Any suggestion for the Pilot training in Concord, CA

[SFLafayette]

I decided to drop the hammer and do the private pilot program, I saved some money and have time to do the training up to three times per week. I called couple of schools and been quoted between 11K to 20K price, that is way too much then I was expecting. I can probably shell 8K, maybe up to 10K, but definitely not more then that.
Any suggestions who I can do the pilot training under 10K and still have quality instructions?

Thank you.

 

[MAKG1]

Move to Fresno.

Seriously.

You can get cheaper if you go further out, such as Reid (San Jose), Tracy, Sonoma/Petaluma, or Davis. You'll learn to hate the commute from Lafayette.

Oakland is closer, and it does have flight training, but it's going to be even more expensive than Concord. Livermore has some stuff, but that's not a pleasant trip three times per week from Lafayette either.

 

[SFLafayette]

Move to Fresno.

Seriously.

You can get cheaper if you go further out, such as Reid (San Jose), Tracy, Sonoma/Petaluma, or Davis. You'll learn to hate the commute from Lafayette.

Oakland is closer, and it does have flight training, but it's going to be even more expensive than Concord. Livermore has some stuff, but that's not a pleasant trip three times per week from Lafayette either.

That is the thing, I plan to do it after work (sneak our earlier from work) and Concord airport is 7 min away from my home.

 

[SFLafayette]

I just called CFI guy I found on the internet that teaches private pilot license. He told me that he will need to spend approximately 110 hours with me even though only 20 hours of instructor time required. I don't understand why he needs 110 hours? He said that before each flight he will talk to me on the ground, sorta ground school and then fly with me. He said probably 60 hours of flight time I will need and while I will spend only little over an hour in the plane he said he will be spending 2 hours of total time with me.
Can I do online ground school to avoid expensive hourly charges by the instructor?

 

[LauraE51]

If you don't mind driving over the hill, KTCY (tracy), should be much cheaper. KTCY is where i went to get back into flying after my the FBO at my local field <KMOD> went belly up. The rates at KTCY: C172, $75/hr dry (burns about 8gal/hr at the local field rate of $5.25). CFIs get $42/hour. the FBO is Skyview Aviation.

 

[Sam D]

Welcome to POA!

First, let me say that I hope this all works out for you and you find a way to make that happen. You'll find a great group of folks here to answer all your questions...and challenge your thinking.

In that vein, I think the times you've been given are pretty reasonable. As a comparison, check this place out in Texas. They certainly have lower costs than the bay area and make pretty extensive use of their own simulator (much cheaper than a plan) but they are still saying $11k to get a private certificate.

You can do ground school separately and save some time. Rod Machado wrote an article a while ago on how to reduce cost of flying. He basically said it comes down to doing a ton of self-study and coming to each lesson totally prepared. By the way, your plan of 3x per week is great. That will keep you sharp.

Good luck.

 

[SFLafayette]

I think I will start with the guy I found in Concord. He charges $50/hr and he is commercial aviation pilot. If down the road I find better ways to speed up and reduce cost of training I can always take it, right?

 

[MAKG1]

I think I will start with the guy I found in Concord. He charges $50/hr and he is commercial aviation pilot. If down the road I find better ways to speed up and reduce cost of training I can always take it, right?

Just so you know, every CFI is a commercial pilot. It's a prerequisite.

There is a lot to be said for being close by the airport.

Keep in mind that your major cost is the airplane. The going rate around the Bay seems to be $60-$70/hour for a CFI, and at Reid or Livermore, $50. But a 172 is around $120/hour wet to rent, possibly much more if you insist on a late model (hint: don't do that -- they all fly the same).

I'll presume that 110 hours includes a lot of ground. If it includes a whole ground school, you're getting gouged. There are much better and much cheaper ways to go about that. Even a full fledged class is $100-$200, sometimes less (there is an outfit at Watsonville, for instance, that does it for free if you take the written test from them).

It is, however, reasonable to expect 30 minutes to an hour of ground for each lesson. It should be closely tailored to what is going on in the lesson that day. It should include a briefing about what is to be done that day (preferably brief, as you should have known before you got there for self-study), and a debrief afterward to go over what worked and what didn't. It should not include things you can get from reading a book, aside from spot-checks that you understand it.

Watch out for that -- there is one fabulous instructor I use for single-time training (like my recent flight review), but it takes him three hours to blow his nose, so he's prohibitively expensive for a certificate or rating. In particular, they should use the airplane efficiently.

Too bad Gene Whitt isn't around anymore. He used to teach at Concord.

 

[jcepiano]

I think I can help - I'm about to complete my PPL training and did it at Concord. I've trained at Pacific States Aviation and it's been an amazing experience so far.

If you live in Lafayette, Concord is a no brainer. Weather is generally good and PSA has a great fleet of Cessna 172's. If you prefer training on an Archer or C152, you can go that route, but they have 5 C172's which means easy scheduling. Their rates are usually $130 per hour wet and $50 for instruction.

Read up carefully about Part 141 vs. Part 61 before starting. If you need structure and a very stable learning environment, go Part 141. If you have previous experience in aviation and are able to learn/absorb material independently, then Part 61 training will save you money.

If you go part 61, you can save a ton of money by doing the following two things:
- Fly as often as possible to continually grow and reaffirm what you're learning.
- Study as hard as possible with the Jeppesen PPL Manual and other documents. The more you know this stuff, the more confident your CFI will become with you.

I think if you work really hard, you can probably do a Part 61 program within $10K.

Flying eats up money like nothing else, but it's an investment that has a great pay off.

My instructor has been Mohsen Gholampour over at PSA and he's a great guy with a ton of skill. I'd suggest him highly, but it seems like most of the CFI's at PSA are solid.

If I can answer any questions, feel free to PM me!

 

[kevmor99]

If you want cheaper rates, maybe you could find a CFI instructing on the weekend out of the area, and maybe do two lessons each day (with a split for lunch)? Just an idea...

Ask your CFI what to study before each lesson (which he should do anyhow) but the more prepared you are, the more you won't be paying a CFI to go over things you could learn on your own.

Also, get a copy of the Practical Test Standards (PTS) and look it over, along with the FAR regulations for private pilot requirements. Using that in combination with a syllabus from your CFI, you should always have a good gauge where you are and what is required.