Aircraft Hire - Tucson

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Flamin_Squirrel

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Apr 15, 2011
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Flamin_Squirrel
Hi guys.

I'm visiting Tucson later this year from the UK and plan to have my FAA piggy back license sorted out before then so I can do some hour building.

It seems difficult to get much info beyond a name for FBOs so I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advise who to fly with out of Tucson Int? I'd be looking to rent fairly cheaply so C172/PA-28 etc would be ideal.

Many thanks.
 
Thank you.

I think it might be a little out of date though :(

Anyone else have any first hand experience flying from TUS?
 
No experience, but I am visiting there next week, and have been trying to find a PA-28, C-172 or the like, and a CFI for some mountain flying instruction...and have pretty much come up empty. I've heart TUS is not especially GA-friendly.

The best I've found, based on a recommendation here, is a small operation about 90 minutes south. However, they operate only LSAs, and the owner hasn't been too responsive to e-mails. I'll give the guy a call when I get out there, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
Archer Bravo is a good start although I am sure some locals here will give you the current skinny.

http://www.archerbravo.com/

Click Rental Search
Protip: Just search the entire state, no guarantee that the "Region" option will work correctly. Results are not generally current but, like I said, a good start.
 
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Flamin_Squirrel said:
Hi guys.

I'm visiting Tucson later this year from the UK and plan to have my FAA piggy back license sorted out before then so I can do some hour building.

It seems difficult to get much info beyond a name for FBOs so I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advise who to fly with out of Tucson Int? I'd be looking to rent fairly cheaply so C172/PA-28 etc would be ideal.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Here's a place you can try:

http://kellysaviation.com/Rates2.htm
 
alfadog said:
Archer Bravo is a good start although I am sure some locals here will give you the current skinny.

http://www.archerbravo.com/

Click Rental Search
Protip: Just search the entire state, no guarantee that the "Region" option will work correctly. Results are not generally current but, like I said, a good start.
Click to expand...

John, thanks for the link...first I've seen of it.

For the Tucson area, four out of five of the FBO/flight school website links were dead or non-existent, but the fifth, Tucson AeroService Center, worked. They have a good selection of aircraft, and rates are reasonable. And, they're not far from where I'm staying, in Oro Valley. In fact, I just got off the phone with them, and they seemed very willing to work with me for what I want. The only downside is, with the CFI's schedule, it involves being at the airport at 7 a.m. on Sunday, after a late flight into TUS the night before. :(

If that didn't work, my next call would have been to the other operation posted, Kelly's. But I didn't get that far, so don't know about them.

For the OP, I'll post my experience with them in a week or so, when I get back, after I've seen their operation up close and in person.
 
BrianR said:
John, thanks for the link...first I've seen of it.

For the Tucson area, four out of five of the FBO/flight school website links were dead or non-existent, but the fifth, Tucson AeroService Center, worked. They have a good selection of aircraft, and rates are reasonable. And, they're not far from where I'm staying, in Oro Valley. In fact, I just got off the phone with them, and they seemed very willing to work with me for what I want. The only downside is, with the CFI's schedule, it involves being at the airport at 7 a.m. on Sunday, after a late flight into TUS the night before. :(

If that didn't work, my next call would have been to the other operation posted, Kelly's. But I didn't get that far, so don't know about them.

For the OP, I'll post my experience with them in a week or so, when I get back, after I've seen their operation up close and in person.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. The trick to that site is to be a bit creative with it. Some of the FBO's are gone but some are just bad links. Search Google with the name and city. For ex:

http://www.arizonaaerotech.com/ seems to be around but AB has a bad link for them.

Alpha Air seems to be a club and may have done what my club did - pulled their web presence. Google and call.

The guy who runs that site put a lot of effort into it and still does - I wish he gets more people visiting it and can update it.
 
Hey I flew in Tucson a couple times over Christmas... somebody mentioned Kelly's and she was fantastic. I believe she has C172 and PA28-160 available, but I think you'll need a checkout ride before you can rent. Aside from her, I also found it a bit difficult to find much in the way of rental aircraft, though I had more luck than 1/5 sites. I can dig into my history a little bit if Kelly's doesn't work for you.

I can also connect you with a great instructor if you want to get some Extra 300L time on the north side of Tucson. It was phenomenal and worth every penny.
 
Thanks for all the info guys!

BrianR - I look forward to hearing about your experiences next week.

Josh - Extra 300 time does indeed sound phenominal. I don't currently have plans for hiring a car (hence why I'm looking at flying from Tucson Int) but I might if it's worth while to get further afield.
 
As promised, here's the followup. I CANNOT recommend Tucson AeroService Center. They were located <10 miles from my hotel, and I had arranged with Mike, one of their CFIs, for mountain instruction and possibly a rental checkout the morning after my arrival in Tucson. Unfortunately, that was one of the few rainy days in Tucson for the entire year, plus winds were already close to 30 kts at 5 a.m. Mike texted me at 5:30, indicating we'd need to cancel our 7 a.m. flight. Understandable. I gave him a list of the remainder of my free time in Tucson (which included part of EVERY day for the entire week). He assured me he'd call to arrange another time. I never heard another word from him.

With flight schools and CFIs complaining across the country about lack of business and never having enough income, this sort of behavior just astounds me. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but in my experience, this sort of crap in the aviation world is more the rule than the exception. Unbelievable. If the rest of us ran our businesses or jobs in such an irresponsible manner, we'd be in the unemployment line in no time. I mean, they had a willing, paying customer just up the road, who would have spent as much as necessary to fit in plenty of flying while I was there...and they couldn't have cared less. Even though their aircraft rental rates were the best in the area...don't waste your time. /rant.

I did hear from Eric at Copper City Aviation in Bisbee by e-mail while I was in Tucson. Unfortunately, I had interpreted his lack of response to earlier e-mails prior to my leaving as lack of interest. He just assumed I was coming on the date I had initially discussed. He was willing to accommodate me, but it turned out Bisbee was about two hours from my hotel, and I just didn't have time to drive that far.

I heard good things about Kelly's. They were across town from me, and by the time I figured out Tucson AeroService was not going to follow through, there wasn't time left to explore other options. However, if I get back to the area, I'll probably call them.

There was one other operation I found mentioned online: Arizona Aero-Tech, based at TUS. I drove out there as I was killing time prior to my commercial flight leaving TUS on Friday, just to chat with them and check them out. I found their location, a rather ramshackle-appearing trailer on the south side of the field, but no one was around. As the OP noted you wanted to fly from TUS, you might want to give them a call and see if you can track someone down, as they appeared to be the only flight school based there.

So I'm afraid this probably isn't too helpful to the OP, aside from who NOT to do business with. I still love the area, and would love to do some flying there, but options do appear to be few and far between.

And on a side note, I see you mentioned above you didn't plan on renting a car while in Tucson. If you will have documentation to allow you to drive in the US, I've found car rental in Tucson to be extremely reasonable, compared to other areas of the country. I was able to rent a one year old Ford Fusion for something like $130 for the week, and my previous experience in the area was similar. The area is rather spread out, and mass transit is limited, so you might want to look into that further.
 
Thanks for the info Brian.

I can rent a car if need be, it's just an expense I'd like to avoid if possible - takes money from the flying funds!

That said, Kelly's seems to be the only one that anyone can recommend, so maybe getting a car and flying from there is the way forwards.

//edit:

I'll have to nominate an FBO for my initial FAA license issue, so switching won't be easy if I pick a bad one!
 
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