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Flight Training at Wisconsin Aviation

Old 01-23-2014, 03:12 AM
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Default Flight Training at Wisconsin Aviation

Greetings,

I am new here but will soon be a regular as I transition from the military to flight training with the hopes of becoming a commercial airline pilot.

By the time I leave the military I will have my PPL. I am looking for a Part 141 School to get all the standard ratings up to ATP. It has to be a Part 141 in order to use my Montgomery GI Bill to pay for 60% of the training.

My parents are gracious enough to let me live with them again as during my flight training. Unfortunately, where they live, SE Wisconsin, leaves little in choice on Part 141 Schools withing driving distance. Basically all I have is Wisconsin Aviation in Watertown which is a 40 min drive, or Skill Aviation north of Chicago which is about a 75 min drive.

I searched this website and the internet in general for information and testimonial on Wisconsin Aviation, but haven't found much of anything. So I am wondering if anybody on this forum has heard of them and has first hand, or even second hand information on them. I'll take anything at this point


Here is a link to Wisconsin Aviation's website: Link
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Old 01-23-2014, 06:25 AM
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You should pick a school with a 4 year degree that includes flight training then it will be covered 100% and you will get money for housing
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Old 01-23-2014, 09:04 AM
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I think the tech in milwaukee has a small flight school or lakeland college....
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Old 01-23-2014, 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by splash333 View Post
You should pick a school with a 4 year degree that includes flight training then it will be covered 100% and you will get money for housing
Not interested in another degree (I have a Masters in Meteorology). Also, I am 40, so don't want to take 4 years to train.
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Old 01-23-2014, 06:35 PM
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Exactly where are you located in Wisconsin?
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Old 01-23-2014, 06:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Ditch Pickle View Post
Exactly where are you located in Wisconsin?
I will be living in Mukwonago. Currently in the military deployed overseas. But when I retire Aug 1, that is where I will move to. So that pretty much only leaves me a few options for a Part 141. Wis Avn, or a couple schools in Northern Chicago (Skill Aviation in Waukeegan IL seems to be the closest in IL, but that is an hour and 15 min drive without traffic).

Of course another option would be to go to any of the fast track part 141 schools and pay for room and board. But that will be an additional cost I want to avoid.
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Old 01-23-2014, 07:04 PM
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The tech school near Kenosha or Milwaukee is closed. Some labor law thing went down a year or so ago. Wasnt pretty from what I heard from a co worker of mine who works at WI AV (KMSN), but i no longer do.
Anyway, to the OP I did ALL my flight training at Wisconsin Aviation, and even CFI'd there for a while. this was at KMSN. The chief Pilot is a great instructor and so is his assistant chief. Both became my personal friends over the course of my training. All the CFI's I know that are still there are good instructors and are fair. PM me and Ill give you personal rec's to the ones I would go to if I were you.
Back on topic, like I said, FAIR treatment. They wont take you for a ride. Say you do a lesson from 10 to 12, you might get a total of 1.6 or 1.8 charged in total ground time, and whatever flight is on top of that. roughly 8/10 of what you scheduled and or actually did on the ground. The prices for rentals are good, they are all wet prices so thats nice and easy, but a flight club is still cheaper by a little if you are going to fly a lot to cover up entry fee and monthly fees and maybe less MX issues since they are not pure training aircraft, however the flight clubs (such as capcity flyers) DO NOT need 100 hour inspections, just the annuals. So take that with a grain of salt. Not that the MX is bad at Wisc AV, because it is good in My experience, but some of the older planes are... well old. So something new every other day but nothing major or worse than a burnt out landing light. they have a great ex- riddle bird. N484ER (MSN still i think) that was perfect for pretty much everything except the commercial complex req's. Great instruments, awesome avionics, KLN 94 color screen GPS (basically a G430) and fast! Oh and KMSN now has a Redbird FTD. Perfect for those rainy days, instrument training or just a cheap option to practice stuff over and over and over without burning gas, for example crosswind landings, emergencies etc.
Pm me if you got any questions or want a person to call that I would recommenced. In fact, the Chief Instructor at MSN was the one who got the whole 141 program up and running, he is the guy you want to talk to. (Gustav)
I know the KRYV just got some new CFI's within the last year and there may only be one or two guys there total. Not even sure if there is a CFI at KUNU...Madison si definitely the "flagship" so to speak. KMSN FBO is a great place, new building, facilities, conference rooms etc. Even a restaurant in it for those long days of training, and free coffee and cookies
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Old 01-23-2014, 07:11 PM
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By the way, if you go to MSN, they do offer fast track training if you ask for it, and im sure KRYV would too. Just get on with a CFI who has open blocks (most likely MSN since they have more CFI's, some that are currently airline/cargo so they can do every other week or just weekends) and schedule it out to infinity, trust me we like it better like that since its a predictable schedule.
I did my IFR in 46 days 2-3 flights a week while working part time. And thats not even considered fast.
They do not charge for cancelled lessons due to weather or maintenance stuff. Usually they take that opportunity and turn it into a good ground or sim sesh.
Also, most the guys who get their training through CFI done there, have a job at the end. It pays per instructing hour so no pay guarantee, but its a perfect start to build hours. And not a bad hourly rate for a 250 hour pilot either. It took me a few months to get my client base built up, but I was flyin 20-30 a week at one point within 4 months of starting. The CFI's also do the city tours, photo flights so you will have some flights pretty much right away.

From my personal experience at those national flight schools. (pick 3 capital letters, yup. that one...) Wisconsin Aviation was 10x better IMO. that flight school that did my quick add on CFI's just was kinda like "lets go fly, okay take your checkride, you better pass. Thanks for 7k$, seeya!" No real instruction, and NOT worth the extra dough.
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Old 01-23-2014, 09:04 PM
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Aviator89, thanks for your reply. I didn't think I would find anybody on here who actually trained there. I would prefer to do the training at the Watertown facility because it is 25 miles closer. I sent them an email asking for info a couple days ago, but haven't received a response. I would like to get in contact with a representative to find out more info. I'm not sure how to PM you, I tried looking in your profile and didn't see the link. Maybe I don't have permissions to do that yet?
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by TheWeatherman View Post
Aviator89, thanks for your reply. I didn't think I would find anybody on here who actually trained there. I would prefer to do the training at the Watertown facility because it is 25 miles closer. I sent them an email asking for info a couple days ago, but haven't received a response. I would like to get in contact with a representative to find out more info. I'm not sure how to PM you, I tried looking in your profile and didn't see the link. Maybe I don't have permissions to do that yet?
Once you have 5 posts, and are past the probationary period on APC you can PM people, I cant PM you either yet. it might be a week or two.
Anyway, call 608-268-5000 or (800) 594-5359 (KMSN FBO front desk) and ask for Gustav for info on GI bill 141 flight school program, and they will transfer you. He has alot of students and isnt at his desk all day so be prepared for a voicemail. Could even ask the front desk for his cell, but im not sure if they give it out. There may be someone at Watertown that can answer your questions but like i said he started the 141 program there and knows more about it than anyone else. If you want to fly at RYV he will then hook you up with there flight school once you have the 141 info. From what understand, the PPL is considered recreational and so the GI bill does not cover it, but Instrument, commercial I believe yes, but not sure as to what percentage. As for Multi Engine and CFI im not sure since technically speaking you could be a single engine commercial pilot. But of course you need multi and CFI to really be quickly marketable. Just depends on the what the laws state for 141/gi combo.
If he doesnt get back to you in a week or so after the voicemail, and you can PM me, pm me you name and phone number and Ill call him personally for you. he has quite a few calls like this per day so the call back list is quite long. By no means does that mean he is not interested. Just hard to keep 20+ phonecalls a day straight with flying all day. Good luck! Keep in touch!
heck, if i get a job at a regional; I may be back part time in the madison area if you need a CFI to fill in open space on your schedule when Im in town.
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