I think I've decided on holding off on looking much deeper into going "career" with flying until I've taking the first actual steps of getting my PPL.

I keep reading around the forum that people are getting their PPLs for on average $10k. I think that if I can get it for about that price (preferably cheaper) I may just go ahead with it.

How does it work with getting instruction from a flight club rather than a flight school? I went to Plus One and Golden Wings (San Diego, CA) and all they had was a list of instructors. What about the groundwork, etc that I was told at the flight school i visited?

I've been browsing through pages of threads and havent been able to find out how flight clubs really work =P. I also put in a request for more info from them, but they havent gotten back to me yet...!

Flight clubs are a more dynamic and less structured environment. You will have to arrange your own ground training. For ground training you have three options:

1) Try to do it with your instructor or possibly another instructor who has the time. This can be tough with freelance instructors because they tend to be busy and often are not accustomed to doing a structured ground program.

2) Find a formal ground course...one of the local community colleges used to do that, the one in kearny mesa I think.

3) Use a self-study course with a workbook. You can buy these at any pilot shop, and they are legal to satisfy the requirement. You would want to make sure your instructor is OK with that, and he will probably want to see the workbook completed. This is a good option if you are an engineer, or technically oriented and have good study habits. Your CFI will review things with you and fill in any gaps.

In addition to ground training that is intended to enhance your knowledge, you will have to take an FAA written test...you will need to prep for this seperately, either with a weekend "cram course" or self-study with a book containing the exam questions.

Plus One is good in that it has 100+ airplanes, so you can pretty much always find a 152 or 172, even if yours breaks at the last minute. There are also a lot of instructors...you would need to exercise some care iin picking one I have a friend who still teaches there, he doesn't do privates any more, but I'll ask him for a couple of names.

Also AFAC is there at Gibbs...it's a small former military flight club that spun off on it's own. The members are all active or ex- military or government types, so the airplanes are treated with respect and maintained well. Also they tend to be on time returning airplanes, or communicate if there's a delay. Last I heard, ANYBODY could join the club as a student pilot...they feel that if they can teach you the right way from day one, that you will fit in with them. They have only high-wing cessnas, and good rates.

I actually have a young relative who wants to start training also...it's possible that I might end up doing groundschool for him. What would your timeline be?

Timeline wise, I'd like to start once I find a good rate on lessons. My availability really falls after 5pm during weekdays and anytime weekends.

So for ground school, I dont necessarily have to take it? I just need to pass the FAA test and am good to go? I would definitely feel more comfortable with formal/informal instruction, but think i can self-teach if the training is expensive.

You have to take SOME sort of ground training, but a self-study course is allowed to count. You will need your CFI to sign-off on your self-study completion, so make sure he is OK with that, and that you have a workbook to show that you actually did something.

The written test is whole different thing, do not confuse this with actual knowledge. For the most part, you just need to review the multiple-choice question bank for a few days, then go take the test. I'd probably do this after you complete your ground training.

or you could just find a small little airport that offers flight instruction in something like a cessna 172 or maybe a piper cherokee, and work 1-on-1 with an instructor instead of dealing with some club or flight school. i got my private ticket for around $6k in a 172 and that was about a year ago.

I am currently trying to get in touch with some CFI's that are members of Plus One Flyers in San Diego. I'm looking in the price range of $35-$45/hr for lessons, and hope to get more info in general on the instructions. The flying club and instructors haven't emailed me back, so I don't know what is going on! I would imagine they would give high priority to prospective students/new club members!

Rick, would you be interested in helping me out with ground training, or reference a good CFI at Montgomery Field? :D

P.S. Thanks by the way for all the info guys.

I called my buddy, hopefully he'll give me some names today. Matching schedules is important...how often do you expect to do training, and would it likely be weekends, weekdays, or evenings?

I work full-time, so my training hours would be anytime after 6pm (weekdays) and all day weekends. I would prefer to knock it out ASAP (to decrease likelihood of forgetting completed training). That may be a bit ambitious, but once I find a CFI that works well for me and a good pricing, I'll want to devote all my time to it.

I talked to my buddy. Looks like you don't have enough posts to pmail...email me your phone number and I'll fill you in (my username at yahoo).

Done. Let me know if you dont get it.