Part 61 training in Stuart, Florida

I

iyakonboats

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Dec 17, 2024
Messages
4
Location
Stuart, Florida
Display Name
Display name:
Rob
Hello everyone. Does anyone have a recommendation for a Part 61 school in Stuart, Florida? I know there are some decent schools at North County Air Terminal in West Palm Beach and Lantana (now that Kemper is gone), but I'm hoping not to have to drive all the way there for a Part 61 school with a good reputation with newer, well maintained, planes. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
One word of caution about SUA: Tower there is so cautious about traffic separation that they'll make you hold short with another aircraft on base turning final. You can easily spend 20-30 minutes waiting to take off. And this is time you'll get billed as if it was flying time. Gets extra expensive quick.
 
AV8R_87 said:
One word of caution about SUA: Tower there is so cautious about traffic separation that they'll make you hold short with another aircraft on base turning final. You can easily spend 20-30 minutes waiting to take off. And this is time you'll get billed as if it was flying time. Gets extra expensive quick.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I do take this into consideration, which I guess is why you don't see many smaller part 61 schools flying out of Class B airspace too, I didn't think it could be that bad at a Class D (which is what SUA is, right?). I'm guessing I'm going to have to make that trip to North County, Fort Pierce isn't any closer to be honest and, well, it's Fort Pierce.
 
SUA gets really busy for a class D, and I think they way they control the traffic there makes it worse. I'd recommend going there and scheduling a discovery flight at the same time of the day you'd expect to be training. That will give you a good idea of what you'll have to deal with. Unfortunately, you don't have that many options in that area for uncontrolled fields, F45 (about 20nm south of SUA) is a decent option and definitely not as long of a drive as LNA, although F45 is not a quiet airport, either.
 
My son is working on his ppl now at treasure coast flight training sua. It's a part 141 school but is doing it under part 61. So far it seems fine. Come January 20 though it's going to turn into a circus again getting in and out when Trumps in palm beach. What training are you pursuing?
Treasure Coast has a ton of 172's and scheduling a plane has never been an issue so far.
 
Last edited:
iyakonboats said:
Thanks! I do take this into consideration, which I guess is why you don't see many smaller part 61 schools flying out of Class B airspace too, I didn't think it could be that bad at a Class D (which is what SUA is, right?). I'm guessing I'm going to have to make that trip to North County, Fort Pierce isn't any closer to be honest and, well, it's Fort Pierce.
Click to expand...

Both SUA and FPR have 141 schools and both have lots of traffic, if you schedule your flights early or late you should not have any issues.

FPR has parallel runways which helps a lot. It also has an ILS approach which makes it popular with instrument pilots doing practice approaches.

SUA students will go down to PBI for their ILS training.

For both students are generally foreign with can make communication a challenge.

Nice thing about big schools, plenty of planes to choose from.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Both SUA and FPR have 141 schools and both have lots of traffic, if you schedule your flights early or late you should not have any issues.

FPR has parallel runways which helps a lot. It also has an ILS approach which makes it popular with instrument pilots doing practice approaches.

SUA students will go down to PBI for their ILS training.

For both students are generally foreign with can make communication a challenge.

Nice thing about big schools, plenty of planes to choose from.
Click to expand...

My son makes a couple of touch and goes at Stuart that has a 3 landings max then off to F45, OBE, PHK or FPR. Lots of runways close by.
This Vector company and landing fees bother me. Deland airport manager says if nearby airports implement landing fees he has too also. Could see this happening to the above airports.
 
It’s been a few years, but I
MooneyDriver78 said:
Both SUA and FPR have 141 schools and both have lots of traffic, if you schedule your flights early or late you should not have any issues.

FPR has parallel runways which helps a lot. It also has an ILS approach which makes it popular with instrument pilots doing practice approaches.

SUA students will go down to PBI for their ILS training.

For both students are generally foreign with can make communication a challenge.

Nice thing about big schools, plenty of planes to choose from.
Click to expand...
Stay away from Aviator College at Ft. Pierce. Two fatal crashes in nine months, both caused by their own CFIs. One was aerobatics in a Warrior and the other was a botched engine-out attempt at a missed approach in a Seminole, in which an inspection the day before missed a worn and dysfunctional carb linkage - meaning a pencilwhipped annual.
 
Yeah, I have some strict requirements for what I expect in a CFI and a school, since it's my money, time, and my life on the line:

1. Non-smoker.
2. Not be on your phone the entire time while we're in the air (this happened to me previously).
3. Not be some bitter ass person who never got in the airlines or someone bitter because they keep trying and can't get in (I'm never interested in hearing someone complain without being paid for it. Can you tell I work in sales?).
4. Be able to communicate clearly in English, ESL is fine, but not severely broken either, I deal with that at work in Tech, I get paid to do it, I am not paying to deal with it.
5. CFI not smell like an unwiped ass or come in smelling like the night before.
6. CFI must respect my decision not to fly a certain plane if I don't believe it's safe for flight (bad experience with this too, long story that includes left side brake locking up on my landing, the seat lock failing{wheeeee?!}, and engine nearly running out of oil due to a leak, I can elaborate if you want).
7. The planes must be well kept and have all maintenance logs available for me to inspect
8. The schedule be consistent and not change at the last minute every single time (also from experience)

Background on me is I've started and stopped flight training throughout life due to, well, life. Early years I trained to be an A&P but decided I didn't want to always live in a studio apartment eating pork and beans each night because people don't pay mechanics, but I've rebuilt more engines than I care to remember for myself and others, presently rebuilding my N55 for my BMW. Considering the engine is what is keeping us flying and allows for the most controlled method to land safely, I hold it's maintenance and functional operation in high regards, so I want to avoid things like pencil whipped annuals because lives are at risk here, we can't just pull over.
 
So, I should clarify, I bought one out of a wrecked car to rebuild and keep in case my 140,000 mile N55 in my X5 has a problem. At about 100,000 miles I replaced all components of the coolant system, hoses and all, to prevent a failure that leaves me stranded.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top