zondaracer

I wasnīt trying to insult you. I realized that a previous poster said he checked out Sonoran Wings and I edited my post, but I forgot to take that line out.

J. never showed his grouchy side to me and always treated me with courtesy. I heard through my isntructor that he was a bit grouchy. Sorry that your experience wasnīt the same as mine. I didnīt accuse you of not being a customer. I was only sharing my personal experience with Sonoran Wings and I never had any problems and I never saw him treating other students the same way. I did hear complaints from some of the instructors about their treatment from the owner. Maybe since you were a CFI-I student, he viewed you as a potential employee.


Yes, I own my own business currently with my wife. Like I said, J. never treated me with any disrespect, ever. I never saw him treat any other customers with disrespect. I have a military background and I always treat everyone with respect. He always acted professional around me. Like I said, I am sorry that your experience was different. This in no way was a personal attack against you. I am only sharing my point of view since I actually had a positive experience at Sonoran Wings. Living in Tucson, there were only two flying schools to choose from at KTUS, and I didnīt want to drive out to Ryan, Marana, or Benson, and I felt that Sonoran Wings was the best option anyway. Yes, J. wants his business to be the best like anyone else, and I agree that he may not go about the best way of achieving that in some aspects, but from a PPL through CPL point of view, it is a good place to fly. (FWIW to anyone else reading, do your ME elsewhere, the Baron is quite expensive)

By the way, I just visited the Sonoran Wings website, and their Chief Instructor is no longer listed on their website.

mtbthis

Yea, Chandler Air Service . I rent their planes, and I will be continuing my training there. They offer all sorts of training from the standard Inst, Comm, Multi, to Tail Wheel, aerobatic training, and mountain flying courses. Pretty cool place. They also have a cafe on the apron so if you need a cold one after a long flight...

NoBeta

Thanks for all the input. I think I will check out chandler air service as well. I went to a rip off of a school for my instrument rating. They cared more about you paying the bill than anything. I paid 13k to finish my rating from stage 2 part 141. I accidentally ran into one of their competitors and the first thing the guy said was. "They are going for big profits". This was before I mentioned my highly inflated cost. After these folks left a really bad mark on the industry with me I swore to myself I would never spend a dime again until I checked every resource I could.

pitchtrim

I think its because he and the owner Jerry got into a heated debate. Its my understanding a highly experienced instructor is leaving and heading down to work for Tiffin Aviation in Nogales, which is also 141. May want to call down there and see what kind of quotes you get. Its a pretty cool place to fly. Its also pay as you go.

slcaviator

The benifit of Flying with Tiffin @ KOLS is that you have a in house examiner. Which I'm NOT a fan of, however it is a benifit to the student and the instructor

slcaviator

It's a possibility that he looked at me as a potential employee, and at first glance I would of instructed there in a heart beat, I have a few friends that are current (or were last I knew off) CFI's there including my very first student. However I guess I just got out of a really bad instructing gig with National Pilot Academy @ KRYN, so my guard was up and I was on the defense with all the aviation industry at that time.




No hard feelings brother, and from one vet to another thanks for serving your country! I liked this debate, and like I said before I may have let things get a little personal due to my experiences with the aviation industry at the time, however you make the point of this thread if you want the best flight training at KTUS sonoran is a better bet then going across the ramp to double eagle.

slcaviator

I agree Chandler Air Service is a good place to train. Any place you can get even a little tail wheel training is going to increase your piloting skills x10. They will even let you solo some of their tail wheel cubs which is really rare in this day and age. I would suggest getting your tailwheel endorsement durring your PPL also.

zondaracer

SLCAviatior, you worked at NPA?!? I knew some guys who were students there that got burned when they went under.