PIREP Request - Aspen Flying Club

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Feb 23, 2005
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Castle Rock, CO
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Everything Offends Me
Anyone have any info, good bad or otherwise, about Aspen Flying Club?

As we get closer to my return to the sky I am researching options nearby Castle Rock, and this one looks like a decent deal...

If you prefer to, feel free to PM me instead.

Thanks y'all!
 
Just so you know, you are asking for info on the Borg...
 
Best bet....go visit each...IIRC there's 4 or 5 schools @ kapa. As a data point....3 of the most experienced CFIs at Aspen left a few months ago to work for a 4th former CFI that opened a new school at FTG.
 
Watching this with great interest. I live too far away to use them very often, but based solely on the number of planes they have for rent I was thinking they may not be a bad choice for when I am in Denver a few times a month.
 
No buy-in, very low dues, decent fleet, great rates. Instructors are very professional and well qualified. There are a few newly certificated instructors, but many who have been there for well over 10 years. One of my favorites has over 6,000 hours of tailwheel instruction time alone. Great club. Always something going on, rarely have a hard time reserving airplanes. Just don't try to do it 3-4 days out. Plan ahead. Busy club. Great staff.
 
Lachlan said:
No buy-in, very low dues, decent fleet, great rates. Instructors are very professional and well qualified. There are a few newly certificated instructors, but many who have been there for well over 10 years. One of my favorites has over 6,000 hours of tailwheel instruction time alone. Great club. Always something going on, rarely have a hard time reserving airplanes. Just don't try to do it 3-4 days out. Plan ahead. Busy club. Great staff.
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That's because, despite the name, Aspen Flying Club is a commercial operation, not a member-owned club.

Having been a member of Aspen and most of the others when I was based there for 20 years, I agree with @murphey. Visit them all. Spend some time talking to the members and looking at the fleet. They are probably still 4-6 training/rental FBOs at KAPA, each with its own atmosphere and fleet mix. I think they are all good, depending on what you are looking for.
 
Wait. There at KAPA. What a gyp. I thought man, that's a kick ass place to have a flying club, in Aspen. That would be a very cool club to join. Probably have to have fuzzy boots and one of those weird, colorful striped, wool looking jacket things to join. Or maybe they provide them as a full dues paying member.
Only to find out their out in the flat land, in the burbs of Denver. meh.

Good luck, OP.
 
ChemGuy said:
Wait. There at KAPA. What a gyp. I thought man, that's a kick ass place to have a flying club, in Aspen. That would be a very cool club to join. Probably have to have fuzzy boots and one of those weird, colorful striped, wool looking jacket things to join. Or maybe they provide them as a full dues paying member.
Only to find out their out in the flat land, in the burbs of Denver. meh.

Good luck, OP.
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Guaranteed it would not be "No buy-in, very low dues, decent fleet, great rates" if it were at the Aspen airport. I think the last time I even heard about a flight training op there was when I took a lesson when at a conference in September, 1992, shortly after moving to Colorado.

But it would be cool - steep turns in a valley surrounded by peaks with no describable horizon is fun.
 
Aspen is like the WalMart of Denver aviation. Ha. Huge and everywhere.
 
murphey said:
As a data point....3 of the most experienced CFIs at Aspen left a few months ago to work for a 4th former CFI that opened a new school at FTG.
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Now you got me curious. I know Aspen at KAPA and Alliance at KFTG (and Western Air at KBJC are related companies). What's the new one?
 
midlifeflyer said:
Now you got me curious. I know Aspen at KAPA and Alliance at KFTG (and Western Air at KBJC are related companies). What's the new one?
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Dang. I saw their fancy new sign on a hangar over there and have forgotten the name. Sorry. Should have taken a photo. Some much older guy eve walked up to me and said, "So what's their story?" I said I didn't know and no investigative interest level or even curiosity popped up in me. Ha. Looked like a nice sign though! LOL.
 
One of the original owners of Alliance (Brian) left shortly after Aspen took over Alliance. Hm...couple, three years ago? This summer, Brian and a new money guy (two, actually, one for the school and another one for the avionics shop) opened up Front Range Flight School. Three of the Alliance/Aspen CFIs joined. Personally, I don't like the website, you don't put white text on a mid/light background or light text on a white background. I don't know Alex, know the other 4 quite well. All are high-time CFIs. IIRC, Tim, Wade & Ronnea are all retired (LockMart, FAA, etc) and teaching because they really like it.

It's difficult to compete with Aspen on the basis of hardware - I've lost count of how many aircraft Aspen/Alliance/Western have listed, but it's pretty much one or more of everything. I don't know if Chris Dillis (one of the owners of Aspen) is still involved, he got a job with one of the commuters last year (or the year before).

What else would you like to know?
 
murphey said:
It's difficult to compete with Aspen on the basis of hardware - I've lost count of how many aircraft Aspen/Alliance/Western have listed, but it's pretty much one or more of everything. I don't know if Chris Dillis (one of the owners of Aspen) is still involved, he got a job with one of the commuters last year (or the year before).
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Didn't know Chris got a regional job. Interesting. I have our podcast where Doug interviewed him around here somewhere. Way back in the day when he only had the Gobosh aircraft and was up at EIK.

Lachlan said:
And it has everything you need. You can go all the way through ATP there, and there's a DPE on staff.
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Is that Craig? He's also really busy flying charter I hear.
 
murphey said:
One of the original owners of Alliance (Brian) left shortly after Aspen took over Alliance. Hm...couple, three years ago? This summer, Brian and a new money guy (two, actually, one for the school and another one for the avionics shop) opened up Front Range Flight School. Three of the Alliance/Aspen CFIs joined. Personally, I don't like the website, you don't put white text on a mid/light background or light text on a white background. I don't know Alex, know the other 4 quite well. All are high-time CFIs. IIRC, Tim, Wade & Ronnea are all retired (LockMart, FAA, etc) and teaching because they really like it.

It's difficult to compete with Aspen on the basis of hardware - I've lost count of how many aircraft Aspen/Alliance/Western have listed, but it's pretty much one or more of everything. I don't know if Chris Dillis (one of the owners of Aspen) is still involved, he got a job with one of the commuters last year (or the year before).

What else would you like to know?
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Thanks. That pretty much covers what I was wondering about.
 
denverpilot said:
Didn't know Chris got a regional job. Interesting. I have our podcast where Doug interviewed him around here somewhere. Way back in the day when he only had the Gobosh aircraft and was up at EIK.



Is that Craig? He's also really busy flying charter I hear.
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Yes. He's also doing a little instructing at Aspen, too.
 
Wow, I have obviously not been keeping up with the flight schools around here...
 
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