pulliam (KFLG).
I can't recite Fred Gibbs' CV, but he is terrific and has an FAA background (along with some type of ongoing consulting with the FAA). Fred is a well-respected safety speaker/columnist, and a local mountain flying expert. I plan to train with Fred for my instrument rating after I get my PPL and my own C-182 (IFR, of course).
The one training downside is that Wiseman's training/rental fleet consists of two Cessna 172Ms, steam gauges, VFR only.
The other positive is that KFLG is at 7,000 ft. so density altitude awareness is "real world". The airport is Class D (control tower) so there's your radio proficiency training. It isn't too busy either (most of the time) and the controllers know the trainer N numbers and generally go pretty easy on us.
Great! sounds like a good fit for me, I'll look into that.
Thanks,
There is always Shebles in Sun Valley AZ but be prepared to seriously lower your standards.
There is always Shebles in Sun Valley AZ but be prepared to seriously lower your standards.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
Sheble is okay for certain things, but I would highly recommend against doing a PPL there.
Sheble does a good job of taking people who already know how to fly and getting them through an advanced rating quickly. I don't have alot of confidence in them teaching someone to actually fly an airplane.