Best FSDO?

ahw01

ahw01

Well-Known Member
thinking ahead, I plan to visit a couple of FSDOs to renew my CFI cert. I visited IAD and SDL for Ground Instructor a few years back.

There are 78 others, and I can see a bit of the U.S. I haven't visited before. Alaska was a good thought, any worth a visit, known for their service?

With the TSA I am linked to the NY IFO but I don't know if they do cert renewals. On the downside I hear odd rumours about Reno, I did meet mr Jones but hey ho, seems a weird website.

http://airnation.net/hangar/threads...fsdo-mgr-becker-and-supvsr-jones-style.14386/

Alex.
 
Boston FSDO got great people working there, and plenty of things to do/see in the area. They are not the fastest when it comes to scheduling rides though.

Also they don't do walk-ins, you have to be on the visitors list and they put you through a TSA style security check. May be even more complicated if you are not a U.S. Citizen.
 
Didn't GRR get thrown off the airport property a few years ago. I did my CFI initial there years ago and it was an interesting ride and I did pass.

DTW (at the YIP airport) isn't bad just make sure you make an appointment. The Yankee AF museum is on the field as well.
 
pilotmg1501 said:
Not GRR, whatever you do, not GRR
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Out of curiosity, why not? I did my CFI with them back in 2006 and while it was challenging, they were pleasant and professional the whole time. I made several unscheduled visits to their office as well for various things and never had any issue talking to the people that I needed to, nor with getting anything resolved.
 
American flyers sells a lifetime FIRC online for cheap. You can do it from your laptop poolside at the Waikiki Hilton and save yourself the headache. Risk management lesson number one, avoid unnecessary trips to random FSDOs.
 
Joepilot84 said:
Risk management lesson number one, avoid unnecessary trips to random FSDOs.
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Also, avoid unnecessary dialogs with the FSDO.

It was 2009. I am a brand new minted pilot. I am trying to arrange a for a skydiver to do an aerial exhibit into a special event. Of course this was sprung on me by the boss at the last second, like hey you're flying this dude on Thursday over at this location. I called the FSDO to try and seek guidance on how to do this safely and legally. Yeah,. Mr. FSDO treated me like a bloody criminal! After having being backed into a corner, I said stop. I fired back I am calling "YOU" up to see how I can do this legally. (Normal protocol is to file a for a permit which can take up to 30 days). After my retort I was finally able to get the guidance I needed. File a NOTAM, this is how, don't release the jumper over the open air assembly, make sure the landing area is cordoned off etc.

I should have called the USPA and I could have received the same information with out a lot of headache. Hey, I now know what needs to happen if I ever need to drop jumpers into a special event.
 
I would skip the DFW one, in fact I'm worried they went out of business. They won't answer or return calls, and I have a sneaky suspicion that they weren't really there to help anyway.
 
I visited the Sacramento FSDO a number of years ago to get my Ground Instructor Certificate. The inspector that helped me was an older gentleman who was cool as heck. High rating on the FSDO (for that single data point), but perhaps a low rating on the sightsee-ability of the neighborhood. But there is a neat train museum in Old Sac.
 
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