PA28 Time Building

[Lewy Boy]

Looking to do 100hrs of time over in the good old USA in a PA28. Any suggestions on flight schools, just so long as it is cheap cheap cheap!!!!

Cheers
:D

[Charlie Zulu]

Hi Lewy Boy,

For a cheap cheap cheap Warrior or Archer contact Air Desert Pacific who are located at Brackett field (KPOC) in the suburbs of L.A.

http://www.airdesertpacific.com/

The aircraft are in various conditions, some of them okay and some of them not so, but still perfectly flyable. My favourite Archer there is N2925Q (Green / White) but it has been a couple of years since flying with them.

Before anyone jumps on this suggestion, yes there are good and bad reports about Air Desert Pacific especially those from the area but I, together with a few friends, have never had a problem with them. They have been customer focused and if something did go tech (the transponder did for me) it was fixed by 8am the next morning (I got the aeroplane back by 6pm the night before).

California, Arizona and Nevada are wonderful places to fly. Oh they now have a requirement that anyone taking a plane away overnight to have an IR.

If you're thinking about Florida then have a look at Naples Air Center (NAC). They aren't the cheapest but they are very professionally run and their fleet is quite nice.

Have a great time in the USA.

Best wishes,

Charlie Zulu.

[Pub User]

I did some hour-building a couple of years ago with Britannia Flight Centre at Winterhaven. The aircraft were not the tidiest in the World, but worked OK, and the outfit is professionally run. $60 an hour (wet) was the cost of a Warrior. I believe they've moved to Lakeland, so prices may have increased.

[JABI]

Cheapo timebuilding...mmmmmm
Britannia out of Lakeland (used to be Winterhaven 15 mi down the road) comes to mind.
A couple of their planes are now owned and operated by
"wings and wheels" in Winterhaven.
Pretty cheap and he charges by TACH-time which is pretty much unique in this industry.Cheap gas too......
Keep in mind you get what you pay for so don't come back to us crying.....:{ :{ :{

[onehunga]

I would second ADP. Have also been to britannia a few years ago when it was at Winterhaven. To be honest I preferred ADP but only cos I got a bit bored with the flat landscape of Florida.

I was out at ADP doing 50 hours in Sept combining it with some sightseeing around Vegas, Arizona and CA. Yeah some of the aircraft have seen better days but for the price you pay what do you expect. I wanted to make use my new found IMC rating skills whilst I was out there doing things like VOR tracking etc so made sure that I called them ahead and got myself prebooked on one of their best Archers for the duration. 2 VORS, DME, ILS etc. Just what you would expect with an IFR equipped aircraft.

Have fun and be wary of that haze (sorry marine layer as the locals refer to it):O

[captmav]

hi,

Have you checked out Debenair in Titusville..? very, very cheap for block hours, check out their website.! As i understand it a PA28 for a 50hr block is $68 wet, 100hr is $66..!

If you want a 152 i think it was something like as low as $43hr for a 100hr block...planes are absolutely fine for hour building, I'm not going to say there're sparkling but by no means worse than ANY school in Florida. Lots of hour builders when i was there simply because it was friendly and cheap.

good luck,

[Lewy Boy]

Thanks for all the replies and PM`s, time for some serious thinking. Like the sounds of Air desert pacific in California, heard a lot of good things about them. Anyone have any info on Milton,Florida. They seem to have good rates for PA28 but havent heard much about them!!!!

Thanks again
LB

[727Man]

I Second that motion!! Try www.debenair.com, run by a british lady who will do anything to help you, just spent 2 1/2 months there I did FAA PPL, Commercial, Multi & IR accomodation excellent. the planes are not the best but they are all airworthy and do the job I went with 46hrs came back with 260!!