Cloudkicker

Hey everyone, I've been lurking for a while but finally made baby steps towards getting back in the cockpit. I was at a 4 yr University doing flight school and it just didn't work out at the time. Bad weather, busy schedule, and most of all, money, kept me from continuing past my private, I have 83 hours. I got my degree and have been working since, different positions in the industry and have had the itch to fly again.

I'm now 30 and in a stable place now where I can continue training. I haven't been in the air for 10 years. I know I will need some recurrent and BFR before I really get going, but the immediate goal is get to a regional ASAP. I figure even at 30, if I can get going I'll have plenty of time on a seniority list.

I have done some research about local options as I work full-time and plan on contunuing that until I have my commercial and CFI. The 2 schools I have near me are 141 schools which seem to fit the bill well.

School A is 10 minutes away (almost on the way home from work which is 30 minutes away), but does instrument ground School in a group setting, once a year, in January. You can see the issue as I want to get started as soon as possible and don't want to miss out on the nice weather over the next 5-6 months (I'm in the Midwest).

School B has 2 locations, both about 30 minutes from me, just from speaking with them they seem like they were a little more helpful. They do 1-on-1 instrument ground and could pretty much get me started right away.

Both seem similarly priced, but the distance from school A is the draw. I could be there around 4:00 a couple of times a week for a few hours and a day a weekend. School B is 30 minutes the opposite direction from work from my house so that means an hour commute to get there after work and maybe limiting what flight slot I can snag.

Any advice for someone getting back into it? I'm considering getting my instrument going at school B then go to school A if it isn't working out. ATP or similar accelerated school isn't really an option right now.

hansinla

I also just brushed the rust off my CPL, after a five year break from flying. From my (admittedly limited) experience:
- I don't think Instrument Ground School should be a determining factor. You can easily study at home and ask your CFII if you don't understand something.
- I think getting a few hours of instructing in AFTER a day's worth of work is not a good idea. You want absorb as much as when you're fresh. Sorry to burst that bubble, not a sound plan.
- Get a sim a home to practice procedures... A LOT. That saves some valuable time in plane and in a FTD. I know it's not luggable, but that's not the point, the pint is that you will be great at instrument flying.

Cloudkicker

As for the instrument, I'm not worried as much about the instruction as am I the timing, starting in a few weeks vs in January. I have actually taken most of an instrument ground School in college, this was in the midst of when I switched things up and decided to no longer, so I don't believe I retained much, no big deal here though.

My schedule did have me wondering and this was something I was going to ask about when I met with my instructor. I currently work 4 10s Mon-Thurs 0730-1730, I swap my off day around depending on what I have going on any given week, but is pretty consistent. I have the option to go to 5 8s 0730-1330, so that was my plan, but as you mentioned I was worried about retaining info after a full work day. The other option would likely be to fly 2 days a week on my off day and a weekend day, I could put in a longer day at the airport, this may be a better plan, thank you.

BravoPapa

I'd go to the school closest to me and just use a program like Sheppard Air to pass the written. You don't need the group study. And I'd add the Sporty's instrument course to that for more of a 'real world' overview and explanation and something closer to what you would learn from the group study if you're concerned about that.

Cloudkicker

I wasn't 100% sure with it being a part 141 school if I needed to go through their ground according to their syllabus or not. I have no problem self-studying and doing the written on my own, I know there are plenty of good options out there. I'll definitely look into this, thanks!

BravoPapa

Yeah, hadn't thought about the 141 thing in relation to that. I just assume the instructor would follow the syllabus in teaching you, but not that'd you'd have to do a ground school they only do once a year. But I could be wrong.

Cloudkicker

I submitted the application to join the flight club yesterday, so I will try and get more information on that. I'm still getting up to speed on everything again after a 10 year hiatus, so there are some cobwebs to clear out on all this stuff and plenty more information to gather before I jump in feet first and make a bad decision (most consider a career pilot a bad decision anyways don't they? Ha).

SonicBoom

I'm in a similar situation as you are. I chose to go to a closer school rather than the one I was really interested (1 hour away). I work 8-5pm Monday through Friday and with a kid to support I can't stop working unfortunately. The flight school I chose is 10 minutes from my job so that helps a lot.

I have to train after work but as someone pointed out having a SIM at home helps tremendously, you should invest on it. With almost the price of an hour of flight you can buy most of the equipment (Software, Yoke, Rudder). Also get PilotEdge.net, that has been helping me tons.

I'm a rusty pilot and I haven't flown in 4 years so it really helps you with radio communication. Fly the SIM like you'd fly in real life, for me anyway it has been working, so far. When you want something real bad you make it work one way or another. Good Luck!

Cloudkicker

I actually went out to the field closest to me this weekend for an open house and got .5 in a warrior, felt good to be back up in the air. Actually waiting to hear back from the chief pilot. I may just start with some of my recurrent and see how everything is going if I go after work.

I do have a little sim setup (Thrustmaster T16000M with rudder pedals and hotas) just need to utilize it a little more, wish I had a yoke over a joystick though. I run it from a laptop now, which does pretty good on highest settings but want a desktop and monitor. If nothing else just to practice some IFR procedures and such. Still plenty to plan and consider.

BravoPapa

I hadn't flown for 11 years until last July. Flew a little between then and around March of this year. In March I joined a flying club with a cheap plane in the middle of the month, flew 5 hours the rest of that month, then flew 10 hours last month, and on track for 10 hours this month. I can definitely say that nothing does more for your confidence than just flying a lot. Fly as much as you can.