PPL Flight School - what to look for

[Flight Safety]

My apologies if this subject has been covered. I tried the search feature, but couldn't find a thread that contained the information I'm looking for (but if you know of one...).

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the US, and would like to know several things before I choose a flight school. Just FYI, I want to get my PPL, then add the instument rating sometime later, so for now I'm focused mainly on the PPL. I don't plan to fly professionally, but I'd be curious to know about the differences between Part 141 and Part 61(?) training.

I'm really interested in what to look for in a "high quality" flight school, one that produces both very safe and very knowledgable pilots. For example, what kind of ground school instruction should I look for? What should I look for in a "good" instructor? What areas of instruction do you think are a "must" and should be included in an exceptional flight school?

Any recommendations (and why) for an exceptional flight school would be greatly appreciated, as there are a number of flight schools to choose from in my area. For example, I found a flight school the other day that owns 4 or 5 brand new Cessna C-172SPs (oldest appears to be a '98) and took a demo flight in one of them (a 1999 model). What a really nice airplane and a joy to fly (I flew most of the flight except for the takeoff and landing). I'd just love to train in aircraft like these! The instructor took me through a thorough pre-flight check, and appeared to be very competent. However the school doesn't offer much in the way of a ground school (just a CBT course with a bunch of CDs).

Many thanks in advance.

[A and C]

Get the phone numbers of all the flight schools in the area and call them , ask a few questions that would be best answered by an instructor , if you get a flight instructor put on the phone to you to answer the question this flight school should go on the list to visit.

Once you have a list visit all the schools and check out the look of the aircraft and the "feel" of the place , pilots love to talk flying so talk to the other people who fly in the area and you will soon get a picture of who is good and who is not.

I have found that in the USA the best places to fly are the long established mid-price range schools , these have the best balance between price and quality of service and the stability of long term business usualy means that the standard of flight instruction is good.

Even if the first place you visit has a good "feel" check out all the places on the list before you commit your self to spending lots of money.

[Flight Safety]

A and C, thanks, I'll have to make the rounds and do some visiting.

Another question, are the CBT courses (like King School's or Cessna's) good for ground school, or is a classroom setting better?

[Evo7]

Personally I hate CBT - the company I work for has been trying to move to it, but I find it very hard to learn from - but I know people who like it a lot, so it's hard to give you a definite answer. See if the flight school will let you have a go and see what you think.

Going back to your first question, I would select a flight school that had good availability of the aircraft you would like to fly and instructors that were prepared to put some effort into teaching you. I also think that it's worth looking for a school that will give you the same instructor every lesson, but others disagree. If you find a school that looks good but dont use your ideal method of teaching for the written exams then I wouldn't worry much - the JAA PPL exams aren't hard and I doubt that the FAA ones are either. You can read up on the material yourself and ask your instructor questions (remember, you're looking for a school where they'll do this), and after that the CBT will be simple.

Best of luck - let us know how you're getting on. With the Texas weather you'll probably be finished before me anyway.... :)

[Flight Safety]

Evo7, thanks.

The instructor who gave me the demo ride seemed very interested in teaching me. I didn't think to ask the question about having the same instructor each time, but when I was there I observed that each instructor seemed very familiar with his student(s), so perhaps that's the case.

When I asked about ground school (where I took the demo ride), they suggested several options including a local junior college that specializes in aviation courses, as well as the CBT option. I just recently got married and now live reasonably close to that college, so it will be on my list of places to check. I'll have to check with this flight school to see if the instructors are also available for ground school/exam related questions, but I thought I heard them mention that they were.

I know one thing, on my 2 visits they had airplanes available, and I very much like their aircraft. They (the C172s) are new, kept spotless, and appear well maintained. They are an authorized Cessna Pilot Center, and an authorized Cessna Maintenance Center as well. In short I really liked them, but I'll follow A and C's advice and looking into all of schools (that look promising) before deciding.

BTW, my new wife is very supportive of my flying (we've been talking about it for over 2 years now), and she also went with me on the demo ride. She said she really enjoyed it, and liked both the instructor and the aircraft we flew in (as good aircraft maintenance and thorough safe flight instruction have often been topics of conversation between us).

(Edited for word omission)

[Thumpango]

Flight Safety,

an instructor who takes an interest in your progress is most important. You will spend a lot of time (and money!)with your chosen instructor so its important that you get the right feedback and encouragement. If the CFI also monitors your progress this really would be the sign of a good school. Sadly in my experience this combination is difficult to find.

Don't put up with an instructor /school you are not happy with.

Good luck!