What do you expect from your flying school?

V

vinlearns2fly

Pre-Flight
Joined
May 5, 2021
Messages
36
Display Name
Display name:
Student Pilot
I believe that your relationship with your flying school is only second to your relationship with your CFI. I have been flying out of a small flying school in the Portland, OR area and may be looking for a new flying school soon.

What do you look for in a flying school other than a proficient instructor from the school?

Also, any recommendations for a good flying school in Portland, OR? I would like to continue my training in a C172.
 
Last edited:
For someone that learned to fly in 3 states. A good relationship with the CFI is number 1. My work moved me around the country when I did my training for PPL. I think I had 6 CFI's during that time. Studying on your own IMHO is #2.

It was great learning in different parts of the country, IL, MD and SD. 2 of the fields were uncontrolled 1 was controlled. I looked for folks that were willing to work with me and had a good attitude
 
Aside from having a good student/CFI relationship,I think the most important thing to me is a good framework and structure. I did my PPL at a part 61 school, and while that offers a lot of flexibility, they only had a bunch of part-time instructors who were pretty much independent of each other. Scheduling was often a pain, and led to me bouncing around a lot, opening up a lot of inconsistency in my primary training, which was especially stressful when I was in the wrap-up-for-checkride phase. Not that I had any bad CFIs, but they all had very different styles and methodologies for me to get up to speed on, every other lesson.

Once I finished with that and switched to a 141 school with full-time instructors for IR and CPL, I felt a much more consistent structure in my training. I still had different instructors from time to time, but my learning experience was much smoother with an established syllabus and reliable CFIs who communicated with each other. Allowed me to better gauge my progress and still get the benefits of flying with different instructors.
 
I prefer an independent instructor, but a school can be better for primary instruction.

A plane is a plane, don’t constrain yourself to a 172. You’ll need to learn how to fly something a little different anyway, now is as good a time as any.

I used 2 different schools and 3 instructors, none of which I meshed with perfectly, but I learned something from all of them.
 
I only have experience in Portland from flight reviews, not primary training. I've used Starks Twin Oaks at 7S3 and Willamette Aviation at UAO.

Starks' planes had great avionics and were in very good condition. CFIs were all independents and had to be tracked down individually.

Willamette seemed to have a larger number of CFIs with regular dudes just hanging around. Planes were basic line rentals.
 
schmookeeg said:
I only have experience in Portland from flight reviews, not primary training. I've used Starks Twin Oaks at 7S3 and Willamette Aviation at UAO.

Starks' planes had great avionics and were in very good condition. CFIs were all independents and had to be tracked down individually.

Willamette seemed to have a larger number of CFIs with regular dudes just hanging around. Planes were basic line rentals.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your response. How long ago did you visit 7S3 and Willamette?
 
vinlearns2fly said:
Thank you for your response. How long ago did you visit 7S3 and Willamette?
Click to expand...

Willamette was for my 2020 review; Twin Oaks in 2018. I also used Twin Oaks for my annual this year, so I was just there, same planes, pretty active.
 
I agree with Drummer about 141. A rigid syllabus is efficient and gives the student guidance about what to do next. “Next time, we’ll start Turns About a Point. Read up on that before then.” Also, 141 schools have phase checks with the chief instructor, which is a great way to verify your progress.

It doesn’t have to be 141, but you asked about schools. Without a written syllabus, it isn’t a school; it’s a collection of instructors. That’s fine if you find the right one. Until he gets his call from SkyWest. . . .
 
Our 141 schools in the area are either ATP or Hillsboro Aviation Academy, who have a very large asian training contract. I can't think of a third option in our area.

I suppose the FAA site will reveal any I'm unaware of.

For another 61 school, I forgot to mention that I have been doing transition training with two folks out of Troutdale at gorge winds aviation, and they moved into Turbo Bonanzas at the mid-40-hour mark ( :eek:! ), and are both great pilots and have transitioned very well. Their instructor, Meredith, was particularly impressive. The planes are typical flight school stock.
 
I really hate renting. Especially when my dad had a Cherokee Six. A little much to learn in and quite thirsty. Actually used the same private instructor he did 25 years ago. He's retired and just instructs for something to do. My work schedule wasn't conducive to working with a flight school. I wanted one instructor and our hours just didn't mesh. Plus 200 an hour for instructor+rental.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top