wrote:
Hi folks,
If you want to learn to fly and have half a year or more to take off
and live anywhere in the USA, where would you go to learn to fly?

All depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Do you want an
instrument, seaplane, or multi rating too? Is this just a
once-in-a-lifetime adventure, or are you going to take these skills
home with you?

The East and West coasts are nice but expensive. $50k/year income won't
go very far if you're living in a major metropolitan area.

Alaska is amazing. If nothing else, go up there and get your floatplane
rating. I did mind with a place called Alaska Float Ratings and it was
phenomenal. Just keep in mind it's very seasonal there, mostly
May-September.

I'm partial to the Northeast US, but that's because I'm from here. The
Portland, Maine area might be worth sniffing around. You've got your
farm strips and class C fields, ocean coast and mountains. The weather
is variable but nicest in the fall, and if you want to get an
instrument rating, you'll get plenty of actual IMC.

Portland itself is a nice small city that is starting to become more
lively, and since you're 25 I figured you might want some social life.
Portland is also pretty accessible to the rest of the Northeast, you
can drive to Boston in about three hours, and NYC in about seven, or of
course fly it. It's far enough out though that the cost of living
hasn't gone insane yet.

OTOH, if I had six months to indulge my wanderlust, I might try to move
around a little, and I would definitely spend some time around the
Rocky Mountain states, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, or Montana. I don't
think you can really understand America unless you spend some time out
West.

Best,
-cwk.