Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for over a year now learning as much as I can. I have my PPL AMEL, but haven't flown at all since '99. You guys have sparked the desire in me to get my butt back in the air. I'm 31 and own a small construction company in east Tennessee just down the road from TRI. I want to lay the tools down and pursue a career as a pilot, as that has been the general plan since I was a kid.

I've looked around on the internet a little, but haven't had the time to go visit any of the schools I've found yet. I also searched the site here w/ no luck. Was curious if there were any good schools in the area of Knoxville/Bristol that you guys would recommend? Any to avoid?

Also, what's necessary for me to get legal/current again as far as paperwork/checkrides/reviews go, other than my medical? What about the biennial (sp?) flight review? I'm obviously a bit overdue on that one. If I'm in training for my comm/inst/cfi/whatever, does that negate the need for the flight review per FAR 61.56 (g), or does that exemption only apply during your initial training for PPL?

I realize that a lot has changed since then and I'll need to spend plenty of time re-learning a lot of things. I'm assuming the flight school will assess my skill level and build on the info that I've retained and re-teach the info that I haven't.

Any info or advice you guys have would be great. Thanks in advance for all of your help!