I got my PPL at Galvin, and I highly recommend it. But then again, I was a student, not a CFI. I think the positives are that you get to fly an awesome fleet of varied and new aircraft with G1000 (and even a TwinStar on the way), but the pay is NOT great and there is a lot of dead time in the winter months. Lots of actual time though. PM me if you would like to know more.

Wings Aloft does a lot of training. It would be interesting to hear from a local how they compare to Galvins. In the mid-90's when I was around BFI, I'd say they were about the same. They are the two big players in Seattle and very expensive. There are a couple of schools at Renton, a couple a PAE, and many others at the smaller airports in the area. I think the farther you get away from Seattle the cheaper it is, just like everything else. Personally, I wouldn't want to instruct at BFI, anyways, cause it's crazy busy and too close to SEA.

I think BEFA at Renton would be a great place to instruct. Interesting fleet and not quite as crazy as BFI. I never got involved with BEFA cause I didn't meet the quals. You have to be a Boeing employee or work for the government, as I recall.

I agree with you, de727, about BFI being very busy what with all the general aviation, cargo, business types, celebrity types, helicopters, Blue Angels etc etc all over the place. And all the commercial planes taking off and landing at SeaTac only made the air choppier. All part of the reason why my discovery flight (details of which can be found ad nauseum in another thread. hee hee) was unnecessarily stressful. I mean, after landing, I was weak-kneed and felt like having a brandy and a cigarette. Even law school did not have such an effect on me.

Having said that, however, I think I am a better pilot if I can avoid getting killed while flying in busy airspace. I'll continue to fly out of BFI, but will try the outlying airports just for a change of pace.

I don't know much, if anything, about Galvin. The only comment I heard from a classmate was that it is incredibly expensive, even more expensive than Wings Aloft. Wings does have a lot of different planes from which to choose. And many of them are fairly new. In my class, there were a variety of students from very different backgrounds. Quite a few were like me - established in a profession or job, but would like to learn to fly.

Galvin is a nice place to work. Some other instructors at Bremerton know some of the instructors over there and it doesn't seem that bad. I know a Wings Aloft instructor and they are the worst paid instructors that I have ever heard of. There are a lot of scools up in this area. There is an ATP location at Tacoma Narrows, as well as another school, Pavco. I know some people that work there and almost started working there a few months ago. I don't know how far away from Seattle you are willing to go, but look at the school at Thun Field, they were looking for someone a while ago, and have a fairly good operation.

If you want to get killed in busy airspace, try Bremerton. Lots of airplanes and no tower. People landing on opposite runways, overflying the field while jumping is goin on, deaf student pilots, it is a lot of fun...

Thanks a lot for all the info, it really does help to get some feed back. It looks like I will be located close to the Renton area or south Seattle. Has anyone heard of Northwest Aviation college?? It looks like an interesting place. I don't mind commuting a little but more than 30 mins ride from Renton will be a stretch. I am going to check out BEFA. Thanks again.... any more info will be appreciated.

I learned to fly and was an instructor at BEFA. A great organization, but very hard to get on as an instructor. You must first be a member in order to be an instructor. The membership qualifications have greatly reduced, but it can still be a hard to get approved.

"Northwest Aviation college??"

That's basically the flight school at Auburn which has some agreements with Green River CC for a degree. That flight school used to be a bit pricey, I though. Less than BFI, maybe equal to RNT or PAE. The best rates around, at least used to be, was at Crest Airpark east of Kent.

Wings Aloft is hiring.
*BE WARNED* one of their CFIs was recently killed and they have a shrine up to the guy in their main lobby.

Hmmm, I was over there not long ago and didn't see any shrine. Where is it? When did he die? What did he die of? Assuming he was flying with a student, did the student die too?

CFI turned freight dog, crash of a cargo airplane, only soul on board. Happened in early July. There's a montage of photos of him, snapshots mostly in the main lobby then a huge picture of him between the restrooms on the ground floor. From what I have heard from the employees he was really a nice guy. the story about the crash was all over the TV stations and in the newspapers/