Choosing a flight school - expensive and close vs. cheaper but an hour drive away

A

asp9208

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
2
Location
Jacksonville, FL
Display Name
Display name:
Adam
The title pretty much explains my question. I am interested in getting my Private Pilot cert. and have been comparing local flight schools. After my search I have narrowed down to two operations.

The first is less than a 10 minute drive from my house but:
1) it is more expensive with instruction $10 more per hour and plane rental approximately $25 more per hour than the second option;
2) they only have one plane in their fleet that I could use. Though they have a second plane it is too small for me and the instructors combined weight. The school is pretty busy so all their students have to split these two planes.

The second option is an hour drive away so I would have to factor gas and travel time into my consideration, but they have a couple things going for them.
1) they are cheaper as described above; and
2) they have a large fleet of planes to pick from including several cessna 172s and several piper warriors which makes me think scheduling would be less of a problem.

I would likely only be flying once a week and I understand this will come down to my own personal preference but I would appreciate some opinions. Maybe one of y'all will come up with a question or idea that will help me make my decision. Thanks
 
Option 3: Find a CFI who will come to you and train you for FREE in exchange for occasional use of your plane. Buy a C-150 with less than 1000 SMOH for around 15K. Get your certificate in it, then fly it a little for experience, then sell it for about what you paid for it. You will come out ahead in both experience and cost.
 
asp9208 said:
The title pretty much explains my question. I am interested in getting my Private Pilot cert. and have been comparing local flight schools. After my search I have narrowed down to two operations.

The first is less than a 10 minute drive from my house but:
1) it is more expensive with instruction $10 more per hour and plane rental approximately $25 more per hour than the second option;
2) they only have one plane in their fleet that I could use. Though they have a second plane it is too small for me and the instructors combined weight. The school is pretty busy so all their students have to split these two planes.

The second option is an hour drive away so I would have to factor gas and travel time into my consideration, but they have a couple things going for them.
1) they are cheaper as described above; and
2) they have a large fleet of planes to pick from including several cessna 172s and several piper warriors which makes me think scheduling would be less of a problem.

I would likely only be flying once a week and I understand this will come down to my own personal preference but I would appreciate some opinions. Maybe one of y'all will come up with a question or idea that will help me make my decision. Thanks
Click to expand...

It all depends on the quality of their CFIs, a cheap school with a less than great CFI can easily cost more than a expensive school with a good CFI.

You need to interview the CFIs and find out their experience level

are they CPLs or ATPs, Gold Seal?

How many students do they have?

get the number to 3 current or just graduated students?

how many hours and what's their reason for teaching?

how long have they been CFIs etc.

Ideally you'd want a ATP/Gold Seal CFI, who instructs on the side from his non-flight instruction, pilot job. I.E. 135/121/137 pilot who CFIs on the side because he enjoys it.
 
Last edited:
FORANE said:
Option 3: Find a CFI who will come to you and train you for FREE in exchange for occasional use of your plane. Buy a C-150 with less than 1000 SMOH for around 15K. Get your certificate in it, then fly it a little for experience, then sell it for about what you paid for it. You will come out ahead in both experience and cost.
Click to expand...

Not recommended.

I've bought quite a few items, for pennies on the dollar, from folks who washed out.... Wait till you have your PPL before you make ANY big purchases.
 
My initial though would be option 2, having more planes is typically advantageous.
 
Henning said:
My initial though would be option 2, having more planes is typically advantageous.
Click to expand...

Not factoring in instructor quality, I agree option 2 sounds more advantageous.
 
Negotiate...go to FBO #1 and tell them that you can get you rating for $35/hr less with a better selection of planes and availability but would prefer to support the closer business...can you do anything with the prices?

Worst they say is no and then go with #2...or they say yes and whala!
 
What is the pass record of the schools,what're the average number of hours for students to get the ppl? How many cgi are available if one should move on ,or get sick Good luck
 
Pick the one with the hotter chick working the office.
 
James331 said:
Not recommended.

I've bought quite a few items, for pennies on the dollar, from folks who washed out.... Wait till you have your PPL before you make ANY big purchases.
Click to expand...
It worked quite well for us. C-150's are easy to sell and cheap unlike much in aviation. Even if he did choose to quit he could get his money back provided he did not overpay when buying in; involving the CFI in the purchase / plane selection process would be recommended.

We paid 14k for our 1969 150 with 400 SMOH and sold it after 2 years for the same. We had 2 years of insurance for about $700 annually. We had 2 annuals for about $400 each. We bought some tires and misc maintenance totaling around $200 annually. We tied down for free. We had a fuel cost of about $5/gal. We had a fuel burn of about 6 gph. So for $30/ hr fuel burn, at total hours of around 100 we had a $3,000 fuel total. All in we paid about $2,600 other cost plus $3,000 fuel for a total of $5,600. Compare that to the rental rate of likely $100 / hour or more x 100 hours = $10,000, plus instructor cost of what $35 / hour x ?25 hours = $875, plus renters insurance of ?...

A big added benefit of buying your own is the ability to take it on a real cross country. An owner will learn more about the plane also.
 
Last edited:
If flying once a week go with number 2. The extra time going back and forth is not going to be as painful just once a week. Also since you are time constrained, if the day you have time the planes are taken, you'll have 2 weeks between lessons that week.
 
FORANE said:
It worked quite well for us. C-150's are easy to sell and cheap unlike much in aviation. Even if he did choose to quit he could get his money back provided he did not overpay when buying in; involving the CFI in the purchase / plane selection process would be recommended.

We paid 14k for our 1969 150 with 400 SMOH and sold it after 2 years for the same. We had 2 years of insurance for about $700 annually. We had 2 annuals for about $400 each. We bought some tires and misc maintenance totaling around $200 annually. We tied down for free. We had a fuel cost of about $5/gal. We had a fuel burn of about 6 gph. So for $30/ hr fuel burn, at total hours of around 100 we had a $3,000 fuel total. All in we paid about $2,600 other cost plus $3,000 fuel for a total of $5,600. Compare that to the rental rate of likely $100 / hour or more.

A big added benefit of buying your own is the ability to take it on a real cross country. An owner will learn more about the plane also.
Click to expand...

I built hours for my CPL in a plane I bought, I've also seen others got at route and loose their arse.

Something gets overlooked on the prebuy, you loose, etc, etc.

I had 80ish hrs before I bought mine.

I REALLY wouldn't spend big money on headsets, computers, flight jackets, expensive flight bags, let alone a PLANE, till you have your ticket.


Also instructors are more like 50hr, renters insurance (which most folks dot bother with), is a couple hundred a year.
 
James331 said:
Not recommended.

I've bought quite a few items, for pennies on the dollar, from folks who washed out.... Wait till you have your PPL before you make ANY big purchases.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Henning said:
My initial though would be option 2, having more planes is typically advantageous.
Click to expand...

Mine too, and they likely have more CFI's as well would would be advantageous.
 
I did an hour long drive for both my private and instrument. I never liked driving for that long, but did it because the airplanes rentals were 20-30% less expensive and instructors were good. It's OK if you are doing once a week or so.
 
Shawn said:
Negotiate...go to FBO #1 and tell them that you can get you rating for $35/hr less with a better selection of planes and availability but would prefer to support the closer business...can you do anything with the prices?

Worst they say is no and then go with #2...or they say yes and whala!
Click to expand...

True, except that they still only have two planes, and if you negotiate the price down, you may only get on the schedule once a month.
 
Actually, if you really only plan on flying once a week, you should probably rethink the plan, because it will take you a really long time to get your cert.

If option 1 makes it possible for you to fly 2 to 3 times a week vs once a week at option 2, it will end up being MUCH cheaper to go with option 1.
 
asp9208 said:
The title pretty much explains my question. I am interested in getting my Private Pilot cert. and have been comparing local flight schools. After my search I have narrowed down to two operations.

The first is less than a 10 minute drive from my house but:
1) it is more expensive with instruction $10 more per hour and plane rental approximately $25 more per hour than the second option;
2) they only have one plane in their fleet that I could use. T...
Click to expand...

I consider a one plane 'fleet' to be a total show stopper. I promise you that you'll find that half your lessons will be canceled, and there will be long periods of time when that one plane is down for maintenance or off station.

Don't even think about that option!!!! :no:

I REALLY wouldn't spend big money on headsets, computers, flight jackets, expensive flight bags, let alone a PLANE, till you have your ticket.
Click to expand...
:yeahthat:
 
JimNtexas said:
I consider a one plane 'fleet' to be a total show stopper. I promise you that you'll find that half your lessons will be canceled, and there will be long periods of time when that one plane is down for maintenance or off station.

Don't even think about that option!!!! :no:


:yeahthat:
Click to expand...

I learned in a "one plane fleet" consisting of a then-25 yr old C150. It was well maintained, and can recall only one time where a mechanical issue caused us to not fly. IMHO, the bigger issue is the plan to only fly 1x/week. It could easily take over a year to learn at that rate, which will cost a lot more in repeated lessons due to lack of proficiency.
 
Train at both.... That's essentially what I have done. The first airport where I started is 25 mins away and they have a 152 ($99, all in hr) and a 172 ($129) and I paid a private CFI ($25). I solo'd the 172, 152 and used my instructor and one of their instructors ($40). It was convenient because of the location, an uncontrolled airport and was fun to switch between planes. My first 20 hours were there.

However in reality the planes were a bit dangerous and temperamental with mags going out, flaps sticking down, instruments breaking ect. I wasn't comfortable doing cross countries in them so I switched to another airport that is an hour away for me. I fly the 172s ($135, no tax) there and use the same CFI ($25) and the planes are in much better condition. They have 3 172s so like the other day when one was down, I just took the other one.

For the next few weeks I'm going down there 2-3 times a week for checkride prep so with ground and flight work the lessons are 2-3 hours making the drive more or less even out from my old 1 hour lessons.
 
I'd say go with the second option. It seems to have more options
 
Last edited:
Option 1. With just 1 plane and 1 lesson a week you will end up with more like 1 lesson a month. Due to plane down for maintenance or weather and wont be able to reschedule right away.

Option 2 sounds good.

Option 3 most likely based on his comment about "me and the instructors combined weight" my guess is a 150 will not work and he would need a 172.
 
Adam, I decided to answer your post with data which is relative to costs in my general area and, of course, you have to realize that some of these positions reflect my personal opinions on some of the critical hinge points. First, if you are a beginning student, this endeavour ( PPL) will cost you somewhere between $7500 and $10,000. For an expenditure this large, don't waste your time worrying about small hourly cost differentials. I recommend that you concentrate on the quality of instruction, the reliability of equipment & personnel available and a learning scenario which is acceptable to your lifestyle. It is a large investment and don't loose sight of the fact that you are the CUSTOMER. That doesn't mean that you should start trying to push your instructor or FBO around but you aren't the galley slave either. A business transaction is always best handled on a basis of mutual respect rather than dominance of one party. Anoher aspect is that you're not making a short term purchase. Properly executed, you are making an investment which should offer many years of return over your adult lifetime. I feel there is no substitute for quality instruction. Very often a potential student pilot is bombarded with how short his training period may be, something which seems like a bargin rate on instructor time etc. From what you outlined, I'll guess you can expect to finish your licensing effort to amount to 60 hours of total flight time and about one calendar year.

Good luck and don't overemphasize small cost differentials over short term in place of a suitable learning environment .
 
Thank you everybody for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate it. I was surprised by how many of you chose the 2nd option. I'll admit I was also leaning that direction because they have several planes available. In any case I will definitely go and visit both places, see the facilities and ask questions until I'm satisfied that either place is best for me.
 
YOur flights will be cancelled do to maint events, weather, etc. 2nd option sounds better IMHO..

And i live 4 miles from two different airports, it is crazy nice being able to decide after dinner to fly and make it happen during the summer. This is important after you solo...

Find the best CFI, $35/hr either way can quickly be ate up by a sub-par cfi...
 
asp9208 said:
Thank you everybody for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate it. I was surprised by how many of you chose the 2nd option. I'll admit I was also leaning that direction because they have several planes available. In any case I will definitely go and visit both places, see the facilities and ask questions until I'm satisfied that either place is best for me.
Click to expand...
Adam, there are a lot of posts here answering your specific question, but there is an issue: Implicit in your question is the idea that the training you will receive at the schools is the same. It isn't.

The thing you should be doing is selecting an instructor, then going wherever you have to to train with him/her. There are many threads here about selecting instructors and most are worth a read. My personal bias is towards high time instructors who regularly fly in the system and who are instructing because they love it, not to build hours. You may not realize it, but IIRC it is possible to become a fully qualified instructor while having landed at only three airports and an instrument instructor without ever having flown in a cloud. The bar is pretty low.

The question you asked only pertains if you have found equivalent and excellent instructors at both places. ... and if you find one at neither, widen your horizons and look some more.
 
JimNtexas said:
I consider a one plane 'fleet' to be a total show stopper. I promise you that you'll find that half your lessons will be canceled, and there will be long periods of time when that one plane is down for maintenance or off station.

Don't even think about that option!!!! :no:


:yeahthat:
Click to expand...

Yes indeed! Go for the more expensive school, ( obviously better funded) and fly more than once a week or it will take you forever and you might even give up. Go for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top