San Diego Flight Tour

Dbarbee

Dbarbee

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jan 20, 2015
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Sapulpa, OK (KRVS)
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Display name:
Daniel Barbee
I'll be in San Diego this Sunday through Tuesday and would like to do a flight tour while I'm there. Can anyone recommend a flight school and CFI in the area that would be willing to do this?

So far I've done flight tours like this in Maui, Colorado, New Orleans, & Chicago. It's a great way to see the sights & log some new airports with someone that's already familiar with the area.
 
Dbarbee said:
I'll be in San Diego this Sunday through Tuesday and would like to do a flight tour while I'm there. Can anyone recommend a flight school and CFI in the area that would be willing to do this?

So far I've done flight tours like this in Maui, Colorado, New Orleans, & Chicago. It's a great way to see the sights & log some new airports with someone that's already familiar with the area.
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If you want a really nice tour, call the San Diego Barnstormers at MYF and take a ride in one of their Travel Airs.

http://www.airtoursofsandiego.com/

They operate out of the terminal building right under the Casa Machado restaurant.
 
There are also a lot of local POA members who might be willing to take you up for an hour or so, hint hint ;)
 
Contact Plus One Flyers Club and see if any of the instructors is available to take you around. Maybe try to talk to Shane Tepstra.

Also you can contact Ronnie or Will at Coast Flight Training to help set you up.

Definitely have them fly the Shoreline transition southbound at or bellow 500 and then the Bay Transition at 800 ft, then the Taxiway Delta transition over San Diego International. AMAZING.

Enjoy.
 
amoel said:
Contact Plus One Flyers Club and see if any of the instructors is available to take you around. Maybe try to talk to Shane Tepstra.

Also you can contact Ronnie or Will at Coast Flight Training to help set you up.

Definitely have them fly the Shoreline transition southbound at or bellow 500 and then the Bay Transition at 800 ft, then the Taxiway Delta transition over San Diego International. AMAZING.

Enjoy.
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IF you talk to Shane, I suspect you will be told that you need to show up at one of the Saturday morning New Members orientations before going out with a club instructor in a Plus One airplane.

Trying to hire a Plus One CFI to take you up without first joining the club is a gray area that is highly frowned upon.

And right now isn't a good time to be skirting club policy.
 
Didn't know that! no intro flights? well maybe Coast Flight Training could do an intro flight.

Also, Shane is a commercial pilot who owns his own airplane, so I guess he could do it if he wanted to. BUT NOT SURE.
 
amoel said:
Didn't know that! no intro flights? well maybe Coast Flight Training could do an intro flight.

Also, Shane is a commercial pilot who owns his own airplane, so I guess he could do it if he wanted to. BUT NOT SURE.
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According to my CFI (who is with Plus One) one "discovery flight" is kosher, but anything more than that you need to be a member. It used to be a bit more lax, but I think a lot of people were doing instruction right up to solo before having the student join, and they didn't like that.

Also a side note, even if you are a commercially rated pilot you cant offer rides for hire unless you also have a commercial operator certificate (ie. Part 135) that covers the airplane as well. Been doing a lot of studying on the ins and outs of CPL privileges since my checkride is on friday.
 
StinkBug said:
Also a side note, even if you are a commercially rated pilot you cant offer rides for hire unless you also have a commercial operator certificate (ie. Part 135) that covers the airplane as well. Been doing a lot of studying on the ins and outs of CPL privileges since my checkride is on friday.
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May want to study some more then.. Like 91.147 and 135.1 and 119.1 particularly the bits about the 25 mile radius exemption(except not exempt from drug testing requirements)
 
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StinkBug said:
According to my CFI (who is with Plus One) one "discovery flight" is kosher, but anything more than that you need to be a member. It used to be a bit more lax, but I think a lot of people were doing instruction right up to solo before having the student join, and they didn't like that.

Also a side note, even if you are a commercially rated pilot you cant offer rides for hire unless you also have a commercial operator certificate (ie. Part 135) that covers the airplane as well. Been doing a lot of studying on the ins and outs of CPL privileges since my checkride is on friday.
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If I missed your post on the checkride.......


Congrats..:cheers:
 
Dbarbee said:
So far I've done flight tours like this in Maui, Colorado, New Orleans, & Chicago.
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I'm thinking about doing the same in New Orleans. I'm a PPL, but don't feel experienced to fly without an instructor in a new area. Plus it's more enjoyable to have an instructor on board to take over controls so I can sight see. Can you talk about your experience in New Orleans? Which instructor/flight school did you use? How much did it cost and how long was the flight?
 
ybitz said:
I'm thinking about doing the same in New Orleans. I'm a PPL, but don't feel experienced to fly without an instructor in a new area. Plus it's more enjoyable to have an instructor on board to take over controls so I can sight see. Can you talk about your experience in New Orleans? Which instructor/flight school did you use? How much did it cost and how long was the flight?
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Why the need for an instructor to take over controls or to show you around? Another pilot can do that, no? This board has members in all areas of the country. It should not be hard to find someone eager to go fly with you in New Orleans. Instead of paying an instructor you could share costs. Could be the difference of say $50.00/hr vs $150.00/hr.
 
sddiver said:
It should not be hard to find someone eager to go fly with you in New Orleans.
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This would be ideal, of course! Didn't know how easy it would be. So, any New Orleans local free on Monday Nov 16 for a scenic flight? :)
 
That's the great thing about forums like this, you get to meet new people. The OP and I ended up getting together and doing a tour of the San Diego bay on monday evening. Was great meeting another pilot and doing a little fun scenic flying. Good luck finding someone in NOLA, it's a pretty neat area to fly over.
 
ybitz said:
I'm thinking about doing the same in New Orleans. I'm a PPL, but don't feel experienced to fly without an instructor in a new area. Plus it's more enjoyable to have an instructor on board to take over controls so I can sight see. Can you talk about your experience in New Orleans? Which instructor/flight school did you use? How much did it cost and how long was the flight?
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I flew with New Orleans Flight Academy at KNEW when I visited. The instructor I flew with was Bruce Aiton and he was great but they have many other good instructors too. We did a 1.2 hour flight in the New Orleans area including downtown, the waterfront, and a touch & go at New Orleans International.

I typically look for a flight school and CFI to do these tours for several reasons: (1) They know the area, local procedures, routes, & frequencies very well, (2) they can handle the radios while I enjoy flying the airplane and the view, (3) it's takes much less time and money than doing a check-out flight to rent the airplane to do my own tour, (4) I get to log time in a new airplane and new airports, (5) I always learn something new.

Finding a local pilot/airplane owner is a great option too that has it's unique benefits. However, finding a pilot/owner with the time and experience to do such a tour can be challenging, especially from halfway across the country. While there are probably a lot of pilots that would happily offer a ride to a fellow visiting pilot, unless they're a CFI, most (including me) would probably be reluctant to hand over the controls to someone they just met to fly at low altitudes in complex airspace and do landings at unfamiliar airports. (not to mention, fly from the left seat)

I wouldn't exclude either option.
 
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