Recommend a flight school in Sedona, AZ?
 

I'm staying in Sedona for a few days next month, and it would be great to see it from the air. I am a sea-level ( or near to) Jabiru pilot in Australia so it would be nice to fly somewhere different. With an instructor of course. Advice much appreciated.

Cannot help specifically, but the best place to start would be to contact the FBO, Red Rock Aviation, at Sedona. If they don't have a flight training operation themselves, they would certainly know where to go. Or, if KSEZ doesn't have anything, the next nearest field with facilities may be Flagstaff.

Great idea, thanks, I've emailed them.

PS: what's the convention in the US with gratuities for instructors? I don't want to offend anyone. Thanks

For what you have in mind, (I'm assuming one or two flight "lessons" of an hour or two each), gratuities would not really be expected. Typically, an instructor might receive a tip, or a gift certificate, (or a bottle of Scotch, etc.) from a student upon completion of their course after a longer term relationship, but not generally for a one-off session. In any case, I doubt anyone would be offended one way or another. I'll be curious to see if other posters have a different viewpoint on this.
By the way, I'd highly recommend scheduling for crack-of-dawn flights, like launching at 6 or 7 am. It gets hot and turbulent very early over the desert.

There are two things all pilots like: money and food. If you're reticent about cash tips, just bring some sandwiches/donuts/pizza.

None.

But if you insist it probably won't be rejected.

Like a previous post said - go early. The air should be calmer. It's a beautiful region of the country. Check on the availability/legality of flying up to KGCN if you haven't seen the Grand Canyon. You can't fly over the canyon but you can grab a ride from the airport to the overlook.

It sounds like a bottle of nice Australian wine will be just the thing. And yes, I'm hoping for a very early start. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.