hook_dupin
Well-Known Member
Something else I'll throw into the mix: if you're in the STL area, a very large defense firm will let you use their education benefits towards pilot ratings. They also have a flying club.
Need Help Making a Big Decision
- Thread starter future pilot
- Start date
skypilot6
Well-Known Member
Those rental prices seem to be around average for a 172, a bit high for a 152 though.
Club prices will be much cheaper than flight school prices, but upfront costs are higher. If you were planning on staying put a Flying Club would be a great idea and save money in the long run.
If you do officially decide to goto ATP look and every financing option possible. Sallie Mae is by far the worst lender anywhere, they are literally the devil, and should be avoided like the plague. Explore all options for that, its something you will have to deal with every month for a long time.
Club prices will be much cheaper than flight school prices, but upfront costs are higher. If you were planning on staying put a Flying Club would be a great idea and save money in the long run.
If you do officially decide to goto ATP look and every financing option possible. Sallie Mae is by far the worst lender anywhere, they are literally the devil, and should be avoided like the plague. Explore all options for that, its something you will have to deal with every month for a long time.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
Get a computer with Track IR or whatever it is used these days (VR headset?) and a decent set of controls. Nothing fancy just yoke, throttle, can even have a prop and mixture control if desired, and some rudders. Use MS FlightSim to practice lessons and procedures and checklists. Also will really help to learn ATC communication.
future pilot
Well-Known Member
Thank you everyone for your advice, its definitely helped! I decided sign up for training in the 152 at St. Louis Flight Training (http://www.stlflight.com/). I picked the 152 because i read it was a good training aircraft and also because it will save me a pretty good amount of money, money ill need when going to ATP. My start date is July 10th, im a little nervous because i dont really know what to expect but i am also very excited that after many years of thinking about it i finally made the decision to go after what i truly want to do.
skypilot6
Well-Known Member
Enjoy your first lesson!
Another great book to have is the Everything explained for the Professional Pilot. It breaks down regs and other aviation topics into an "easier" to read format. I do believe if you purchase the electronic version you get free updates with it as well.
Another great book to have is the Everything explained for the Professional Pilot. It breaks down regs and other aviation topics into an "easier" to read format. I do believe if you purchase the electronic version you get free updates with it as well.
Nihon_Ni
Well-Known Member
Congratulations on taking the plunge! The C-152 is a fine airplane for training, and it will serve you well as long as you and your instructor can fit in it. Don't worry about your first lesson. You're expected to walk into that one cold, and not know anything. (But that will be the last time!)
The best thing you can do to save money and time is study! Schedule lessons regularly, study hard in between and show up prepared. As a CFI, I've seen pilots waste thousands of dollars by not studying and not flying consistently. If you don't fly often and if you don't study and prepare between flights, you spend a lot of flight time reviewing old material and less time moving on. Studying is free, paying your instructor to help you understand information on the ground is wise, but skipping both of those and doing it in the airplane is a waste of time and money.
The comment about using MS Flight Sim is good, but I recommend you don't land the simulator. Without going into a long explanation, I can always tell when I fly with someone with a lot of MS Flight Sim time. Their scan and aircraft control are good, and they have a good understanding of the maneuvers, but they land flat. And that last one is a hard habit to break, and landing on the nosewheel is dangerous in the real airplane. Use the simulator for what it does best, but please don't land it!
And remember to enjoy the process. Like anything else, most people change directions after starting. Sometimes that change is big, sometimes it's small. If you enjoy the process you'll be happy with the results, even if you decide that airlines aren't in your future and you'd rather just own your own airplane and fly for fun.
Bear
Well-Known Member
Track IR VR headset MS FlightSim Cessna
I've never used a basic flight sim, so there might be a better way of saying this, what's really missing is feedback to the flight controls that mirror everyday seat of the pants real world meteorological conditions.
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texas_pilot
Well-Known Member
I had difficulty keeping all the steps in order( nearly 50 years old and ab initio into a new Mooney), so I had the instructor fly the pattern and make all callouts. I wrote everything down and on the ground had him verify its completeness.
I bought some whiteboard from Loews put them on all 4 walls of the apartment, used my list and wrote down every landing gear setting,altitude, target airspeed, prop and power setting, fuel mix, radio callout for traffic pattern, ie: the works!
Rolled around the room in my chair simulating the pattern and repeated every step a dozen times. Instead of being sent home a failure the next day, I soloed! If i had done that the first week I would have saved several thousand dollars.
future pilot
Well-Known Member
After about a month at the first school looks like ill be switching it up to a new one. I have only been able to fly twice so far due to three cancellations by my instructor and then him getting a corporate gig. Since then the school hasn't had an instructor for me to fly with. With this new school i need to purchase a headset and was hoping you all could point me in the right direction. Any advise on where i can get a headset for a reasonable price?
This new school also has two 172's priced at a $103/hour dry rate and $49 per hour for the instructor, that price sounds pretty good to me but wanted to see what your thoughts were.
Thanks again for any advice!
This new school also has two 172's priced at a $103/hour dry rate and $49 per hour for the instructor, that price sounds pretty good to me but wanted to see what your thoughts were.
Thanks again for any advice!
Lots of headsets on ebay and usually in for sale thread here. Get a nice ANR if you're going to continue with this, why pay twice.
Sounds expensive on the plane unless you're in CA or something. Find a flying club with an active instructor. My old one had an instructor doing all accelerated programs, was always available and dedicated to you for that period.
future pilot
Well-Known Member
I've tried and schools/flight clubs that aren't outrageously expensive are pretty few and far between here in STL. By my own math this school would actually be only 5 dollars more (Give or take with fuel prices) per lesson that my previous school which was a 135 wet rate for a 152 and 55 for the instructor. If you buy in bulk which i believe is $1,500 (I was going to feel it out for a week or two because i know this isn't recommended) you get 10% off the rental cost and .35 cents off fuel.