Astra

Thanks AirbusA320, I haven't had any schools in San Diego recommended so far. I'll look into them some more. Any suggestions would be appreciated too.

mtbthis, I'm with you on instruction at your own pace rather than classroom. I'm sure there will be sections that I understand quickly and others where I'll need to spend more time. Better to do it at my own pace. From what I've seen, training costs in NorCal are higher than SoCal - did you find this when you were deciding where to take your lessons? Scenery sounds good. Rain doesn't!

mtbthis

i shopped around a bit. ive lived in norcal my whole life so i didnt take a look at schools down south. I am paying about $7000 (more or less) for my PPL in a 1980s 172.

Ottopilot

Lakeport? Lampson field? I used to have a small flight school there. It's a dump. I don't know anything about this Career Pilot School, I'm just trashing Lakeport.

I would go with some one established vs. someone just gearing up operations.

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-Otto Pilot

flyingchicken

Couple of points:

Visa - If not a US citizen/resident, you'll need a foreign student visa and a flight school that has the facilities to process it.

Medical - get it done before you go. Try Dr O'tremba in TST or one of the Cathay docs who does FAA medicals in HK.

Timing - best flying season in California is summer-autumn, but winter-spring is still flyable, more so the further south you go.

Location - A cheaper option inland is the rural central valley region in California.

Astra

Thanks flyingchicken!

From what I can find out, I'll need an M1 + TSA. Quite a few schools have said visa waiver is fine - even the State Department said I could train on visa waiver so long as this wasn't "the primary purpose of my trip" (if I had time I'd do a long roadtrip while I was there!) and I wasn't going to get a degree. But I'm going to get an M1 to make sure no issues come up later.

The Cathay doctors only do Cathay staff, so Dr O'Tremba is the only option in HK.

Thanks - I don't have a lot of choice on timing because I'll be going when my contract finishes and before I get a new one. I'm still liking the idea of being able to go to the beach during my time off and seems to be a few options around Long Beach

(And good point ottopilot about somewhere just setting up. Once I've paid $$$ for my visa, deposit, etc it would be a real hassle if the school changed its plans or just didn't have the resources in place.)

ssrdrifter

If you are going to come to California, I would look inland, Riverside, Corona or Redlands area. There are some nice places to live and the schools are very one on one. Bracket has a nice flying club from my understanding. Also Aero Tech FBO at Redlands Airport (REI) was just sold and seem to have a lot of students from Japan there now. Just my 2 cents...

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flyingchicken

Sounds like you've done your homework.

Only thing I'd like to add is that since you have a limited time to get your training, best to find a school big enough to have a few relatively identical airplanes available as backup, in case one goes down for mechanical.

I'll personally recommend these guys in SoCal.

Flight Training in Southern California--Sunrise Aviation

Just south of Long Beach in Santa Ana.

I went there for a bit of aerobatics a while ago and found them to be a professional bunch who are genuinely dedicated to teaching.

DBSociety

Like I said, I'm not associated with them, just have heard positive things. Its not a new op, its an additional location and many people associated with CPS (students, instructors and mgt) are on the boards. I find it funny that "you had" a flight school there and call it a dump. There had to be some reason a 777fo thought it was a good place to fly from and start a business.

Astra

flyingchicken - Definitely a good point about having similar aircraft available. An aircraft out for a few days may not have too much impact on students taking one lesson a week, but would definitely be a speed bump if I'm taking several lessons a day. Sunrise has been recommended to me by someone else as well (a former student) and I've been exchanging emails with them to find out more.

ssrdrifter - I'll take a look at the locations you mentioned, thanks!

Ottopilot

No there isn't. I lived there because I was flying a turboprop out of there for a company and had lots of free time. I got a couple planes on leaseback and started a school. I did NOT go there for the location or to start a school. I'm glad I left. Lake County is the "land that time forgot".

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-Otto Pilot