Hello! I currently live in Oregon, but am looking to start flight school later this year, and am exploring what options are available to me. My tentative plan is to stay in Oregon and go to Hillsboro Aero Academy, but I would like to explore what other options may be available to me. I am looking to finish my ratings in an "accelerated" manner, and I fear that the PNW weather might not allow that to happen. Here are some of the things I am looking for in a flight school:

-Located in Texas, Arizona, or the Atlanta area
-Must be part 141 (for loan purposes)
-Have an accelerated program (30 weeks or less preferably)
-Able to be hired as a CFI after training and be paid a livable wage
-Preferably near a metro area (for work opportunities for my wife)
-Be reasonably priced ($15k PPL is not reasonable IMO)

I have found a few schools that seem promising, but there is little to no information on this forum about them, making me more nervous about that. I appreciate any input that may be useful to me.

Thank you!

Try pilots choice in Georgetown Tx. It’s close to Austin, has a great owner and professional instructors with well maintained equipment. They are 141 but don’t offe a set “accelerated” program but will Work with you to get it done fast if that’s what you want.

1. Just a word of caution, whichever school you look into, understand that there's a difference between advertised price and actual average student price. Even Part 141 programs can cost more than advertised, so some schools might quote a lower price to get you in the door (and then it's not likely you'll change schools once you commit to them). Carefully analyze the cost per hour of which type of airplane they're using, whether they're basing the price on Part 141 minimum 35 hours for PPL or Average Student Hours to Complete PPL, etc.

2. Check out AOPA.org for their Flight School Finder. That's helpful to learn of various schools that exist in your potential cities.

3. Another thing that's interesting, I've found some schools get offended when asking to review their maintenance log books when touring their facility (ask in person, not ahead of time so they can prepare for a show-and-tell). Some schools happily oblige, some have excuses why their books aren't available, some just get ticked off and oblige as if you're a pest. Even if you don't know what to look for, their reaction to your request can give you a lot of non-verbal cues.

Thank you for your replies. Does anyone have any experience with PlaneSet in McKinney, TX or Texas American Flight Academy (aka Lone Star Flyers) in Addison, TX?

Check out Falcon Aviation Academy just south of ATL, i currently instruct there and can answer any questions.

PM Sent /10chars

I live in the DFW area and have been training/CFI-ing here for the past 3 years. I've only worked for one school as a CFI but I have friends at most of the schools around. I don't know much about PlaneSet at TKI, but I have a good friend who spent time at Texas American and I'll be seeing him later this week. Send me a PM with specific questions or if you're looking into any other schools in the area.

Plenty of opportunities for your wife to work in DFW (I've been living off my wife's income for some time now ) and it's a great place to learn to fly and to teach IMO.