training
Hi zapoi67,
as a pilot and an ex-air traffic controller my comment would be-do yourself a favour and train at a fairly busy,controlled airfield. The small places(you mentioned kitty hawk and Victoria west) will not prepare you in the slightest for the big bad world out there. Whilst I am not suggesting at all that the actual flight training at places like these is inferior to any bigger airfield, your knowledge of operating in a controlled enviroment will certainly be lacking on completion of your ppl/cpl. I have seen brand new pilots coming from these small,uncontrolled fields and cause absolute chaos in and around Jhb even to the extent of ending up directly overhead JHB International in a C172,wondering why there are rather large aircraft on the ramp of the airfield he thought he was over.
Some places,in my opinion,are not great for training even though they are controlled fields-Cape Town springs to mind,but places like Rand Airport(a nice balance of traffic in a controlled enviroment)and, to a slightly lesser extent, Lanseria offer great real-world training. Before the experimental and home-built chaps have a go at me with regard to controlled airspaces and ATC-yes,i`m sure you have your frustrations but the reality is is that Air Traffic Control will be with us for a while yet and learning to fly and become a professional pilot must encompass this aspect. There are too many pilots out there with shocking R/T procedures and abysmal knowledge of airspace and procedures. My two cents worth...