Help....Getting a Pilots License

[jloirsdaan 0]

***HA! So my figures were correct then! ***

Yep....right on.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Okay....not sure where to post this....but figured it'd be okay here.

I've wanted to get my pilots license since I was like 10. Just never had the money. Place I checked with back home was like $5000. I will have some money saved up when I get back and was wondering what to look for in a flight school.

Contact Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)

They have information to help people who want to learn to fly, and I think that among their info is stuff on what to look for in a flight school.

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Anyone got any suggestions....any pilots got some pointers?
It'll be nice to actually check that one off of lifes "to do" list....

You're right. It is a wonderful thing "to do."
One suggestion I have is to make sure you have the money and the free time to fly at least 3 times a week. They say you should do this to minimize the "drop-off" of stuff you learned and worked on the lesson before. If you wait two weeks between lessons, you will forget a good deal of it and have to back-track.


-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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I've flown Cessna 172s and 152s, Piper Cherokee 4s and I've even crashed in a Beechcraft Sundowner.

Well, whose fault was that? You're the one who got into a plane with the word "DOWN" in the name!


...Glad you're okay.
-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Oh, also...

Buy yourself the DVD set by John and Martha King... It's referred to as the "King Course". If you buy the Private Pilot set, the Instrument Pilot set is sold at a good discount. If you combine that, a good private pilot study manual (you'll actually get one for book knowledge, and one for flight maneuvers), and the "red book" by Gleim (pronounced "Glime" -- which is a "how-to-pass-the-written-exam" book), you can pass the written exam easily.

If your flight school offers a group groundschool for a reasonable fee, take it. (Mine was about two or three hundred dollars.) Use it to supplement your own personal reading and study.

Watch through the DVD course, and do the red Gleim book front to back -- that book is excellent -- and schedule and take your written exam. The passing grade is good for TWO YEARS, so you can then set to work on your flying lessons.

Good luck, and have fun!


Blue skies,
-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[jumpinmunky 0]

Here's the list of schools for oklahoma.

http://www.private2atp.com/fbo/OK.html

A good friend of mine went through Midwest Air Center In Stillwater and loved it.

Good Luck

[riggerrob 563]

Aerona introduced their Champion in 1945 to compete directly with Piper Cubs. "Champs" are simple, rugged two-seaters made of wood and steel tubing covered in fabric. "Airknockers" may not be fancy or fast, but they do make great basic trainers.
Over the years it has been built by a variety of companies including: Champion and Bellanca.
The most common version - still used by flying schools - is the Citabria. Citabrias have more powerful engines, larger, squared off tails, spring landing gear and are mildly aerobatic. Citabrias are mainly used for teaching introductory aerobatics and tailwheel landing techniques.
Heck!
Yesterday I watched a red Citabria doing circuits at Pitt Meadows.


I would encourage you to start your lessons in a simple airplane - like a Citabria - so that you get a thorough grasp of stick-and-rudder techniques before moving on to more complicated airplanes. VOR, GPS, IFR, etc. can all come later.

How many times have we heard of pilots who dropped the airplane to fly the radio?
http://www.bellanca-championclub.com/

[jloirsdaan 0]

I'll have to look into those videos. I've got lots of time on my hands. Ah....thats great that its good for 2 years. I had someone telling me it was only good for 1. Then again...once I take it I plan to fly a few times a week until I get the PPL.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[jloirsdaan 0]

Thanks for the link. I've been thinking about going to Altus...they've got a couple of schools there. There's one in Lawton....but the two out in Altus are cheaper.....I'll have to go look at all three.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[riggerrob 563]

I disagree.
The original poster has already flown in several different types of biplanes and an Aeronca Champ. He already has a rough idea of what he wants to fly.
Hopping back and forth will only slow his learning curve.

I flew Cessna 150, Cessna 172 and Cherokee 140 when I was a student pilot. Frankly, I thought that flying the Cherokee detracted from my learning curve. Nothing wrong with Cherokees, but I had to learn a different style of landing, time that would have been better spent perfecting my landing technique in a - less expensive - Cessna 150.

[jloirsdaan 0]

Yeah, this was my friends first plane...he got it at like 16. He still has it and was going to....at one point.....help me get my license in it. Now I live so far away that probably wouldn't even be feasible...unless I had a LONG vacation.

He also has a 1929 Stearman and a Pitts....SRS I think it is.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[riggerrob 563]

Start by visiting your local flight surgeon and getting an FAA Class 3 Medical (Private Pilot), even better Class 1 (Commercial).
Second, sit through ground school and write the exam.
Third, save up enough money that you can do all the flying in a three month period.
Fourth, ideally take a month off work and fly every day, even better, twice a day.

[jloirsdaan 0]

Sounds like a plan to me. I'll have to find out who my DZO (he's the pilot too) see's for his Medical stuff. I will definitely get 2 weeks off....hopefully it'll be a month though. I'd like to get it as quickly as possible....hopefully I can fly everyday that I'm off. Maybe the weather will cooperate! Thanks.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.