I am looking to finish up my CFI/I and MEI ratings and recommend two student pilot friends to follow the same track. We all live right in the District and have access to cars.

That being said, which flight school would you recommend that we go to with the best aircraft, maintenance, CFIs, accessibility, etc.?

Thank you and happy new year to all!

I like Dulles Aviation at HEF.

I used to teach at Dulles Aviation at HEF. They have a good operation and well maintained (albeit not so pretty) planes.

Aviation adventures at HEF and JYO also has a good rep. Stay away from AV-ED.

Thanks! Im torn between schools in FDK JYO and HEF. Although the last two are closer, it seems that FDK is faster to get to. Also FDK is outside the SFRA. There's some schools at GAI but I haven't heard the best things about them in terms of maintenance and instructors, plus they are well inside the SFRA which isnt fun...

What's wrong with AV-ED? At this point I'm more interested in quality instructors and aircraft over cost.

If you are in the District, you might want to check these guys out...

nafcflying.org/

They're over at Lee Airport in Annapolis. It's a lot closer than FDK, you get out of the controlled airspace to the East faster...more training time for the $$. The guy who owns it is named Frank...good guy...ex Marine who flies a 747-400 for Atlas. He instructs part time as well.

Nice fleet and good instructors.

Tell him King Kong told you about them.

I did a couple ratings at Frederick Flight Center at FDK and I'd recommend them. Their planes are old (at least their arrow and seminole, they have some new g1000 Cessnas and a really nice new-ish 6-pack Archer), but they have good maintenance. And they had a really good group of instructors when I was training there.

Aviation Adventures at Manassas, Leesburg, and Warrenton is probably a bit more expensive than the rest, but they by far have the best fleet in the area. Their reputation is good with nearby potential employers as well.

Not to change the subject, but is FDK still supposed to get a tower? I remember flying into there a couple of times with my last job, and it seemed like they needed a tower badly!

FDK-Control Tower | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I don't know any details, but judging from these pics taken in late May something is going on.

Nice! When I was flying out of there it was insane, a lot busier than most towered airports.

There used to be a guy that I think gave lessons in some type of flying lawnchair contraption that would wear a bright orange jumpsuit so that other people could see him more easily lol. I wonder if he'll still be around once they become a towered airport?