Trial Introductory Flights (TIF) in Los Angeles

[vvx2]

Hi all,

I'm a pilot wannabe and want to have a taste on flying an aircarft.

I'm going to travel to L.A. in Christmas. I would like to know if there is any good flying training centre offer this kind of course. If yes, could you please provide me some information on it ( e.g. location, fee, how to go there (better with public transport) )

Thanks a lot!

[Airbus Girl]

Not much help, but if you are also going to be visiting San Diego on your travels, or have a couple of days off to go there, then I can recommend a school you can get to by public transport from San Diego. You can get right to the door from downtown San Diego. You can get to San Diego from LA by flying, by car or by bus.

[slim_slag]

LA/SOCAL is full of places, but I'd head to Long Beach Airport and Rainbow Air (http://www.rainbowair.com/). I'd not expect to go anywhere in LA on public transport, you need a car, and preferably more than one person in it so you can use car-pool lanes. How do you intend to get around once you get there? Also, don't expect it to be quite the same experience when you are back flying in the UK...... Have fun

[vvx2]

Thanks a lot for the reply!

Actually I will just have 1 or 2 days in LA.

For the San Diego school and Rainbow air, is it possible for a round trip plus course within one day if I live in LA downtown?

For transportation, i think I can just use the public transport because the driving system in US ("left wheel") is different from my home city HK ("right wheel"). I think I can't get used to it within 1 or 2 days.

Btw, how about Las Vegas, will it be a better choice? It is because I also have 1 or 2 days there

[slim_slag]

Sorry, missed you were in HK.

When you talk about a 'course' you might need to adjust your expectations on what a trial flight is. Usually a trial flight lasts 30 minutes or so and you get to play around with the controls a little bit. If you are doing well and you have a decent instructor you might get to fly an approach to landing, if you are doing very well you might even land the beast. Using the word 'course' might also make the ever so friendly US immigration officers prick up their ears, you must have no intention to learn how to fly in the US without jumping through hoops :sad:

Vegas has some GA airports, North Las Vegas airport would be easy to get to using a taxi, Las Vegas is very much more Public Transport friendly than LA. Plenty to see in both places, but probably LA would be more interesting. The Grand Canyon is a great place to fly over, but regulations would prevent a basic LV flying school take you there on a scenic flight.

[pilotwolf]

At the risk of sounding negative I think you re hoping for too much in too little time.

If you re staying in LA then somewhere like Santa Monica or Torrance might be a better alternative.

You probably want to leave at least a whole morning or afternoon to get the most of the flight and any briefings, etc. and bearing in mind the pair relaxed attitude found on the west coast!

As for public transport I m afraid i have to agree with the others - forget it! There is a train of sorts that runs between LAX and Long Beach have a look here (http://freespace.virgin.net/john.cletheroe/usa_can/ca/metro.htm#metro_rail). But you ve still got to get from the stations to the airfields... buses or taxis involved!

If I recall you re looking at around 2 - 3 hrs to drive from LA to San Diego. Not sure how long the train or the Greyhound bus takes - but won't think it ll be any quicker!

I think it all depends on how important it is to fly....

PW

[dublinpilot]

Guys,

I maybe wrong on this, but I always thought that "trial flights" were "trial" because they were the first lesson. They had to be, as other wise they were public transport.

If I'm correct in this, will he not need to jump through all the Visa hoops just to do the trial flight?

dp

[vvx2]

If possible, I plan to spend a whole day for the transportation and trial flight. Just afraid that its not enough.

I also know that I can't expect too much. What I expect is similar to what slim_slag said. I just want to get a feeling on flying in a GA and have a chance to play around with the control. Its great if I can manveour the aircraft. e.g. turns, climbing and descending.

slim_slag:
I would like to know why LA would be more interesting. Also, which school is good in Vegas?

pilotwolf:
If I live in Santa Monica, then which flying school is near and good?

Btw, I have heard that the price for a trail flight is around $100. Is it true?

[pilotwolf]

I fly rotary so have no idea of which school to recommend for fixed wing but these schools are listed for Santa Monica:

American Flyers (310) 390-2099
Justice Aviation (310) 313-6792
Proteus Air Services (310) 398-6929
Santa Monica Aviation (310) 398-9392
Skyward Aviation (310) 313-3450
Trans-Pacific Aviation (310) 390-2750

I can recommend the Typhoo resturant on the south side though!

I think most trail lessons last around an hour so by the time you ve taken pictures before and after and chatted and paid(!) etc the more time you ve got the better. A day should be plenty.

Not sure if a trial lesson would count as working towards a rating or a licence but who knows these days!

If you re staying in a hotel then maybe they have or can arrange transport at a sensible cost?

PW

[Whirlygig]

A trial lesson will count towards a licence or rating but only if on the type of aircraft and same country of issue of licence.

i.e. trial lesson on R22 in USA and PPL on S300 in UK - trial lessosn would not count for example.

Cheers

Whirlygig

[Airbus Girl]

San Diego is much further than the other places mentioned, but I have no idea on public transport to them.
From LA take a flight or bus to San Diego.
From downtown there is a public transport system - take the train to El Cajon, get off and walk to the flight school from there.
For more info, PM me and I will give you the number of someone there who can give you more information.

[Cusco]

Give Air Desert Pacific a ring.

They're based at Brackett Field La Verne, which is in LA itself to the north about 40 mins by car/taxi from LAX.

I rented an Arrow for a bit of touring with Keef in the spring, a tired but airworthy a/c but they did seem to have plenty of PA28s .

I'd agree with the idea that you should not expect too much from a trial flight and if US immigration get so much as a whiff that you're going on a 'course', then without a visa and shed loads of appropriate documentation you'll be on the next plane home...............

Air desert Pacific
1889 McKinley Ave
La Verne
CA 91750

Tel (USAcodefrom your place) (909)596 6059

have a look at www.airdesertpacific.com

they will also pick you up from the airport and collect you from a local (cheap) hotel.

Certainly worth a look


Safe flying

Cusco.

[vvx2]

Thanks all for the information.

However I'm a little bit confused. Is that I need a special visa in order to join the trial flight?

[Josh10524]

I fly out of El Monte, also the closest airport to downtown L.A. There are several places which will do an intro flight for around $50.

Universal - www.universalairacademy.com
Lightning - www.flylightning.com
F.A.S.T - www.fastaviation.com

And for something different, and in my opinion quite a bit more fun and interesting, L.A. soaring operates a Grob 109 motorglider. You can tour downtown L.A., fly in the nearby mountains (El monte is about six miles away from the San Gabriel range) or arrange something unique. If you are interested in flying the Grob, PM me. I'm learning to fly in it and may be able to assist you in setting up a flight. I know the owner of the grob also got a new AMD Alarus, but I'm not sure if its for his own personal use or if he's offering flights in it.

The website for L.A. Soaring is www.lasoaring.com

Let me know if you are interested in any of those options and I'll see if I can assist you in setting up a flight.

[Charlie Zulu]

Yes you will require at least an M1 visa as a "trial" flight is actually an introductory flying lesson that is to all intents and purposes the first flying lesson towards the issue of a Private Pilots Licence.

Thus the American authorities deem a "trial" flight to count as training towards a certificate or rating and thus a student visa is required by the student (if of course you're not an American citizen).

I'd also recommend Air Desert Pacific for rentals. I've hired the same Arrow as Cusco mentions above, funnily enough once or twice that was with the same Keef as cusco refers to also. :D

[slim_slag]

vvx2,

I'd take josh10524 up on his kind offer. Otherwise just call up Rainbow Air and tell them you want to take a scenic trip to Catalena and ask them whether you need to turn up with a visa.

Good web site to find out about airports and flying schools in the US is www.airnav.com

[daw]

I am not so sure about the visa thing in this case. The bloke is coming over for Xmas from HKG and just wants to go for a ride in a plane and handle the controls and see if undertaking a PPL is for him. I am assuming that he will then head home after his holiday and if the flying bug has gotten him then he will embark on a full ICAO PPL in HKG. The 30 mins/1hr/whatever is never going to be counted back in HKG and as we all know his FTO in HKG will say great, lets start again since we have never flown with you anyway so all the flight will do is give him a taste for it.

So why bother with the hassles of a visa? My advice would be to call/email someone like ADP who have a long history of dealing with people from UK/Rest of world, tell them you want to go for a flight. Call it a charter if you really want to. They will then grab an instructor with the appropriate ratings and off he goes around LA basin and even out to the desert to drop him off in Vegas if he really wanted to.

[dublinpilot]

There reason I mentioned about the visa, is because when I was in Las Vegas in 2002, I wanted to rent an aircraft to fly. I already had my PPL, so no further training nor a visa was required. However I did need to get my FAA PPL.

The school was VERY concencious of getting into trouble, and cleared everything with the local FSDO first (who were very very helpful).

If you all flight schools are as scared of getting into trouble, they may refuse to bring foreigners without the appropriate visa.

Like I said in my first post, I am not an expert on this. I didn't have to do the whole visa thing, as I wasn't training. But you should check it out, if you don't want to be disappointed. Perhaps a call to the school would sort out, whether they would be happy to take you without the visa. If you do need the visa, apply for it in plenty of time.

dp

[On the Spot]

Try beapilot.com
They have a $49 intro lesson and you can locate the schools offering the deal via the website - once you know where you are staying

Happy flying

[vvx2]

Thanks all for the useful information!

I think I will try to contact rainbow air first. It is because Long Beach seems to be easiler to access through MTA and can go for sightseeing afterwards.

[vvx2]

Hi all,

I have changed my mind and want to have my trial flight in Santa Monica.

pilotwolf has kindly suggested some schools there,

American Flyers (310) 390-2099
Justice Aviation (310) 313-6792
Proteus Air Services (310) 398-6929
Santa Monica Aviation (310) 398-9392
Skyward Aviation (310) 313-3450
Trans-Pacific Aviation (310) 390-2750

Anybody has idea on which one is better?

Thanks a lot!

[vvx2]

Hi all,

I think I will go for American Flyers. Is it a good choice?

Thanks a lot!