Time to pick a flight school!

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citori man

Filing Flight Plan
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citori man
Ive been looking around at my local flight schools in the area and ive picked two that i enjpyed the most. One has the C150 for around $80/hour with the instructor for 50/hour. And the other school has a newer piper 3 for $95/hour dry with the insrutor for 50 or 55/hour (cant remeber what it was. Also they are starting a ground school soon thats twice a week for 8 weeks for $400. The guy even sat down with me for about a hour showing me how they did everything their and then went and showed me the planes and everything. Where i think the other school is just ground school as i go that i pay for. Any opions of if the newer plane and the separte ground ground school would be worth the extra cost plus paying for the fuel or if i should just go for the less structered school with the older planes. any input is very helpful! thanks!
 
$95 hr dry? that will be another $50 for gas.
Your choice is a no-brainer, unless you have money-to-burn.

The Cessna is a better trainer, anyway.
 
it would be besides the fact that summers here are around 100 to 115 degrees and the piper has air contidioning and also the school is on the faa school list. im not sure that matters or not? but just any input on wether people would say its work all the extra cost for that or is it not as bad as im thinking flying in older plane in hot weather? Thanks
 
also its a school that does part 141 and the other ir a local FBO and does part 61. is one more recommend like the 141 being more structured and the 61 being more flexible and no ground school really required
 
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citori man said:
also its a school that does part 141 and the other ir a local FBO and does part 61. is one more recommend like the 141 being more structured and the 61 being more flexible and no ground school really required
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The difference is at part 61 you do the ground school on your own. No matter which school, you still have to pass the same written test
 
you cant lose with the Cessna 150, I will make a very honest stick out of you.
 
okay so as i see its probably worth going for the cheaper plane and learning the ground school stuff on my own also saving money for my IR. well thanks everyone.
 
Are you really sure that Piper has a/c? I'm not sure I've ever seen a Piper trainer with a/c installed (though, I may be wrong).

Nothing wrong with learning in an older airplane. That's how most of us did it. As a matter of fact, some would argue that it's better to get started with less and move up to the whiz-bang later.

I guess it comes down to
1) does the money matter to you?
2) do you need the structure?

If it were me, I wouldn't spend the extra money...unless there was a reason. So, my real advice is to take a lesson with both instructors and see who you learn best from. Leave the airplane out of it for now and focus on finding the instructor and environment that you like the best.
 
its a 2001 piper archer 3 if that makes the difference.
i wounldnt have even considered the school because of the price but i decided to stop by and look. I talked to the owner who sat down with me for about a hour or so and talked to me and then went and seemed to know alot of sources. He seemed to know his stuff and i enjoyed the place and enviroment so thats the reason im considering it. But besides that im a young guy with two jobs trying to pay for it all so the price is a big red flag for me.
 
The Archers are nice airplanes, but Cessnas make better pilots. I think it would be best if you did your private in the Cessna 150 and then got checked out in the Archer when you want to take some friends up and go somewhere. The Cherokees are very stable instrument platforms when it comes time for the instrument rating. $50 dollars an hour seems a little high for the instructor, where are you located?
 
The 141 offers a few advantages over the 61, but you don't see those returns in Private training. For PVT level, I've heard that Part 61 can produce Excellent Pilots and Awful pilots but Part 141 tends to produce a standard pilot.

FWIW- I did Part 141 and lamented through the process, but in retrospect it was the better choice for me.
 
Unless you are unable to study on your own (no judgment, some people really can't), wasting $400 on ground school can and should be avoided. You can get a good private pilot study kit for like $50.

As for the Piper vs. Cessna comments, I can say while Piper is hands down the best training aircraft in the GA fleet, that the AC in Pipers is mostly useless because you can't use it during takeoff and landing (the two most useful times for AC). I wouldn't use that as a determining factor.

The Cessna 150 is tiny and slow, which makes it a good trainer, but the Piper will be more fun to fly. It will also help reduce cost later when you start to do the cross countries.

Now....the price for the Piper is insane. $95 dry? That's easily $150 wet, and then adding a CFI on top of that, you're looking at over $200/hr. Unless this is an Arrow, that's overpriced (even if its an Arrow, its overpriced). That would lean me back toward the 150.

Maybe there's another flight school that has reasonable rates and won't push unnecessary ground school on you?
 
Jaybird180 said:
The 141 offers a few advantages over the 61, but you don't see those returns in Private training. For PVT level, I've heard that Part 61 can produce Excellent Pilots and Awful pilots but Part 141 tends to produce a standard pilot.

FWIW- I did Part 141 and lamented through the process, but in retrospect it was the better choice for me.
Click to expand...

Note - I've met a LOT of crappy 141 pilots (mostly from ERAU). I've met a lot of good and crappy Part 61 pilots. There's no difference. All part 141 does is give you a standard syllabus and the ability to use VA benefits on training.
 
Doggtyred said:
Pure opinion.

My opinion is that Grummans mint the think-they're-the-best-pilots. Hands down ;)
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Fixed for ya. It's also how the PoA standard cloud hole measuring tool was developed.
 
SkyHog said:
Note - I've met a LOT of crappy 141 pilots (mostly from ERAU). I've met a lot of good and crappy Part 61 pilots. There's no difference. All part 141 does is give you a standard syllabus and the ability to use VA benefits on training.
Click to expand...

Notice I said "tends". If you believe that ERAU pilots don't cut the mustard, perhaps you should file a NASA form or call an FAA inspector (not-kidding).
 
citori man said:
also its a school that does part 141 and the other ir a local FBO and does part 61. is one more recommend like the 141 being more structured and the 61 being more flexible and no ground school really required
Click to expand...


So is that basically the only difference bewteen 141 and 61? Does either have special advantages in the future say for someone looking to expand beyond private like commercial? and do they both look about the same to the FAA? Meaning does the FAA see a more serious pilot in those who train with 141 rather 61?
 
Im im arizona over by falcon field basically everyone their is $50/hour for the instructor that ive seen. But for the piper i was gonna go back down their to see if he gets a discount on fuel or maybe one for poor students. haha But if not that im gonna go to cessnas. So when im done with my private is their a advantage on doing part 141 for the IR?
 
citori man said:
Im im arizona over by falcon field basically everyone their is $50/hour for the instructor that ive seen. But for the piper i was gonna go back down their to see if he gets a discount on fuel or maybe one for poor students. haha But if not that im gonna go to cessnas. So when im done with my private is their a advantage on doing part 141 for the IR?
Click to expand...

Haven't read the regs in a while. But I don't think there is any time advantage to changing from part 61 to 141 if you've already done a bunch of 61 training.
 
citori man said:
Im im arizona over by falcon field basically everyone their is $50/hour for the instructor that ive seen. But for the piper i was gonna go back down their to see if he gets a discount on fuel or maybe one for poor students. haha But if not that im gonna go to cessnas. So when im done with my private is their a advantage on doing part 141 for the IR?
Click to expand...

From what I understand, the instrument rating is the only one where you see a real advantage over the part 61 syllabus. Part 141 instrument is 35 hours and it's all dual, and you don't have to have the 50 hours cross country time prerequisite like you do for part 61.
 
Arbiter419 said:
From what I understand, the instrument rating is the only one where you see a real advantage over the part 61 syllabus. Part 141 instrument is 35 hours and it's all dual, and you don't have to have the 50 hours cross country time prerequisite like you do for part 61.
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I think commercial is 190 hours under 141 rather than 250 under 61
 
Arbiter419 said:
From what I understand, the instrument rating is the only one where you see a real advantage over the part 61 syllabus. Part 141 instrument is 35 hours and it's all dual, and you don't have to have the 50 hours cross country time prerequisite like you do for part 61.
Click to expand...

I seem to remember Part 141 for PPL requiring 35 hours total time as well...
 
Arbiter419 said:
From what I understand, the instrument rating is the only one where you see a real advantage over the part 61 syllabus. Part 141 instrument is 35 hours and it's all dual, and you don't have to have the 50 hours cross country time prerequisite like you do for part 61.
Click to expand...

Except they charge you like 10-15 grand at some places for the pleasure.
 
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