Looking for a flight school in California

[FrenchPilot]

Hey everyone,

I'm flying to L.A. next Saturday, and will be spending 2 weeks visiting and most importantly looking for a flightschool (or flying club) to get my Instrument Rating, possibly on a multiengine aircraft ( I'm not sure because I will not have reached 250 hours by the time I'm done, so I doubt I will be allowed to fly solo anywhere...)

Are there any schools I should definitely have a look at or avoid ? Preferably Part 61, and around L.A. , but I'm flexible and I'll surely go to San Diego and San Francisco .


Other thing :
A little JC meeting at LAX, maybe sundaythe 30th would be fun, anyone available ?


Thanks for reading !

[SierraPilot123]

I live in San Fran. Check out Sierra Academy at KLVK if you get time. They have what I think is a great instruement course and tons of local practice approaches.

[FrenchPilot]

I will do that, thank you

Hmm, I edited the title of the thread but it didnt change in the Topic List . . .

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by FrenchPilot

Hmm, I edited the title of the thread but it didnt change in the Topic List . . .

Updated now.

[Aero_Engineer]

I live in LA, Vista Air is my flight school, check out their website www.vistaair.com.

[FrenchPilot]

Aero_Engineer, thank you. Multi Engine training is mentioned on the website but there's nothing about the aircraft itself, do you have any information ?

[Adam2006]

Aviationwest, owned and operated by a captain for United. This is at LGB(long beach).

[AlexF]

Originally Posted by Adam2006

Aviationwest, owned and operated by a captain for United. This is at LGB(long beach).

I thought it closed/changed ownership after their last accident?

Anyway, I go to South Bay Aviation at TOA (Torrance) myself. They have all the standard single and multi-aircrafts, and now and then they get different aircrafts like the Socata Trinidad 20 and a Mooney.

[Aero_Engineer]

Originally Posted by FrenchPilot

Aero_Engineer, thank you. Multi Engine training is mentioned on the website but there's nothing about the aircraft itself, do you have any information ?

They are still waiting for the delivery of their Piper Seminole, that is why they usually recommend us getting our Multi rating at ATP in long Beach then come back for the CFI ratings. Check out ATP in Long Beach, pretty neat flight school.

[FrenchPilot]

Thanks, anything else ?

[ETAV8R]

Long Beach Flying Club
I am a current PPL student and have only good things to say. Great in house mx and good people all around.

[MarkE]

I've been training at a place called Hollywood Aviators out of VNY. They don't have multi training however. It's a great operation though and if you're interested at all private message me.

www.hollywoodaviators.com

[FrenchPilot]

Thanks for the tips guys. Hollywood aviators seems a little expensive compared to other schools in the LA area, but I'll still go have look
-MarkE, do you or anyone else have any information about the Van Nuys Aero Club ?

[Mariano]

Originally Posted by FrenchPilot

Other thing :
A little JC meeting at LAX, maybe sundaythe 30th would be fun, anyone available ?

Not LA, but if you come down to San Diego I'm up for a meeting. It will be nice to meet up with an European brother.

[Adam2006]

Originally Posted by AlexF

I thought it closed/changed ownership after their last accident?

Anyway, I go to South Bay Aviation at TOA (Torrance) myself. They have all the standard single and multi-aircrafts, and now and then they get different aircrafts like the Socata Trinidad 20 and a Mooney.

I haven't heard of any accidents there, but I left them after my ppl a little over a year ago. When I was there, 3 cfi's one of which was my instructor left for skywest. The beauti of the school is that it's owned by a 737 captain. That could be a real nice letter, when one is ready! Alex, I'm actually fly'in outa TOA myself with a flying club right now, you gotta love parking on the field right next to the plane.

[MarkE]

Originally Posted by FrenchPilot

Thanks for the tips guys. Hollywood aviators seems a little expensive compared to other schools in the LA area, but I'll still go have look
-MarkE, do you or anyone else have any information about the Van Nuys Aero Club ?

Pretty much anything at VNY will be on the more expensive side. I haven't heard anything about Van Nuys Aero club other than what's on their website.

http://aeroclubvny.com/

I did check out Vista Air before. Seemed like a good operation but definitely get some more feedback from Aero Engineer since he's actually training there.

[AlexF]

Originally Posted by Adam2006

I haven't heard of any accidents there, but I left them after my ppl a little over a year ago. When I was there, 3 cfi's one of which was my instructor left for skywest. The beauti of the school is that it's owned by a 737 captain. That could be a real nice letter, when one is ready! Alex, I'm actually fly'in outa TOA myself with a flying club right now, you gotta love parking on the field right next to the plane.

O, I thought someone bought it up, good to know it is still owned by the same person. Also, the accident was actually quite sad, a CFI and a student departed in a 152, climbed very slowly, and then crashed (See Report Here). Anyway, what flying club do you go to and how are there planes? I hear there are some good one out there, and I may start looking into it. But parking on the grass right behind your plane is soo nice and convenient, especially if you have some luggage to load, the only problem is if someone parks a plane in your place (which they shouldn't), then when they start their engine in the tie down (which they also shouldn't), it blows dust, rocks, and debris into your car. Besides that and the noise abatement, it's a real nice airport!

[Adam2006]

Originally Posted by AlexF

O, I thought someone bought it up, good to know it is still owned by the same person. Also, the accident was actually quite sad, a CFI and a student departed in a 152, climbed very slowly, and then crashed (See Report Here). Anyway, what flying club do you go to and how are there planes? I hear there are some good one out there, and I may start looking into it. But parking on the grass right behind your plane is soo nice and convenient, especially if you have some luggage to load, the only problem is if someone parks a plane in your place (which they shouldn't), then when they start their engine in the tie down (which they also shouldn't), it blows dust, rocks, and debris into your car. Besides that and the noise abatement, it's a real nice airport!

Thanks for the link, that is tragic(2 lives lost). I used to fly that plane. Anyways, I fly with Airesearch flying club. We only have 2 planes(172,182) Our planes are right next to the fuel pumps, no grass or rocks, and never had any issues with others parking in our marked and paid for tiedown spots. It is a great club(you can keep the planes overnight, with no daily min. hours charged) PM me if you want some more info.

END HIJACK---sorry.

[FrenchPilot]

I appreciate the help everyone.
If any other places come to your mind, please share

[tonyw]

I always recommend people check out flying clubs.

http://www.landings.com/_landings/pages/fc/fc-ca.html

[CRQ_Livin]

Try Pinnacle Aviation Academy in Carlsbad (30 min north of San Diego off the 5 Freeway). It's a great place with some really good rates. Plus the airport (CRQ) is towered with a nice mix of traffic. (GA, Business Jets, and some airline traffic). Check out their website: http://www.pinnacleacademy.com

[FrenchPilot]

Thank you both
Pinnacle Aviation Academy seems like a great place, I'll def. check it out, its too bad its not in a big city though. ..

Every tip is still welcome And I'd still love to meet some of you Californain JCers ( Mariano, I'm not sure yet when I'll be in San Diego, but it would be great if we could arrange something)

[AlexF]

Originally Posted by FrenchPilot

Thank you both
Pinnacle Aviation Academy seems like a great place, I'll def. check it out, its too bad its not in a big city though.

Why do you want a big city? Carlsbad is a decent city, close to Los Angeles, closer to San Diego, less traffic then both, and it has a great airport (plus, you'd be surprised how many hours you can rack up sitting in the run up area with your engine whining, while you wait for all the "paying" customers to land and takeoff)

[subpilot]

Check out memley aviation in Fresno. Very friendly mom and pop flight school and you don't have class B congestion to deal with. Fresno class C is very friendly and responsive to instrument training request.

[scoobs]

What are the good areas to live in LA?