Hey Tampa area pilots and future pilots...

imatworkallday

imatworkallday

Well-Known Member
Assuming all the flight schools in the Tampa area charge about the same for aircraft rental and instructor fees, what are you looking for in a flight school that would cause you to pick one over the other?
 
imatworkallday said:
Assuming all the flight schools in the Tampa area charge about the same for aircraft rental and instructor fees, what are you looking for in a flight school that would cause you to pick one over the other?
Click to expand...

Well, that depends. Are you asking what I'd look for as an experienced pilot who knows a little about what's what? Or are you asking what I'd look for if I were a 0-time/low-time potential student who's still pretty clueless?

Not trying to be snarky, not at all. But the answers are different.
 
imatworkallday said:
Very true. What would you look for as an expierenced pilot.
Click to expand...

1. Well-maintained airplanes.
They don't have to be the latest and greatest, but I want to be able to look at and in the planes and see they're well taken care of.

2. GPS units in most aircraft.
Can I fly IFR without GPS? Sure. But if I'm looking to rent a plane for a relaxed cross-country, the extra situational awareness is a big plus. Similarly, if I'm doing instrument training, I want to be able to learn GPS.

3. Relaxed atmosphere.
Granted, I'm an instructor, but when I'm not wearing my instructor hat, I come to the airport to have a little fun. Nothing ruins my day like an oppressive FBO experience.

4. Happy, quality instructors.
Miserable instructors lounging around in ill-fitting, airline-style uniforms depress me. Instructors that clearly enjoy their job and are happy to talk shop in their downtime really enhance the flight school experience. A good mix of experienced and relatively new instructors works well, so long as you choose the individuals wisely.

5. Online scheduling.
Scheduling planes and instruction from my home computer is a huge plus.

6. Variety of aircraft.
Being able to switch between different types keeps me interested, especially as a pilot who already has my core certificates. A taildragger with a good aerobatics instructor is a big draw. A glass cockpit plane in the fleet is also nice. That said, I want to see some redundancy in the fleet so if N12345 is booked or down for maintenance, I can just take N54321 instead.

7. Location.
Driving two hours round-trip for a 1.5 training flight gets old quick. Not saying you have to be at Knight or Whitted, but I wouldn't want to be trucking out to Zephyrhills or Hernando whenever I wanted to fly.
 
Excellent! Thank you. it seems that we have most of that already (G1000, '99 and later and well maintained...missing aerobatics though.) If anything else pops into mind please let me know.
 
Which flight school are you looking at? I started flying out of Clearwater Airpark and it was nice relaxed atmosphere and my instructor enjoyed what he was doing and made each of my flights very pleasurable.
 
av8or91 said:
Which flight school are you looking at? I started flying out of Clearwater Airpark and it was nice relaxed atmosphere and my instructor enjoyed what he was doing and made each of my flights very pleasurable.
Click to expand...
Im an instructor over at KPIE. Im trying to figure out what interested aviators and especiallly future aviators want when they check out a school, especially in tough economic times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top