Thanks flyingchicken!
Originally Posted by
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.
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.
Originally Posted by
flyingchicken
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.
The Cathay doctors only do Cathay staff, so Dr O'Tremba is the only option in HK.
Originally Posted by
flyingchicken
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.
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.)