Frustrated in Korea

[fiveninerzero]

Hey guys.

I'm here at Osan Air Base in South Korea trying to finish my private.

I was pretty pumped up when I got my assignment here, learning that the Air Force has an Aero Club here with 7 C172's, as my ops tempo at my last duty station in the CONUS had me all over the country and in places such as Iraq.

This assignment offers me some stability knowing that I will not be TDY as much, however, it pains me to find out that there are no CFI's here, the one that is here right now is an Army Helo guy who commutes down from Camp Casey and flies his ass off!

I've been reading about how high in demand CFI's could be in certain locations and situations, but I personally didn't have that problem when I was back in the states.

So much for my goal of walking away from my year here with my certificate!

There's gotta be a straggler hiding out somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions on finding a CFI with FAA certs in this country? Or do you think I am SOL?

[BugSmasher]

Hey there, sounds like a predicament. Here are two potential sources that may be of interest. Otherwise, I will call a buddy of mine who is in Korean ATC to get you the names of more flight schools around here. Im US citz and have been teaching English in Ulsan. I haven't been flying due to the higher costs over here compared with the 'States.

Ill get back to you with the names of some more schools.

http://www.skysafety.com

http://www.aopakorea.org/01_intro/01_intro.php
(youll need a Korean buddy to use this but you should get some contacts here)

[Customx]

Sorry but if there aren't any CFIs there, then you're pretty much screwed. Like Bugsmasher, I'm over here teaching English. You can earn your ratings outside the base, but you're going to be paying about $220/hr for a 172 if you go through one of the flight schools that exist here. The other problem I found was the location of the airport that the plane is located at. It's supposedly at some tiny airport in Gangwondo, which is at least 3 hours from Osan. Sorry I don't have any better news, but unless you're willing to pay more than $15,000 for your private, you're out of luck at the moment.

[LAFF]

Originally Posted by fiveninerzero

Hey guys.

I'm here at Osan Air Base in South Korea trying to finish my private.

I was pretty pumped up when I got my assignment here, learning that the Air Force has an Aero Club here with 7 C172's, as my ops tempo at my last duty station in the CONUS had me all over the country and in places such as Iraq.

This assignment offers me some stability knowing that I will not be TDY as much, however, it pains me to find out that there are no CFI's here, the one that is here right now is an Army Helo guy who commutes down from Camp Casey and flies his ass off!

I've been reading about how high in demand CFI's could be in certain locations and situations, but I personally didn't have that problem when I was back in the states.

So much for my goal of walking away from my year here with my certificate!

There's gotta be a straggler hiding out somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions on finding a CFI with FAA certs in this country? Or do you think I am SOL?

When your tour is over get stationed at Yokota AFB. Excellent Aero Club and good full-time career CFIs that will get you thru. I did my PPL there in the late 90s and the training was excellent. Very professional.

What do you do in the AF? I was a 3c2 , then 33S - currently stationed in DC working at NASA. Retiring next April after 20.

-LAFF

[scflyin]

So what's it like flying in Osan? I lived at Yongsan Army Post back in 1990-92 and we checked out the flying club. But we never went flying. Seemed to be a decent operation back then.

[BugSmasher]

590 - The other place you might consider is Hanseo University, about 1hr south of Seoul - shouldnt be too far for you if you have liberty on some of the weekdays. According to my friend, they have CFI's who reportedly can give FAA liscensed instruction b/c some were CFI's from Riddle.

Like most things in Korea, you would need a Korean to guide you through the website and signing up for any lessons, but from what I heard the prices are not ridiculous. Just a thought -

- and dont strafe my apartment complex if my sources are wrong.

Bugsmasher

[fiveninerzero]

Wow. I didn't realize there were replies to this. I suppose the email subscription doesn't work so well.

Hanseo University? All I could find in English on Google were a few pictures of their aircraft on jetphotos.net. Looks like they have a 172, a King Air, and a couple of helos. At least that confirms that they are an aviation school.

And LAFF, unfortunately my AFSC is severely limited in assignment options, so no Japan for me.

Since you asked, I'm a 1C4, we essentiallly control airstrikes in close proximity to friendlies and advise the ground commander on the capabilities and limitations of airpower. (so yeah I can have it arranged to get your apartment building grazed by the almighty A-10s 30mm golden bullet)

Thanks for the list BugSmasher, now I need to get my Korean compadres to translate. I didn't realize there were this many guys on the site in country.

[Screaming_Emu]

Originally Posted by LAFF

When your tour is over get stationed at Yokota AFB. Excellent Aero Club and good full-time career CFIs that will get you thru. I did my PPL there in the late 90s and the training was excellent. Very professional.

What do you do in the AF? I was a 3c2 , then 33S - currently stationed in DC working at NASA. Retiring next April after 20.

-LAFF

I did some flying with the Yokota Aero Club and really enjoyed it. I was really interested in going out there to work as a CFI, but when I was looking they said they were only hiring part time instructors so I would have to find another job to support myself. Would have been a lot of fun though.

[fiveninerzero]

Originally Posted by Screaming_Emu

I did some flying with the Yokota Aero Club and really enjoyed it. I was really interested in going out there to work as a CFI, but when I was looking they said they were only hiring part time instructors so I would have to find another job to support myself. Would have been a lot of fun though.

Come on over to Korea, I'm sure you'd be a very busy full time, overtime CFI here. heh

[Firebird2XC]

Originally Posted by fiveninerzero

Hey guys.

I'm here at Osan Air Base in South Korea trying to finish my private.

I was pretty pumped up when I got my assignment here, learning that the Air Force has an Aero Club here with 7 C172's, as my ops tempo at my last duty station in the CONUS had me all over the country and in places such as Iraq.

This assignment offers me some stability knowing that I will not be TDY as much, however, it pains me to find out that there are no CFI's here, the one that is here right now is an Army Helo guy who commutes down from Camp Casey and flies his ass off!

I've been reading about how high in demand CFI's could be in certain locations and situations, but I personally didn't have that problem when I was back in the states.

So much for my goal of walking away from my year here with my certificate!

There's gotta be a straggler hiding out somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions on finding a CFI with FAA certs in this country? Or do you think I am SOL?

I got my private license when I was active duty Army at the Flying Club at Ft Lewis. Did it on weekends, when the weather was good enough.

It took me a YEAR... for all of about 50 hours in flight time. I've flown 50 hours in two weeks at an airline!

My advice? Save up the money in advance. Korea's a good place to save your dough, if you can. Then, save up your leave, too.

Either from Korea, or better yet, Stateside, take 30 days leave.

Fly your arse off. Find a place where you can devote a solid 30 days to flying. Fly twice a day, if they'll let you. There are places out there that specialize in "Accelerated ratings". In 2002, I went to a place in Tucson and did my Instrument Rating from start to finish in 16 days.

It was a little grueling, but throwing down the gauntlet and getting it DONE feels awesome when it's finished.

In the meantime, don't despair. At least the possibility exists. I spent two year long tours in Iraq pissed at the world because I couldn't fly and felt I was losing precious time in my career. Ultimately, it didn't matter at all, and I wound up flying with an airline a year after I got out of the Army. If I'd been Stateside sooner, I'd have spent those years instructing because the airline hiring requirements were different.

Don't sweat it. Just find the best way to make the max use of your learning potential, time, and money. Doing your training as continuously as possible in a shorter, continuous span of time is one of the best ways to do that. Stringing it out just runs up the bill.

[Screaming_Emu]

Originally Posted by fiveninerzero

Come on over to Korea, I'm sure you'd be a very busy full time, overtime CFI here. heh

Maybe if I get furloughed I might take you up on that.

[fiveninerzero]

Originally Posted by Firebird2XC

I got my private license when I was active duty Army at the Flying Club at Ft Lewis. Did it on weekends, when the weather was good enough.

It took me a YEAR... for all of about 50 hours in flight time. I've flown 50 hours in two weeks at an airline!

My advice? Save up the money in advance. Korea's a good place to save your dough, if you can. Then, save up your leave, too.

Either from Korea, or better yet, Stateside, take 30 days leave.

Fly your arse off. Find a place where you can devote a solid 30 days to flying. Fly twice a day, if they'll let you. There are places out there that specialize in "Accelerated ratings". In 2002, I went to a place in Tucson and did my Instrument Rating from start to finish in 16 days.

It was a little grueling, but throwing down the gauntlet and getting it DONE feels awesome when it's finished.

In the meantime, don't despair. At least the possibility exists. I spent two year long tours in Iraq pissed at the world because I couldn't fly and felt I was losing precious time in my career. Ultimately, it didn't matter at all, and I wound up flying with an airline a year after I got out of the Army. If I'd been Stateside sooner, I'd have spent those years instructing because the airline hiring requirements were different.

Don't sweat it. Just find the best way to make the max use of your learning potential, time, and money. Doing your training as continuously as possible in a shorter, continuous span of time is one of the best ways to do that. Stringing it out just runs up the bill.

Thanks for the advice brother. I am one of those guys that likes to knock it all out at once.

I hate to say this (slap me on the cheek for this) but money isn't a problem. I've been wanting to fly for years now but never had the chance until recently, so I've got enough saved up for it.

But yeah I think I might just go back to the states and fly there. I'm kinda pissed because the area I just left had the cheapest rates ever. I could've knocked out the whole private for 3500 bucks if I had the time. Now I'm going to Colorado where rental rates are exorbitant.

The leave idea is pretty good. Does anybody have any recommendations on where to go for the accelerated private course? I'm kinda saving up for terminal leave, but I think I might take that sacrifice to get it knocked out.