Recommendation for Flying in SAN DIEGO needed

[Bogey71]

I am going to spend 2 weeks for vacation in San Diego.

I made my US PPL in 2004 and would like to do my Flight Review plus some flying afterwards.
Can anyone recommend a good flight school for the flight review and charter (C-172 etc.).
I had Montgomery Field in mind, would that be a good choice?

2nd question: I just purchased the "Guide to the Flight Review" (ASA). Is that sufficient preparation for the theoretical part?


Thanks for help!

[Tall_guy_in_a_152]

Montgomery Field and Gillespie Field are the two GA options for San Diego. Both are well equipped, with clubs and flying schools. Clubs are not well suited to visitors - they prefer long term members.

There are two or three schools (Flight Training Organisations / FTO) at each. Google should find them. I trained at AAA because they are CAA/JAA approved, but I would not recommend them for rental if you do not need that approval.

The FAA office is at Montgomery, so that might be better if you need any paperwork - not required for a BFR.

Gillespie is close to the mountains. Montgomery is close to Miramar (Top Gun) and the ocean.

The ASA book is more than you need for a BFR. Americans like to quote the rules by number (FAR xyz.ab) which I find a bit odd, but I suppose it is the same as quoting 'Rule 5' in the UK.

Two trips I would recommend are up the coast over LAX to Santa Monica (great restaurant) and over the mountains to Palm Springs. Palm Springs airport has a swimming pool for pilots!

[SNS3Guppy]

If you fly to Brown field, make sure you're at the right airport, and on the right side of the border.

Don't go to Tijuana.

[julian_storey]

Hello!

Gillespie Field is a good place to fly from. You can stay quite cheaply in El Cajon and get the tram thing into downtown San Diego.

I didn't have a terribly positive experience with Anglo American - so I would suggest maybe avoiding them.

There is a GREAT little flight school at Gillespie called 'Jeans Flight Training' run by a nice woman called Jean Runner. She can't issue M1 visa paperwork so you couldn't legally do any TRAINING there (training for a certificate or rating) HOWEVER a check out in an aeroplane or your BFR (as you already hold an FAA certificate) aren't considered training so you wouldn't need a visa for that.

Enjoy!

Julian

[looptheloop]

Also worth a look is Palomar (Mclellan) airport KCRQ, at the northern end of San Diego, beautiful beaches nearby, closer to LA and a great place to fly from- especially to Catalina Island. I'd suggest Pinnacle flight school for well maintained planes and high quality instructors.

[vortexracer]

We flew at Pinnacle last month (my wife and I). Nice people, good aircraft and near the beaches at encinitas if you are in to surfing.

[SD.]

I'd would recommend Gillespie (KSEE) as it is generally not as busy as Montgomery Field (KMYF), plus the local accommodation is cheaper. Once you have got back in the saddle, I would certainly have a look at a few options:

Catalina Island - Take a CFI with you, hairy approach but fantastic scenery and interesting runway.

Big Bear - again, take a CFI up to Big Bear mountain and have lunch up there, lovely views, especially if the snow hasn't melted.

French Valley (KF70) - Uncontrolled field near Temucula. A nice short hop to build up some confidence before heading further north. Nice café as well.

Hemet (KHMT) - Bit like French Valley, some interesting aircraft on the field to see.

Chino - Has a WW2 museum on the field, I've never been there but I'm told its pretty good.

Torrence (KTOA) - Just south west of LAX, excellent $15 'eat as much as you can' Chinese food on the perimeter of the airport. Make sure you do the mass and balance before departing. :}

Santa Monica (KSMO) - Very tricky to get in and out, but well worth dropping in and visiting the Thai restaurant on the field. Sits just north of LAX, so from the south it can be tricky at first.

Hawthorne (KHHR) - Runway and approach parallels LAX. Its south of LAX so you wont have to piss around transisting LAX.

If you fancy somewhere a bit further .......

Las Vegas - I would suggest at first dropping into Henderson. Its to the south of KLAS and is easier for the less confident. They offer a free ride to any hotel on the strip and its about $30 back to airfield in the morning (assuming you have any money left). Although a bit trickier to get in and out from the south, North Las Vegas (KVGT) is fantastic arriving at night. The LV controllers vector you in from overhead Hendersen to over the 24 approach end of KLAS then literally down the strip and down a right base for 12 at KVGT.

Lake Havasu - From SD, head east and make sure it's spring break at the time you visit there. ;)

Bullhead, Laughlin (check spelling on that one) - Small town on the Colarado south of Vegas, has a few casinos to drop by.

Further than that you can goto the Canyon, southern Utah (Cedar City & St George Municipal have excellent scenery, Phoenix, Tuscon, San Fran, El Paso and the list goes on.

The south west really has some excellent flying and beats the **** out of the Florida swamps. As you can probably tell, I love it over there and would happily swap the Essex countryside for the views of the southern Cali coastline.

[tpack]

I second Jean's Flight Training http://www.jftaviation.com/ (http://www.jftaviation.com/)

I just read a post on g-kraft.com forum (swedish) by a fellow aviator who rented Garmin 430-equipped Warrior for 2 weeks and recommended the FBO to others.

[SkyHawk-N]

I didn't have a terribly positive experience with Anglo American - so I would suggest maybe avoiding them.

It was about 5 years ago but I had the same experience, I lasted all of one lesson and 2 hours with them.

[Bogey71]

Thank you all very much for your replies! :ok:

One more question: I guess my US-Medical from 2004 is not valid any more so I will need to do this over there. Any idea?
Or should I better get information at the flight school?

[BroomstickPilot]

Hi Bogey71

A lot of UK AMEs are authorised to carry out medicals for the civil aviation authorities of one or more other countries besides the UK.

Someone to do an FAA medical should be particularly easy to find.

My AME at Gatwick certainly does FAA medicals.

If you have difficulty and want his name PM me.

Broomstick.