My last annual

[mrivc211]

The vast majority of flight school/rental ops seem to go out of their way to make it suck, and suck hard. Absolutely zero "curb appeal" and the inside of the office has all the charm of a temporary H&R Block office during tax time.

I got lucky. Learned to fly at an "old school" place that was a Cessna "Flight Center". Hangar like décor in the office, with plenty of tables for flight planning, talking or just shooting the s4!t with other pilots. Lots of shirt tails hanging on the walls, and a side room where you could study the Cessna film strips. Ground school was friday night, with movie night right after.

Good times.

This is our lobby. Once a week, I rotate a CFI to give a presentation on an accident based off an NTSB report. When I was a PPL, I used to read thru NTSB reports to try and learn what went wrong. The posters (images below)in the back are airport diagrams with frequencies, departure corridors, and taxiway diagrams. I think its good to have them staring at this stuff from the minute they walk in the door.

This is our conference room. I had the entire wall on the left covered with a giant sectional. It helps them study but also is perfect when I have interviews with CFI's. I can just turn around and ask them basic questions. 4 out of 5 CFI's that interview today can't answer basic private pilot level questions.

Entrance area

 

[fholbert]

Thanks. This is my first annual and I'm having the guy who's done the last 5 or 6 do it. He's got a pretty good track record but isn't cheap. Just does a good job and knows the plane inside and out. We'll see after that. It's a hike to bring the plane all the way down there from WA and back. After flying for the airlines, I'm pretty scared to fly these little planes over anything other than flat land during the day. Only thing safer than that is your Redbird. I'm so chicken now. When it comes time for the overhaul, though, I might be talkin' to you. The mechanic is a big believer in running over TBO under controlled conditions. We'll see how it goes.

Down from Washington to where?

No issues with running over TBO under the right conditions. When it's overhaul time, buy from the factory. Field overhauls look good on paper, takes a heck of a lot longer and often cost more when complete.

 

[arkflyr]

4 out of 5 CFI's that interview today can't answer basic private pilot level questions

Wow, I haven't flown GA or instructed in quite some time but I would like to think I could muddle my way through most of it.

BTW that place looks great.

 

[Richman]

Great looking place man!

 

[fholbert]

This is our lobby. Once a week, I rotate a CFI to give a presentation on an accident based off an NTSB report. When I was a PPL, I used to read thru NTSB reports to try and learn what went wrong. The posters (images below)in the back are airport diagrams with frequencies, departure corridors, and taxiway diagrams. I think its good to have them staring at this stuff from the minute they walk in the door.

This is our conference room. I had the entire wall on the left covered with a giant sectional. It helps them study but also is perfect when I have interviews with CFI's. I can just turn around and ask them basic questions. 4 out of 5 CFI's that interview today can't answer basic private pilot level questions.

Not sure why you blocked out the name of your school, on a full sized monitor the blackout is transparent.

I too have heard excellent things about your school. Can one learn to fly in something other than an old WWII facility? Just doesn't have the right smells.

I started flight training in this WWII building in 1971. Office up stairs, repair facility downstairs. I can't believe it's still standing.

 

[mrivc211]

Not sure why you blocked out the name of your school, on a full sized monitor the blackout is transparent.

I too have heard excellent things about your school. Can one learn to fly in something other than an old WWII facility? Just doesn't have the right smells.

I started flight training in this WWII building in 1971. Office up stairs, repair facility downstairs. I can't believe it's still standing.
View attachment 70178

Thanks! I love Chino Airport. So many memories. So much fascination of its history. From Flo's cafe to all the historical buildings just standing there that you can walk right up to. My buddy that was a controller at SNA transferred to CNO about 10 years ago so I got to go up in the tower and check things out.

 

[fholbert]

Thanks! I love Chino Airport. So many memories. So much fascination of its history. From Flo's cafe to all the historical buildings just standing there that you can walk right up to. My buddy that was a controller at SNA transferred to CNO about 10 years ago so I got to go up in the tower and check things out.

Thanks, it's a very unique place.

The picture is Brown Field (KSDM) however.