Guaranteed in San Diego

[hixton]

Guaranteed Flight Training
Anybody used this outfit in San Diego?
Cant tell if he is just an agent or an actual school, just dont want to get sucked into a UKFT type deal.
$75 for a 172 100hr block has me interested though.
Anyone any info?

[fly_sd]

Never heard of them but I did go to the website. Lot of writeup but no specific info as to where they are located, who the instructors are etc. Couple of things struck me looking at that - the intro flight is pretty expensive. Not sure why you would need 2 hours of ground instruction for an intro. I've seen typically $50 for a 1 hr intro flight and another operator does 2 hrs flight time + plus some ground instruction as well as 2 sessions in a group class for the FAA written test for $100. Also the price comparison I think is not really accurate between a part 141 flight school and this website - I don't think anyone rents a 172 for that kind of price unless it is almost new.

The other thing is that $75 for a 172 is not unusual here. The flying club I belong to has 172s in that kind of price range without any minimums.

I would suggest calling the number listed for more info but my feeling is that the person is an independent instructor who teaches through a flying club.

[hixton]

Thanks Fly_FD.
Can you tell me your flight club, Id like to have a look at them.
Cheers!

[WestWind1950]

whenever I'm in San Diego I fly with Golden State Flying club at Gillespie Field, El Cajon..... very nice, friendly people.

www.gsfc.com

check em out! and tell them the gal from Germany sent you!!

Westy

[fly_sd]

Yes, I'm with a club called Plus One Flyers (www.plusone.org). What I did was to talk to a number of instructors listed on the instructor page and selected one that I liked, had enough experience etc. They have a range of intructors from those teaching only a short time to those doing it on a part time basis as well as retired airline and military pilots. You can have a look at the site and see if that works for you but they do have a reasonably large fleet. The main fleet is at Montgomery but they also now have planes at Gillespie, Brown and Ramona.

If you want to go this route you will need to make sure that the instructor is available while you are here. If you are just hour building, you can join the club, fly for as long as you need to and then leave. I believe people come over and do this.

[hixton]

Im hoping to do my Instrument out there so I would need a visa.
Is the only way to get a visa by going through a school, or could a freelance instructor arrange something?

[fly_sd]

That's a good point - not 100% sure. My instructor is actually registered with the TSA to train non-citizens so I know some of them are. However, I'm not sure if the visa requires you to go to a flight school. (I guess you need an M-1? maybe). The TSA security thing and the visa are two different things. You can contact the club and find out. In theory I cannot see why not but I'm not really sure. You can also go to the US immigration website (www.uscis.gov) and see if there is any info on this.