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#11
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I'll throw in a dissenting opintion. :-)
While I agree that it is alarming how many pilots are reluctant to fly into the local Class B, C or D airport, I don't think that is the place to start your learning. Flying is a bit like juggling, with about a dozen things going on all at once. While, given enough time, it's possible to learn them all simultaneously, I believe that a progressive approach is a better method of instruction. It's much easier to give progressive instruction when you fly out of a quiet, non-towered field. Is it possible to give/get good instruction at a towered field? Sure, but it's harder to find instructors who are capable of giving it. Whatever happens, make sure you spend plenty of quality time at both towered and non-towered airports. It will be worth your while. :-) -Rob --- Rob Montgomery www.ScaryLittleAirplanes.org |
#12
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Dallas wrote:
They do? Where do they go?.... Oh, they're still there. Under the parking lots at, for example, Hadley Center in South Plainfield and Airport Mall in Hazlet. George Patterson Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks. |
#13
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Dallas wrote:
Well, it seems unanimous. I am a little surprised, I expected to hear that a little country airport was the way to go. It is not unanimous. I made a lot of flights in and out of Addison during the years that I was in Dallas. I don't recommend it, not any school there, for flight training, though there are reasonable places to rent airplanes there once you have a ticket. There are two big negatives that I see. Number one is time: it just takes too long to get to and from the practice areas. The Hobbs ticks just as fast when you're getting out from under the class B shelf as it does when you're really making progress. It's already expensive enough, why add to it? The really big one, though, is the quality of instructors. The big majority there are arrogant know-nothing time-building (on your dimes) airline-pilot wannabes. They can't teach you how to fly because they don't know anything about aviation. They have barely an hour in the air that was not spent either doing exactly what it takes and nothing more to get their own ratings or teaching folks like you exactly what it takes and nothing more to get ratings. They're hopeless as teachers because they have no experience and don't particularly want to be teachers in the first place. Takeoff and landing delays tend not to be bad during weekdays but can be pretty depressing on sunny weekends--being 12th in line for takeoff with 13 in the pattern while the Hobbs spins isn't a great way to start a lesson. The advantage of learning in a busy environment is over-rated. Learn to fly the airplane first, then take an hour or so, not much more, to get comfortable dealing with Dallas approach control and ADS tower. So sez me, who did do primary training at a rural strip not far from Dallas and then rented from several FBO's at ADS. |
#14
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xxx wrote:
There are two big negatives that I see. Number one is time: it just takes too long to get to and from the practice areas. The Hobbs ticks just as fast when you're getting out from under the class B shelf as it does when you're really making progress. It's already expensive enough, why add to it? An excellent point. I learned at a suburban airport only about 15 miles from what is now a class B airport. I learned to fly first, then I learned to talk. Then I learned to talk at the big airport. We went in and out of there periodically and so it had no particular horror for me. Later, I had a flying job where I flew out of that same Class B airport twice a day five days a week. It was just another airport to me by that time... but I wouldn't have wanted to start learning how to fly there. The really big one, though, is the quality of instructors. The big majority there are arrogant know-nothing time-building (on your dimes) airline-pilot wannabes. They can't teach you how to fly because they don't know anything about aviation. They have barely an hour in the air that was not spent either doing exactly what it takes and nothing more to get their own ratings or teaching folks like you exactly what it takes and nothing more to get ratings. They're hopeless as teachers because they have no experience and don't particularly want to be teachers in the first place. After being out of flying for 15 years because of medical problems, I'm back. And when I look for an instructor these days for recurrency work, I look for CFIs who are already ATPs as well. They're not building time; they've got it. I assume they teach because they enjoy it. And I know they've flown enough to have practical experience about which they speak. I had to snicker when getting an aircraft checkout from a young instructor one day when he went into great detail about what to do if the engine quits. Between the two of us, there were two airplane crashes related to engines quiting to draw experience from. Unfortunately, he hadn't made either of them. G So, when I was looking for instrument recurrency training, I found an ATP to get it with. It tends to be a much more refined lesson than I get from someone who's never actually done it but has only read about it. Many of the CFIIs I run into actually have very little real IFR experience, which surprised me quite a bit. But the ATPs.... -- Mortimer Schnerd, RN VE |
#15
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I used to freelance out of a place called Centerline at Addison. On
weekends it was not unusual to be number twelve or fifteen in line for take-off. Three or four "tenths" would tick off the Hobbs before it was our turn to go. I would try to keep my student as busy as possible but how much can you do in line? I'm afraid you will be spending about $50 in these modern aircraft just to get to the runway. I suggest you get away from there and check out McKinney or Dallas Executive before you sign up. Just my $.02 Allen "Dallas" wrote in message .net... I'm finding myself motivated to take a few lessons and I'm getting conflicting opinions as to how to pick a flight school. As you can see from my moniker, I'm from Dallas and Addison Airport has quite a few schools. One opinion was that Addison was a good choice because they'll have more modern aircraft and more proficient schools. The other opinion that seems to make sense is to pick a flight school outside of the city in a rural area to get away from the traffic and the Class B airspace. I could see how you could burn up a lot of your time on the taxiways at Addison and once in the air, use up more time getting to a practice area. I'm afraid that I'd only get 30 minutes for my hour. Opinions? Dallas |
#16
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Best would be to try and find a school on a grass strip not longer than
2000 ft, then you get used to precicion right from day one. Perfect yould be if they offer ab initio training in a taildragger, so you actually learn stick and rudder skill and how to navigate by looking out of the window. Once you know how to handle a plane, you can still go and learn how to use all those gadgets. I've seen pilots who couldn't hold an attitude using the natural horizon instead of the artificial one and who refused to go cross country without a GPS. Not my idea of a pilot. Stefan |
#17
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"Jay Beckman"
Is Addison considered a "reliever airport" for DFW? What types of planes use Addison and how frequently? Are there scheduled air carrier flights? Is it where lots of bizjets come home to roost? Hey Jay, It's the 3rd busiest GA airport in the nation and it's bizjet city. It's a bit like a free Air Show... Dallas |
#18
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"Allen" I used to freelance out of a place called Centerline at Addison. I suggest you get away from there and check out McKinney or Dallas Executive before you sign up. Great advice from this group! I like the idea of McKinney... nice new airport. I'll see if I can network around and find a flight school that "cares" up there. Dallas |
#19
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"George Patterson" Oh, they're still there. Under the parking lots at, for example, Hadley Center in South Plainfield and Airport Mall in Hazlet. ....and putting greens? http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsite...03-1-157x.html :-( Dallas |
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