Best place to train in Alaska/Western Canada?

blank18

New Member
I have my single engine instrument rating and finishing my bachelors online.

My ultimate goal is to fly in Alaska as a career, so I figure I would go up there to get my commercial certificate.

This way I can spend the time building to get up to 250 hrs, on stuff like getting my SES add on, tailwheel endorsement, some experience in the bush, and the important Alaska time needed for jobs up there. Maybe after getting my CFI certs up there, I can get a job at UAA?

Ive looked up places online, but im just looking for some opinions and maybe first hand experiences!

Thanks!
 
I'm sure this is no help...but for what it is worth, I live in Alaska, got my private in FBNKS and have done biz with two FBO's in Anc.

I am heading south in three weeks to get my IR, CSE, and CME.

Why? Cheaper, better equipment, and better weather.

I could be making a mistake in heading south to do this though...one never can tell.
 
Elemendorf aero club has a skyhawk on floats. (need to be military or CAP member) along with a host of nice aircraft. Good instructors, at least the ones I've flown with.

Land and sea at merrill field has a couple skyhawks and a citabria 115/HR also good instructors. The rest of the FBO's can be hit and miss. If you have the money and the time there is a lot of open country to explore up here.
 
This way I can spend the time building to get up to 250 hrs, on stuff like getting my SES add on, tailwheel endorsement, some experience in the bush, and the important Alaska time needed for jobs up there. Maybe after getting my CFI certs up there, I can get a job at UAA?
Getting a job at UAA might not be so easy later on. Our program is small, I think we are looking for a couple instructors at the moment. I really dont know how big the program is going to get.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Elemendorf is a possibility for me, I used to belong to WPAFB aero club down here.

I would also be trying to find a job doing anything up there, so Anchorage area would have the most jobs available IMO...

The big FBO's that come up all the time when researching are AeroTech and Take Flight both in Anchorage...

I'm dissapointed to hear that about UAA...Coming from Riddle, maybe I will just take flight courses at UAA as a non-degree seeking student, as it would be nice to transition into another reputable program.

To you Alaska flyers, will it be hard to build xc hours up there in VFR conditions? I'm worried that weather in Alaska may cause a problem in the commercial time building process (summer or winter season) or just getting nice VFR days alot...
 
I managed 120 vfr hours in the last 12 months in my 150. But those are all Prince William Sound hours, a region of the state where VFR is not a word often heard. Take last July for example...I made 2 VFR flights, not for lack of trying.
 
Oh yeah, if you want to build time fast, generally speaking fbnks has better VFR weather during the summer, unless the state catches on fire like it did in 2002 and 2003. I got my PP from a small fbo up there; there are three mom and pop fbo's, one runs an Ercoupe if you are into those, and warbelows.

With your military connection Eielson also has a flying club that has nice looking rigs and cheap rates.
 
Oh yeah, if you want to build time fast, generally speaking fbnks has better VFR weather during the summer, unless the state catches on fire like it did in 2002 and 2003. I got my PP from a small fbo up there; there are three mom and pop fbo's, one runs an Ercoupe if you are into those, and warbelows.

With your military connection Eielson also has a flying club that has nice looking rigs and cheap rates.

I went up in the ercoupe last time I was in fairbanks, It was a fun little plane. But with the two of us in there it was a tight fit. Climbing out seemed to ring around about 250ft/min. But once I got up, it was a good time.

Anchorage has decent weather in the summer, but like anyplace it can go low for a stretch. But think of all the extra daylight hours you will have on the good days. I'm not a big fan of take flight, they are expensive and your not getting anything special. Aerotech has a few rough looking planes, and one Cardinal RG. I just got checked out in the RG, and I would have to say its a nice XC machine.
 
Aerotech has a few rough looking planes

I got my ticket with them. They were a good outfit when I was there. Sure the planes weren't pretty, but they got the job done. Dick Ardez is a cool guy, you can tell he's been around the block a few times.
 
I got my ticket with them. They were a good outfit when I was there. Sure the planes weren't pretty, but they got the job done. Dick Ardez is a cool guy, you can tell he's been around the block a few times.

Dick is a great guy, I took my private check ride with him, and did a lot of flying at aerotech. The aircraft fly fine, but a 172 M for $140/hr is a little overboard. Especially when I can go across the ramp and rent a 172 for $115/hr.
 
Off the AeroTech thread, and more to the original post.

I feel compelled to mention another reason I am heading south for some more advanced ratings. Before I say any of this, lemme say that all of my flight is AK VFR time, so it is all I know. I could be right about this stuff, but I could also be way off base, at any rate, here are a few more things to consider when thinking about training up here.

Some of the requirements for Inst and Comm ratings are downright tough in AK ~ UNLESS you stay on the road system. Consider night VFR. I minimize it as much as I can. No roads, no cities, no runways, scads of humongous mountains, spotty flight following, freezing level at the surface 10 months of the year, and temperatures and dew points that are bosum buddies all conspire to make for a risky endeavor if you light your engine up at night for a VFR flight anyplace other than one of the big towns.

Unless you live on the road system, 50 mile XC's are also a challenge. Why? Because everything is so spread out up here. Generally speaking you have to fly 90 minutes or so at 100knts to get to a runway that might be plowed, might not, might have 100LL, might not. You'll be flying with 2 jerry cans full of 100LL in the back seat more often than not. Additionally, in AK 50 NM often means you have to get around/over/through a mtn range. Mtn ranges tend to have different weather on each side of them. Tough to find a day where you can maintain VFR on both sides of a range and not have to sweat at the yoke as mechanical turbulence tries to smack you down. I know that is the whole point of the 50NM rule, that is to teach those skills, but my point is that in AK your XC options are a bit more limited by the scale, geography and infrastructure of our state. I'm not saying it is good or bad, just another aspect of building time up here to ruminate over.

If the engine stops you don't have farm fields, roads etc. as a safety net.

Another consideration is that by far the majority of the runways you have as options are gravel. Look into FBO's policies regarding landing their rentals on gravel. Some will let you, some won't. This is one of the reasons I bought a 150 to build time in.

In reading this you may think, "why would that dude even want to fly in AK if he is so weirded out by the potential danger?" Well, INMHO the rewards far outway the risk and this, after all, is my home. I just reckon that why shouldn't a fellow minimize aviation's inherent risk whenever he can in whatever way he can? For me that means jumping through the certification hoops in a place with a larger safety net than AK has to offer me during my rookie time.

There is also Bravo class airspace to be experienced in America...none up here, might be important to you, might not.
 
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