Originally Posted by
sealandair
You're right, in fact NO place just lets you "walk in off the street" and solo their aircraft. You would need to establish an account there and get checked out with one of their CFIs, just like any other place. When I spoke with Harold a few days ago, he said they liked to keep the airplane "local", and not to let it out on extended cross country trips. They will let an account holder solo it and do cross country flights (although they may require a minimum amount of MEL time and/or CFI signoff). What they won't do is let you and your buddies pack camping gear in it and take it to Jackson Hole for the weekend... until they are very comfortable with you and your flying.
$210 (dual) on a light twin "isn't bad"?? Name one place you have heard of that can beat that.
Regarding the bolded portion, that's no longer true. Check out the concept of Open Airplane.
www.openairplane.com
One universal pilot checkout in a specific make/model, and participating flight schools throughout the national accept it and you can reserve online and book a plane and walk out. You can get checked out in a Cessna 172 G1000 in Long Island, NY and then rent a Cessna 172 G1000 in Long Beach, CA by reserving the plane online, just walking in grabbing the keys and go.