hour building / tour of America

[adamnewby]

I want to build about 60hours in America, in November/ December (also wouldn't mind doing my night qualification there)

First I was thinking Florida, but bin told weather not always great at this time year
So i was thinking Arizona: can any one recommend professional flight school there that will be best for this ? i.e ones that help convert your license. and offer full packages for hour building

also read that people think its a better idea to just rent a plane in one location and tour all around America getting better experience this way. can any one help this i expect it would take allot of planning, do people do that planning at home of when they go to states ? is there any flying schools that offer help with this ?

thanks in advanced

[adamnewby]

yeah thats correct I have a jaa PPL and I got this at blackpool so will just do my night qualification here.
how do you go about applying for a FAA 61.75 certificate ?

is there any school you can recommend ?

I like idea of just renting a aircraft for fix period time and touring America

[BigGrecian]

http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/428088-hour-building-dummies-guide.html

[adamnewby]

cheers thanks for all your help, I better pick where Im gonna do my hour building and get it all set of soon If I want to go over in november/december

[adamnewby]

o n open to go anywhere i just want to get most of my hour building done before I start ground school at oxford at the end of jan!

any one get any suggestions about schools that offer good hour building packages ?

[adamnewby]

yeah iv done this and emailed allot of schools in both Florida and Arizona,
I can get a ces 150 at £75 a hour here at Blackpool but its more the good weather pushing me towards doing my hour building in the states than the price.
Iv had to cancel my last two flights due to weather, could of gone up n done some local flying but I want to do land aways and really make use of my hour building time. that's another reason to go state side to fly in a new environment out of my comfort zone.

the thing Im looking for really is a school that offers full packages iv found a fair few of these in Florida but struggling to find any in Arizona

[adamnewby]

I have done this iv sent emails out to many schools got couple reply s this evening actually. Im think Arizona going to be my best bet at this time of year. but struggling to find school that do complete hour building packages. rather than just rent planes.. id like some time with instructor to start of with to get the "lay of the land"
also i can get ces 150 at £75 a hour at blackpool but its more weather thats pointing me towards state side, as i want to get my hour building done before I start ground school at oxford on jan 31st and iv all ready had to cancel couple flight here due to weather, sure it good enough to fly local but I want to get best out my hour building and do lots of land aways which is hard at the moment!

[sapperkenno]

Create your own "hour building package", or google what others offer and tailor their plan to your own needs.
I can recommend Chandler Air Service (http://www.aerobatics.com) out in Chandler, Arizona for what you want. Use the flying time wisely, not just AtoB following lines on a GPS. Here's a thought, how about practicing what you'll do for your CPL? Loads of uncontrolled airports their to go and do circuits at, practice performance takeoffs, glide approaches, flapless landings etc. Do some airwork, do some radio-nav (but be careful around Stanfield VOR, it gets busy). Do what the heck you want, and critique yourself... Did you land on the centerline? Did you land exactly where you wanted along the runway? How short a short-field approach can you make? (I set myself a challenge of landing at a local airport called "Phoenix Regional" and being stopped by the first taxiway - without flat-spotting the tires! ;))

You will get plenty of time with an instructor, as you'll need a Flight Review, then a "mountain checkout" to rent with them.
So you'll do at least 3-6 hours ground/air with one of their competent instructors before they let you loose to go off and hire their airplanes.

Go out there and enjoy it. I had more fun, and think I improved my flying skills better by staying local and doing my own air work such as steep turns, slow flight, stalls etc... Flying long distances in straight lines isn't all that interesting, and won't do a lot for your aircraft handling. It might make you feel more competent with your Navigation though, and it's always nice to see new places.
Furthest I went out there was Palm Springs in California, as far North as the Grand Canyon, and as far South as Tuscon. I've flown straight over Sky Harbor, which was nice... and even right over the top of the entire Phoenix Class B at 10,500'. Have a look at SkyVector: Flight Planning / Aeronautical Charts (http://skyvector.com/) and the Phoenix charts to get a good idea of what's going on out there. Also a good opportunity to do your CPL cross-country while you're out there. I went with two other mates at the time, but there were always "foreigners" kicking about there to buddy up with and discuss/plan trips with.

You really need to be getting your 61.75 validation underway now, and Chandler might be getting pretty busy for aircraft availability at this time of year. They will work around you though if you're only there for a limited time, and to try ensure you have an aircraft available for the duration of your stay.

If you have any more questions that you can't find an answer to, just ask.

[adamnewby]

funny enough iv just got a email of them. thanks for your advice and so far with my hour building here in the uk that is just what iv tried to do. Im looking forward to getting out there and flying nearly every day

any advice / links from any one else would be appreciated

[adamnewby]

right I think Im going for chandler, got all my paper work sent of for the licence, soon as I hear back from that will get hotel and accommodation booked

how many hours of flying do you think you can hope to get in 2week ?

whats it like picking your licence up in the states ? is it allot of hassle ?

anything I should defo do while im out there flying and non flying related ?

[adamnewby]

yeah was Scottsdale I put down.

Im hopping to get 40hour done while out there but if I manage 30 il be happy still time after ground school to get some hours in and weekend Im home from ground school.

really looking forward to it. is there any airports/ places to make sure I visit while im out there ?

struggling to find any like holiday apartment in chandler on the net if any one can help there? if not it will have to be the holiday inn or hilton (lol r well)

think im gonna rent a car for getting between places, never driven in america though so that will be interesting, it seems like taxi's n other transport between going to Scottsdale and between accommodation and the airport would be to hard with out a car

thanks

[Jwscud]

Adam - you have a PM

[Andy_20]

Adam you have PM

[Snowiey]

Hi Adam,
I did around 90 hours in the summer of 2008 flying out of Chandler. It was a fantastic experience, loved every second of it. You'll certainly not get bored, theres loads of challenging flying to enjoy. Have fun!

Jon

[Colin Stapleford]

check out this other thread

http://www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/387363-cheap-hour-building-wanted.html

and read the post by 24Seven as he and 4 of his friends did exactly what you are planning on doing for his hour building

[adamnewby]

sorry been away for a week, thanks for the pm's rly useful info, just waiting for paperwork back from the FAA and CAA so that I can book my flights and accommodation out there,

the main bit im struggling with now is finding cheap accommodation

[Lew747]

Guys, if any of you who have used Chandler please PM me with the same information you have given adamnewby. Would really appreciate it. Looking at doing a block of hours over a fortnight next summer :ok: Cheers.