Originally Posted by singesavant
Do you have a lot of weather issues in oregon?
Days with VFR are usually rare during the winter time in Hillsboro. I've been there last year, February was the worst. During summer however, I flew every single day.
I would say that November, December, January, February and March should be avoided at any cost if you plan to go to Hillsboro on a visa. You'll be wasting your time and your money. May, June, July and August are usually great, flying almost every day. I am speaking from experience.
From my impression Hillsboro Aviation also changed a lot lately, the place is full with Chinese on the fixed wing program. Not that I would care of nationality, but they come in huge numbers which makes the place pretty busy, noisy and chaotic sometimes.
And on the helicopter program they seemed to have way too many students for the few patterns they have (at least for my taste). They have a rule which says that you can only put your name on the board for a traffic pattern 15 minutes before your time slot. Now most people who need a pattern show up 30 minutes to 60 minutes before the time slot, just to make sure to get a pattern. Usually a few guys walk in after that just to find out they are too late because somebody else was even earlier. And most disappointing, even if you are early enough and you think to have a pattern, if a CFI shows up or a student with a solo or check ride, he puts his name on the board without following the 15minutes prior timeslot rule, they simply have priority, even if your name is already on the board. I understand that they had to come up with these rules since patterns are limited, but it costs a lot of nerves and money if you need to move on to your next Part 141 lesson and you can't. Only option then is to go flying elsewhere (i.e. Scappoose or West Practice Area) and invest the average US$ 300+ a timeslot costs, or cancel your flight and wait for the next day. I realize that this may just be my experience, and others didn't get that frustrated. I hated it ;-)