I flew in Alaska
I flew in Alaska and learned at a very small one plane farm flight school that operated off of a dirt road. The fuel service consisted of an old Briggs and Stratton motor connected to a pump by a fan belt. You had to slip the belt onto the pulley of the running briggs without loosing a finger.
The runway was a narrow grass infested section of dirt road on the farm. At times there were muddy sections and other seasonal challenges. The dirt road was positioned 45 degrees to the constantly blowing prevailing winds. The gravel was like marbles under the tires. Add to that the shortness of the dirt road and the fact that at one end it terminated into an interstate and at the other the farmers house and it all made for a very nerve racking place to learn how to fly, but this was a step up from where I started.
Prior to that I did most of my private in an Aeronca Champ out of a small short private mountain airport. Hand propped 65 horsepower, no radio or avionics of any kind other than a compass. On a good day the instructor and I could get 300 Feet per minute rate of climb. Everything took forever. If the wind was blowing and we were flying into the wind school buses on the ground left us behind. We did not have an intercom. Instructions were yelled back and forth.
Back at the farm the plane was a Cessna 172 that had very thin maintenance. Before I was done with my commercial I had one engine failure and a partial power loss in it. I endured all that stuff because I could not afford to go to a proper flight school. I worked at a gas station to save up for lessons. I also had a credit card with a $2000 limit. Sometimes I would push through a rating and then spend the next six months paying off my card debt.
It was a romantic adventure for sure and I would definitely not do it again if I had it all to do over. All the guys who I flew with at the farm went on to less than stellar careers. They became crop dusters and bush pilots while the guys who went to the fancy expensive school went to the military and Airlines. Networking starts at the flight school. If you want to be a beaten up bush bum then learn to fly at a small mom and pop. If you want to fly for the airlines then get in with the rich kids and follow them to the big time.
Skyhigh