aircraft rental in rizona, but where?

[jfly]

will be in the US for hour building in July and need an advise on aircraft rental in the Phoenix area

[FlyingForFun]

jfly,

I logged 100 hours renting from Chandler Air Service (http://www.aerobatics.com), and I'd definitely recommend them. They have everything from PA28s and C172s, through to Super Cubs and Huskeys if you want to fly taildraggers, Great Lakes for aerobatics training, Pitts S2C for "real" aerobatics, an Arrow, and even an Aztec if you want some twin time. They also have some of the best instructors I've ever flown with.

Feel free to e-mail me if you want more info.

FFF
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[Crossedcontrols]

Sorry to but in on your thread.
I will be In Pheonix mid July, and hope to do my FAA BFR with Chandler http://www.aerobatics.com using one of thier Supercubs. Does anyone know if it is worth going up towards the Grand Canyon to have a look-see or any other places within a couple of hours of Chandler.

Regards
CC

[FlyingForFun]

Crossed,

Yes, definitely worth going to Grand Canyon. I took one of their Super Cubs there - it's a long flight (about 2 1/2 hours each way) but well worth it. I flew into Grand Canyon airport, then got a helicoptor tour from the other side of the airport. You can also get an aeroplane tour, which is cheaper - but you can't fly over the canyon yourself.

Other places worth visiting - Sedona, or Tucson.

Do you already have your BFR booked? Which instructor is it with? Tell them I said Hi!

As with jfly, e-mail me if you want more info.

FFF
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[Evo7]

At Tucson you can share the circuit with F16s and 767s. Must be fun in a Cub... :)

[FlyingForFun]

Tucson is very interesting! The only time I've ever followed a Follow-Me in a Super Cub was there. :)

They're also very GA friendly. The controllers are perfectly capable of manoevering a Super Cub around their Class C without thinking twice about it. One time when I was there, the runway in use had a 7kt tail-wind - not a big deal for the big guys who fly out of there, but I didn't fancy it in a Super Cub. Requested the opposite runway, and they had no problem with that. (Actually, they suggested I use the shorter runway, which had almost the same cross-wind component as the opposite-direction runway, because it was closer to where I was parked. But they were happy to let me use the opposite runway if I didn't mind a minute or two wait while they cleared the pattern for me.)

One of my biggest regrets was when I was told to "hold short runway 11 left", and never thought to get my camera out. Ok, so holding short of a runway doesn't usually require a camera - but a few seconds later an F16 took off a few feet in front of me - followed by another, and another, and then a fourth! Then I was cleared to cross the runway - "caution, wake turbulence on the runway!"

Oh, and no landing fees either! I think overnight parking was something like $5.

Once you're there, go to the passenger terminal and get a cab to the Pima Air and Space Museum, which is excellent...

FFF
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[Evo7]

:)

My mother-in-law lives in Green Valley - just south of Tuscon, and not very green at all - and I'm planning on doing plenty of flying around there next time we go to visit... :)

[Crossedcontrols]

FFF
Do you know if it is worth doing the mountain flying course with them?

CC

[FlyingForFun]

Crossed,

They won't let you take their aircraft cross-country until you do the course. It consists of an hour or so of ground-school, then a dual cross-country flight of about 3 hours. No problem, good fun, and very educational too. Main topics are mounain weather (especially winds), reduced take-off performance at altitude, and handling piston engines at altitude (requires higher throttle settings for the same power).

FFF
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[Crossedcontrols]

Just the job for the vast mountain ranges of East Anlia ;)
No, really, sounds good fun, I'll put my cross down for some of that.
Thanks.
CC

[Crossedcontrols]

OOPS
East Anlia is very similar to East Anglia, but without a G and larger mountains

[slim_slag]

FFF gives good advice on where to to and what to do.

Chandler Air was discussed only a few days ago, the instructors are very busy right now as they are taking a lot of the students/customers from another outfit on the field who have essentially shut down because they cannot get insurance.

If you are time building you should get checked out in their super-cubs. They are $58 per hour wet (10% cheaper if you give them a grand at a time) and you should be able to solo within 10-15 hours absolute max. You will end up a far better pilot and have far more fun. They are the perfect time building machine as they don't exactly race along, and its hours which count. If you want to do a supercub course, then phone them up and book it now.

You can fly over the Grand Canyon but only in narrow designated corridors (I always use a hand held GPS), and you need to be able to get up to 10500 and/or 11500 ft. Coming from Europe that might surprise/intimidate you, but it's not a big deal. Your nails may turn a bit blue :) but it's well worth the trip. Plenty of other things to do, taking somebody up to Sedona for breakfast is a sure-fire way to be very popular later that night :D

Yes, you need to do a mountain checkout before they let you take any planes up there, but that makes total sense. They have real mountains here, not like those little pimples back home, and as it can reach the 90s at 7000ft you need to have some idea of DA. It also gets VERY bumpy during the afternoon in the summer up in the mountains, so you might find it useful to experience that with an instructor first too.

[Another_CFI]

Some time since I last flew there but I would recommend Glendale airfield, to the northwest of Phoenix. Cannot recollect the name of the flying school but I believe it is the only one on the airfield. Good selection of Piper aircraft, with air-conditioning which is essential in Phoenix in the summer.