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mcop306

Well-Known Member
Im not sure if this is the right place for this question so please move to proper location if need be.

I have decided to try and get my pilots license in Indiana. I am currently looking at schools around my area and have found alot of differences in price, equiptment and attitude. my question is what should i be looking for and what questions should i be asking before i sign up an pay. My goal is to get my private license and the instrument rating and eventually get a comercial license and make a part time job out of my new hobbie:). Im not looking to be a full time pilot or become an airline pilot. any help on what to look out for and be aware of as i go through this process. thank you in advance for your help.
 
mcop306 said:
Im not sure if this is the right place for this question so please move to proper location if need be.

I have decided to try and get my pilots license in Indiana. I am currently looking at schools around my area and have found alot of differences in price, equiptment and attitude. my question is what should i be looking for and what questions should i be asking before i sign up an pay. My goal is to get my private license and the instrument rating and eventually get a comercial license and make a part time job out of my new hobbie:). Im not looking to be a full time pilot or become an airline pilot. any help on what to look out for and be aware of as i go through this process. thank you in advance for your help.
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I'm not the best example, but I picked the closest airport to my house and set up a discovery flight. Turns out my instructor is very nice and so are most of the instructors. One question I'd ask is if you could have the same instructor throughout your training. That has helped me since my instructor has known where I'm at in my training.

Equipment age doesn't matter in my opinion. I fly a 1973 C172M and besides the leather seats and fancy-shmancy color GPS in the C172SP, I like the 1973 model just as much (and it's cheaper :P).
 
mcop306 said:
thanks, is 5500, 6500 $ a normal price for teh private pilot license
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Yeah, I only need 1.5-2 more lessons before I can go for my checkride, and I have probably spent:
9.5 hrs solo x $100/hr=$950
44.4 Dual x $135/hr=$5994
--------------------$6944
It will probably end up being $7500 for me (after my next lesson and the examiner fee, etc) and I will be just below the national average of 60-65 hrs to get the PPL.
 
mcop306 said:
Im not sure if this is the right place for this question so please move to proper location if need be.

I have decided to try and get my pilots license in Indiana. I am currently looking at schools around my area and have found alot of differences in price, equiptment and attitude. my question is what should i be looking for and what questions should i be asking before i sign up an pay. My goal is to get my private license and the instrument rating and eventually get a comercial license and make a part time job out of my new hobbie:). Im not looking to be a full time pilot or become an airline pilot. any help on what to look out for and be aware of as i go through this process. thank you in advance for your help.
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Just make sure you do some asking around about a particular school before you commit. You most definitely want to look for a flight school that has a good reputation, and that may not necessarily be the cheapest. Something to consider.
 
We're up in West Lafayette, and we quote people $8000-10000 start to finish, including books, tests, and check ride fees when all is said and done. I had a student recently who finished in 42hrs in our cheapest aircraft and it cost him around $6300 to finish. On the other end, I had someone who took nearly 100hrs and the cost for them was almost double what we quoted when he began. The FAA minimum is 40hrs but the national average for people to go from 0 time to their Private Pilot is somewhere between 50-60hrs. The cost will vary depending on the time it takes you to finish and the type of aircraft you fly. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
 
mcop306 said:
thanks, is 5500, 6500 $ a normal price for teh private pilot license
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That seems to be around the cheaper end. It all depends on how quickly you get it done. You can get it done within 45 hours, or it may take you 70 or more hours. I think the average is around 55 hours and about 7-9k. But prepare to pay around 10k, just in case.


I didn't see the post above me until now, but yeah, what he said.
 
While I don't have all the links saved, or any for that matter, I spent a few days researching average times that it takes one to get their private pilot. Long story short, there are many averages. Here is a short list of the numbers I found:

45-50
50-60
55
55-65
60-70
77
81
90

Some of these were word of mouth calling various schools around the NJ area and FL area and others internet sources. What I deduced from my research is that with a diligent training regime of 2 lessons a week with flying at least weekly one can roughly land in the 55-65 hour range most of the time. If you bump that up to 3 schedules and at least 2 times a week you can land closer to 50-60.

Anything less, unless you are in 141, seems unrealistic for the average person. Do keep in mind that if you fall in one end of the spectrum it will typically be longer than shorter. I would guestimate of those that don't fall in the average probably 70 percent of them take more and 30 percent less. Good luck, I recommend basing your assumption on 60 hours for financial purposes.

Disclaimer: This is purely my opinion from research/reading/querying over approximately a weeks time. Comparing that with my limited instructing experience and what I like to think is logical.
 
I am from Southern Indiana and trained at Tri-State Aero. It got my certificate in 42 hours, so I scraped by. I learned at a class C airport so that I would be familiar with busier airspace and more comfortable on the radio. I highly recommend training at EVV if you are in the area. I am looking into getting my IR up here in Lafayette through Lafayette Aviation at LAF.
 
thanks for the info, im trying to find out about the medical as i have red green color deficiency. I dont want to spend all the time and money if i cant pass the physical.
 
mcop306 said:
thanks for the info, im trying to find out about the medical as i have red green color deficiency. I dont want to spend all the time and money if i cant pass the physical.
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Good call, I know a guy that only got a third class initially, got his commercial certificate (read spent approx $40,000), and could not get a first or second class.
 
Ask the doc in the flight surgeon area about your issue. He has all the ins and outs of getting a cert and what you need to do if you get denied.

As far as flights schools shop around and ask other pilots what they think. Also check with the Better Business Bureau to see if they have any complaints.

  1. Find out how many CFI's they have (do they have enough to cover the students)
  2. How much experience do the CFI's have?
  3. Do they have a defined syllabus?
  4. What are the rental fees and what does that fee include?
  5. What is the instruction rate?
  6. How much ground is typically billed to each dual flight. It is customary to bill a minimum of .2 ground for each dual flight. This covers the brief and debrief. There will more ground billed in the beginning.
  7. How may aircraft do they have (if they don't have enough you may have a hard time scheduling)
  8. What does their insurance cover? You don't want to get stuck with a huge bill if something happens. You most likely will want additional coverage from AOPA to CYA.
  9. What is the process for scheduling/reserving flights?
  10. What is the cancellation policy. Some places will bill you for canceling a flight for non-wx reasons/
  11. Are the CFI's allowed to take students up in actual IFR conditions? A great thing to do during your later stages of Instrument training.
  12. Do they have a Designated Examiner they use for check rides or do you have to use the FAA.
To get through a program with the least amount of money try and fly 3 to 5 times a week and come prepared for the lesson to be taught. You can lose of lot of money in ground schools if the CFI has to spoon feed you.

If you don't like the instructor for any reason switch to another one or try a few out. You will learn the fastest with an instructor you are comfortable with. If you hit a plateau, which is normal try a different CFI for a lesson or two. He/she may have a different way of explaining something that may click.

Lastly, don't be dazzled by the latest and greatest in aircraft an avionics. A well maintained, non-glass cockpit, C172 will get you the same pilot's license as the fancy all glass plane that rents for 2x as much per hour. You will also be a better pilot, IMO for learning on the traditional instruments.

Good Luck and have fun.
 
I was "told" by one of the instructors that if i cant pass the dortors office color vision test that i can get a waiver by having a FAA person fly with me and test my color perception in "real world situations" and he could sign off on it if i passed with him? I already know i cant pass the dot test (not sure what its called but i faild it in the military) does that sound right????
 
Yes, you can get a SODA (statement of demostrated ability) from the FSDO. Basically the FAA will test you to see if you can differentiate the light gun signals and other color related markings on the airport. If you can, you will get a SODA permantly placed on your medical and you won't have to do it again. So go for the First Class Medical. If you get it the Soda will be good for all lower classes too. You just can't get a 2nd class then try and get a 1st later without out doing the testing again.

Again, ask Dr. Forred in our flight surgeon forum and he can give you specifics for your condition.

Can you tell the difference between red and green etc?

If not then that may restrict you to Day flying only.

Good Luck
 
thanks for the help. @ bandit, i can see red lights green lights and tell the difference easily. i do have a problem seeing shades of brown deep blue. but i can see traffic lights just fine red green yellow.

Another question is i have narrowed it down to 2 schools. one is a mom and pop and is cheaper. they have older planes but seem to really love flying, they told me they have never had a problem getting scheduling for students or running out of planes for lessons. the other is a big name school with brand new planes all the cool new stuff on them. tehy have 10 instructors and lots of planes but much more business like. what are you guys thoughts? the small school is about 1200 dollars cheaper.
 
Take that extra 1200 bucks and put it in your pocket.

Also- do not pay all costs up front.
 
bLizZuE said:
Take that extra 1200 bucks and put it in your pocket.

Also- do not pay all costs up front.
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kind of a broad statement without knowing anything about either school he is referencing.
I mean maybe the mom and pop place is known to be shady or cut corners on maintenance or some such. Or it could be the other way around and the big name school is shady. Or any other number of reasons to choose one over the other.

edit: maybe the big name school is giving him a more realistic quote based on hours as well. I mean if mom/pop are quoting him 40 hrs and big name is quoting him 50 hrs, that's the difference in 1200 smackers right there.
 
mcop306 said:
Another question is i have narrowed it down to 2 schools. one is a mom and pop and is cheaper. they have older planes but seem to really love flying, they told me they have never had a problem getting scheduling for students or running out of planes for lessons. the other is a big name school with brand new planes all the cool new stuff on them. tehy have 10 instructors and lots of planes but much more business like. what are you guys thoughts? the small school is about 1200 dollars cheaper.
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The biggest thing you want to look for is an experianced CFI. Preferably one who has been teaching for a couple of years and/or 1000 hours. Everything else is secondary.

After that, it's simply a matter of you feeling comfortable with their operation. Some guys are fine with the mom n pop operation with older planes, and some guys want to see brand new planes, simulators, and sparkling office space.

Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but they will both get you to the same place.
 
as long as i get the same certification i dont care how new or old the plane is. lol also both places were quoting me 40-45 hours and told me i could pass in that amount of time as long as i finished in 2-3 months and did not drag it out for a long peroid of time. also someone said dont pay up front, both places have package deals if you pay up front why should i not pay up front???? thanks.
 
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