Vista Air at Whiteman (WHP)

[BrettInLJ]

Has anyone ever trained with this FBO. I stopped by yesterday and it seemed like they have their act together. The rates are good too. http://www.vistaair.com/Rental-Aircraft.html

[project7]

I rent from there occasionally. They have a lot of new 172's that are kept pretty clean. The staff leaves much to be desired. It sometimes takes me 10 minutes to find someone to hand me the keys for the plane. The instructors there are decent, but I would go elsewhere for anything other than your private-single.

[surefly]

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Has anyone ever trained with this FBO. I stopped by yesterday and it seemed like they have their act together. The rates are good too. http://www.vistaair.com/Rental-Aircraft.html

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Hey BrettinLJ,

Did you train at WHP? I'm considering going with Vista Air, possibly kick the tires this Friday (9/2). My friend checked out VNFC and their estimate rates were fairly high (aprox 9k for a PPL).

[BrettInLJ]

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Has anyone ever trained with this FBO. I stopped by yesterday and it seemed like they have their act together. The rates are good too. http://www.vistaair.com/Rental-Aircraft.html

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Hey BrettinLJ,

Did you train at WHP? I'm considering going with Vista Air, possibly kick the tires this Friday (9/2). My friend checked out VNFC and their estimate rates were fairly high (aprox 9k for a PPL).

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I'm training there now for my commercial. Stop by and you will probably encounter a guy named Brain at the desk. He is the dispatcher and Scott, my CFI, is the chief pilot. It would be a good place to at least get your PPL. They don't seem to be oriented toward the advanced ratings as some other schools, but it won't break your bank account.

[surefly]

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I'm training there now for my commercial. Stop by and you will probably encounter a guy named Brain at the desk. He is the dispatcher and Scott, my CFI, is the chief pilot. It would be a good place to at least get your PPL. They don't seem to be oriented toward the advanced ratings as some other schools, but it won't break your bank account.

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awesome! my friend and I are going to check it out this Friday. Just emailed Brian to confirm a time to get a quick run down of the place, so hopefully Friday works out.

Any dirt on Brian I can use against him? hehe

[BrettInLJ]

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I'm training there now for my commercial. Stop by and you will probably encounter a guy named Brain at the desk. He is the dispatcher and Scott, my CFI, is the chief pilot. It would be a good place to at least get your PPL. They don't seem to be oriented toward the advanced ratings as some other schools, but it won't break your bank account.

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awesome! my friend and I are going to check it out this Friday. Just emailed Brian to confirm a time to get a quick run down of the place, so hopefully Friday works out.

Any dirt on Brian I can use against him? hehe

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Just let him know I let Kali and Todd in on all the dirt! Lol... his friends happen to be my coworkers.

[surefly]

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I'm training there now for my commercial. Stop by and you will probably encounter a guy named Brain at the desk. He is the dispatcher and Scott, my CFI, is the chief pilot. It would be a good place to at least get your PPL. They don't seem to be oriented toward the advanced ratings as some other schools, but it won't break your bank account.

[/ QUOTE ]

awesome! my friend and I are going to check it out this Friday. Just emailed Brian to confirm a time to get a quick run down of the place, so hopefully Friday works out.

Any dirt on Brian I can use against him? hehe

[/ QUOTE ]

Just let him know I let Kali and Todd in on all the dirt! Lol... his friends happen to be my coworkers.

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lol awesome - what do you do to fund your commercial training? are you a CFI? work in another industry while you get your training on?

[BrettInLJ]

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lol awesome - what do you do to fund your commercial training? are you a CFI? work in another industry while you get your training on?

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I work in a distracting high-paid corporate job... "making the magic" if that gives you any hints. My multi and CFI are the next stages and I have 90% decided that after I'm done with the commercial I'm quitting my job and finishing my training full-time. I am not making the progress I need to while working at this job (I haven't flown in 2 weeks because of consecutive personal weekend commitments) so I have taken the approach of saving up as much as possible and jumping with both feet.

[surefly]

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I work in a distracting high-paid corporate job... "making the magic" if that gives you any hints. My multi and CFI are the next stages and I have 90% decided that after I'm done with the commercial I'm quitting my job and finishing my training full-time. I am not making the progress I need to while working at this job (I haven't flown in 2 weeks because of consecutive personal weekend commitments) so I have taken the approach of saving up as much as possible and jumping with both feet.

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ahh that's great that you can do that (save money and eventually quit your job). what hours do you fly usually? do you get the opportunity to fly after work? i want to train after work during the week, but seeing as I won't fly until January - I don't think there will be VFR conditions after work @ 5pm with the sun going down earlier. i'll most likely end up going early before work when i start out, to get the feel of VFR before moving to IFR.

[BrettInLJ]

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I work in a distracting high-paid corporate job... "making the magic" if that gives you any hints. My multi and CFI are the next stages and I have 90% decided that after I'm done with the commercial I'm quitting my job and finishing my training full-time. I am not making the progress I need to while working at this job (I haven't flown in 2 weeks because of consecutive personal weekend commitments) so I have taken the approach of saving up as much as possible and jumping with both feet.

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ahh that's great that you can do that (save money and eventually quit your job). what hours do you fly usually? do you get the opportunity to fly after work? i want to train after work during the week, but seeing as I won't fly until January - I don't think there will be VFR conditions after work @ 5pm with the sun going down earlier. i'll most likely end up going early before work when i start out, to get the feel of VFR before moving to IFR.

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It will be VFR, but night. Most of your training needs to be done daytime anyway. I thought I could train during lunch and I did a few times, but my work as become all consuming.

[surefly]

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It will be VFR, but night. Most of your training needs to be done daytime anyway. I thought I could train during lunch and I did a few times, but my work as become all consuming.

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me and my friend checked out Vista and the WHP area. very very cozy
Brian's cool as hell - put in a good word for ya too, let them know you're crazy busy with work. Gonna have to check out VNFC now to see what they have to offer.

[MarkE]

Ditto to that. Thought Brian was a really cool guy and answered all our questions. I don't know that I was impressed by the planes with torn up upholstry however they do have some newer planes that aren't too much more per hour.

[BrettInLJ]

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Ditto to that. Thought Brian was a really cool guy and answered all our questions. I don't know that I was impressed by the planes with torn up upholstry however they do have some newer planes that aren't too much more per hour.

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No, the planes aren't pretty. If you want new planes you can pay a little more and train in their late model 172 SP's. Did you look at the fleet list on their website? There's even a 182 with the G1000 glass cockpit. Unlike many FBO's, you can choose between paying less for the 1970's vintage 172's or more for the new 172's. Its all about your priorities, budget, preference, etc.

[project7]

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No, the planes aren't pretty. If you want new planes you can pay a little more and train in their late model 172 SP's

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Remember, just because an airplane is old doesn't mean that it is unsafe. Vista has excellent maintenance and I am completely comfortable in any of their aircraft. The maintenance shop there is well known as one of the better ones in the area. You could pay more for the new SP's (and I sometimes do), but the old ones are just fine.

[surefly]

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Remember, just because an airplane is old doesn't mean that it is unsafe. Vista has excellent maintenance and I am completely comfortable in any of their aircraft. The maintenance shop there is well known as one of the better ones in the area. You could pay more for the new SP's (and I sometimes do), but the old ones are just fine.

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i think i owned a beatle that looked like one of the 1970s there
yah, the thing that was cool was the respect the operations manager had for the maintenance shop. i totally have to go for a discovery flight there. pictures from Friday, coming soon to my blog.