FullExposureTV

Hello Everyone,

My name is Korey Ferguson. I live in Colby, Kansas. I am in the process of starting with a flight instructor at our local airport. (Really Small) He seems like a good guy and has been flying for 39 years.

My question is, Does it matter where you get your Private License training? Obviously I want to be taught how to safely and professionally fly on a private level but that is not my ultimate goal. I eventually want to move back to Alaska and start my own guide service (hunting, flight seeing)!

I'm lucky enough to have a good friend who is a pilot and was at one time an instructor. He has given me good advice. I've even taken his advice and decided to pass the Private Test before doing any flying.

If I get my Private License at a Small Airport and build my hours will that affect my chances of getting into one of the Bush Training Classes?

I want to get at least 500 hours before I decide to move back to Alaska. The planes available here for training or a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and I believe a Piper PA 28 (Archer Maybe?).

I was looking at Sporty's Learn to Fly Online Course and the King Schools Course to prepare for taking the written. Do any of you have experience or advice on taking this route?

Thank you in advance.

SkyHigh

Small schools have their benefits and negatives.

Sometimes small schools have old junky planes. Instructors work part time and can be hard to connect with. Older "experienced" instructors tend to get stuck in the times they trained in. Information and procedures can be old and out dated. Planes can be poorly equipped.

Mom and pop flight schools are an endangered species. They are under huge economic forces.

Skyhigh

N9373M

Based on what you've written, a small "mom and pop" FBO is just fine. Being at a small airport, should mean you're honing your Situational Awareness skills SA), rather than have the radar services of a larger airport - that should help out being a guide in AK.

Make sure you can fly with multiple instructors to get different view points.

As far a Bush Pilot Classes, I'm sure the prerequisite is probably just as much the ability to pay vs. where you got your license.

good luck!

Cubdriver

Welcome to APC, FullExposure. Small flights schools often have the cheapest way to a flight rating because they can operate any equipment they like, and all instruction is FAA certified at such schools because all instructors must take a renewal course every 24 months, plus have a reasonable pass rate. You will be fine working with a "local instructor". In addition, I recommend that you get a free 6 months subscription to AOPA Flight Training magazine and read each issue. With the 6 month subscription you also get access to AOPA online website, which will help answer standard questions you may have.

skydrifter

In my opinion the small school one on one with a vet. teaches better flying skills. but not better airline type skills. Radio skills and checklist procedures are a bit less then if you went to ATP. But for Bush work up here I think your path is the right one.
You always want to be taught by someone who has been there and done that if you can.

FullExposureTV

I appreciate the responses everyone. I ended up getting the Sporty's Online Course and have been watching some videos throughout the day.

I took a test on Exams4Pilots.Com, mainly to see where I stand on any information. Something I learned to do as a Law Enforcement Officer. "Its always good to know, what you don't know before you start in my opinion."

I found out I don't know anything, lol. Which is great in my opinion. I'm happy to be starting at the bottom and learning something new.

I did get the AOPA Subscription just now, "thank you for the recommendation".

I figured getting into a Bush School was more based on being able to pay for it but I didn't want to assume so.

Thanks again everyone.

Bellanca

As a disclaimer, I don't know anything about alaska flying.

But for pretty much any job, where you get your private pilot license doesn't matter at all. 172's and Archers are solid aircraft. Usually small schools are cheaper. Learning in old planes is fine as long as they are well-maintained (many are), and I would say even better because you usually don't have the crutches like glass cockpits, nice GPS's, autopilots, etc. If you are going to Alaska I would think they're flying a ton of older stuff, so probably a good idea to stay away from glass cockpits until you are instrument rated. IMO, its always easier to transition from a six-pack to glass than the other way. For private pilot you are much better off flying a 20-30 year old PA-28 or 172 for $100-110/hour than a new one for $150/hour.

Like some people said, part-time CFI's can be hard to schedule, so see what their availability is before you get started. As for old instructors, they are like new instructors, some are good some are bad. Some are stuck in their old ways and have developed tons of bad habits, some are a wealth of knowledge.

WANNABE

Get references from his former students. Was he available, consistent, knowledgeable, can he teach? Did his students consistently pass the ppl check ride? Do they reccommend him? If he is not forthcoming with names and numbers of current/former students, well then that answers the question. As a zero knowledge student you simply have no reference point as to wheather or not you are receiving quality instruction, and the last place you want to learn that is during your check ride. Many of the "local" guys provide outstanding instruction, and with 39 years experience can offer insights that the newly minted time building CFI can't. Ask him his background, is he passionate about teaching or is he just passing time or CFIing rather than working at Walmart in his golden years? You MUST ask these questions. You are embarking on a very expensive and life changing pursuit and your first experience will mold your opinion of flying as a career or a hobby. Get it right the first time and you will continue to love aviation, get it wrong and it will be too expensive and frustrating to continue.

SkyHigh

I flew in Alaska and learned at a very small one plane farm flight school that operated off of a dirt road. The fuel service consisted of an old Briggs and Stratton motor connected to a pump by a fan belt. You had to slip the belt onto the pulley of the running briggs without loosing a finger.

The runway was a narrow grass infested section of dirt road on the farm. At times there were muddy sections and other seasonal challenges. The dirt road was positioned 45 degrees to the constantly blowing prevailing winds. The gravel was like marbles under the tires. Add to that the shortness of the dirt road and the fact that at one end it terminated into an interstate and at the other the farmers house and it all made for a very nerve racking place to learn how to fly, but this was a step up from where I started.

Prior to that I did most of my private in an Aeronca Champ out of a small short private mountain airport. Hand propped 65 horsepower, no radio or avionics of any kind other than a compass. On a good day the instructor and I could get 300 Feet per minute rate of climb. Everything took forever. If the wind was blowing and we were flying into the wind school buses on the ground left us behind. We did not have an intercom. Instructions were yelled back and forth.

Back at the farm the plane was a Cessna 172 that had very thin maintenance. Before I was done with my commercial I had one engine failure and a partial power loss in it. I endured all that stuff because I could not afford to go to a proper flight school. I worked at a gas station to save up for lessons. I also had a credit card with a $2000 limit. Sometimes I would push through a rating and then spend the next six months paying off my card debt.

It was a romantic adventure for sure and I would definitely not do it again if I had it all to do over. All the guys who I flew with at the farm went on to less than stellar careers. They became crop dusters and bush pilots while the guys who went to the fancy expensive school went to the military and Airlines. Networking starts at the flight school. If you want to be a beaten up bush bum then learn to fly at a small mom and pop. If you want to fly for the airlines then get in with the rich kids and follow them to the big time.

Skyhigh

FullExposureTV

Bush Bum, sounds good to me, lol! I may fly Cargo or Flight Seeing Tours for another organization when I first move up there but my goal is to have my own guide service or become a Registered Guide and work for a Master Guide for a while.

I have my own business right now and I do some hunting in Alaska from time to time. Most of my hunting experience is in the lower 48 but when I lived up there from 05 to 07 I did quite a bit of DIY hunting. (Black Bear and Moose).

I run my own media business on the side right now called Full Exposure Outdoors Television. (Apple and Android)(Soon Web and Roku). So this isn't something I just dreamed up one day.

I was going to get my Private License while I was stationed at Ft. Richardson but ended up having some medical issues that were thankfully corrected by a procedure. (Flight Medical is not in jeopardy!)

The way a lot of the instruction is done here in Colby, (by what I was told by my main instructor) is you get a main instructor but you can fly with anyone of them that are available when you want to go fly. Right now there are 3 instructors and only 2 students. (I would be the third.)

The Cessna is $80 an hour wet. The Piper is $95 an hour wet. Plus each instructor is $40 an hour when you are getting instruction.

I'm getting the Sporty's Video Training done first so I can pass my written before I fly. So I hope to begin flying in July some time. I'm hoping I can complete the training in 3 to 6 months. One of the students that is flying SOLO and only has one more Check Ride left stated he was able to complete the training for $4200.

He also stated that he used all 3 instructors during the training and each had their ups and downs but if he didn't understand something from one the other two could usually help explain it to where he could understand.


Thanks again for the responses and advice. I'm looking forward to learning more.