Houston flight schools?

[Crepello]

Can anybody recommend (or otherwise) any FBOs in the Greater Houston area? Primarily looking for Skyhawk rental but may restart by IR in due course. Found a number of places online, now looking for opinions/experiences. Maybe wise to PM if contentious! Cheers.

[Mods, I hope this post is ok - search function was working but shed no light. Apologies if it breaches the PF T&C]

[skydriller]

Creppello,
"Greater Houston Area" is HUGE... sort of like saying southern England... so where will you be staying?
I was to the North-West of Houston when there and flew out of Weizer and Hooks, which are poles apart as far as the type of place they are, though I thought both were good at what they provided...
This has been discussed a few times if you search "Houston". My take on the two places I flew from is below... (I tried linking to the thread but cant get it to work with the newlook pprune...)
I flew with United Flight training out of Hooks, which are a Cessna Training Centre, very professional school atmosphere with lost of instructors and aeroplanes but also very busy - you will need to book in advance, no chance of just turning up for a flight and I cant say there was any incentive to just hang out on the off chance. All Cessna fleet, well equiped, some new aeroplanes available for a premium. Hooks is a very busy aerodrome with two parrallel runways and ATC, can be fun on final with a Learjet cruising past to the other runway....
I flew with Windsock Aviation out of Weiser, they have a mix of aeroplanes including a Citabria, which is the reason I flew with them. Totally different atmosphere from United, much more relaxed and club-like, I was positively encouraged to turn up and hang out to bull$hit/drink coffee/watch aeroplanes even if I didnt want to fly. Weiser is a smaller aerodrome with one runway and no ATC.
I felt that the quality of instruction was very good at both places, and hence standards I was expeccted to attain were also high at both places - but they were like chalk and cheese in atmosphere and set-up. Personally I prefered the Windsock way, but then Im now used to the French way of life......I guess it depends what you want when you are out there.
Whatever you do decide, I can recommend a visit to Galveston Island to visit the Lone Star Flight museum, either by flying in or by car.....

Regards, SD..

[Crepello]

Thanks skydriller, information appreciated. I hadn't realised the quicksearch cuts off after a month, so did an advanced search and found the thread you mention.

Incidentally, by 'Greater Houston' I meant places within (say) an hour's drive from the city limits. The place isn't that big when you know the bottlenecks and have a good radar detector... :E