Hour building in the USA.
 

Hi Guys,

Even though I have been on this site for ages but I'm new to this forum. Sorry if I have posted this on the wrong thread and I know many of you have come across this many times.. I recently just got my PPL on the c152 in the UK and thinking to do my hour building in the USA. I have been on google looking for flight schools, however most of them have got the PAs or c172.. If any of you have been or got any suggestions where to go please can you help me? What school should I go to which provide the c152 over there with maybe accommodation as well? Thank you

Kind Regards

Why restrict yourself to a C152? Try converting to other types. It will add to your experience and the extra cost will be minimal.

Go for the 172. Much nicer to fly and will be cheaper than a 152 in the UK

The last rented 172 I flew in ( a year ago in California) cost £110 per hour wet.

PS Start your paperwork early - minimum of three months.

Hi omi007,

I am currently looking to do the same thing!

So far, I am planning on going to San Diego (Montgomery field) next spring (mid march or so).
I had very good feedbacks from friends and relatives, plus it's the west coast and it means SUN! ;)

For now I am doing this solo but if someone is willing to join me, I'll be more than happy! :)

Keep me inform of your research and if you need some more infos please let me know!

Look at all the costs
 

The margin between the cost in Europe and the USA is not as large as you might think, the USA aircraft cost may be low but look hard at the small print regarding taking the aircraft away from base and don't forget to factor in your living expenses.

.......... not to mention the cost of proper insurance cover which is, more often than not, missing from the rental rate quoted. As with car insurance, the Americans do things differently.

Greece is a good option for hour building, even now in the winter .. apart from the weather there are a lot of small islands and small airstrips ideal for practicing.

OK I have been hours building on the 152 in Kansas. The wet rate I am getting is 80 bucks (so about £55 wet). I am also getting a very good rate on accommodation here. The 152 is as good an airplane as the next one for hours building and difficult to beat on cost. Apart from that, hours building in the states has many advantages beyond the hourly rate. You can fly into any public airport with no landing fees. For instance, I regularly fly into big regional airports shutdown take a leak and get a coffee from the FBO, normally without even taking any fuel and hence it costs me not a penny extra. Or of I want a crew car to go into town I will just take a little fuel from the FBO, although in many cases they will give you a car regardless. And it's exactly the same deal at night because the ppl here can fly at night with no extra rating, and hence the vast majority of airfields are equipped with pilot controlled lighting, and you can turn up with no ppr, fly your patterns or land and refuel or just take a break - as the FBO is almost always accessible even when not manned up and unless you need fuel it costs nothing.

On top of all that I have been able to share with other students here and log safety pilot time which means we can both log PIC at the same time, because out here the ppl can fly and log simulated instrument time as well as fly safety pilot for anyone else. You do not need any additional rating for this beyond rated for the type of aircraft being flown.

In my opinion, at least as far as GA is concerned, the states beats the UK hands down.

If you PM me I will gladly provide you with the details of the flight school I am using here. :ok:

Best deal I have ever found
 

For those of you looking to timebuild it might be worth checking out local flying clubs. Usually many of them are under the radar as they seek to attract residents, but odds are they will let you join even to build time.

For those of you interested in coming to Miami, I highly recommend Pan Air Flying Club. There are three C172s (G430, nothing fancy) available for $40/hr dry. Depending on where you get the fuel that translates to about $65-70 wet. There is also a C182 available as well, for $55/hr dry but that thing burns 14 gallons an hour.

Initiation fees you may ask? $600 which covers 6 months membership. Membership fees afterwards are $25/month.

I haven't found a cheaper flying club than this in the Miami area. There is no website for the club as it's by word of mouth only. PM me for details.

If you want something a bit north, near Daytona (KDED) try Eagle Sport Aviation. There is a Piper Cub you can rent for $80/hr dry but it's also a Sailplane club and there is a Pitts S2B as well ($135/hr dry) for those looking for that adrenalin rush. I can put you in touch with both clubs as I used to be a member of ESA.

Eagle Sport Aviation Club

This is very misleading. If you actually do some research to find an FBO with decent rates and low daily minima, the difference in prices is enormous. When I lived in Europe I'd often come and do 2-3 week flying trips in the USA, taking camping gear and often sleeping under the wing. Accommodation every now and then is very cheap, if you get fed up of camping.

As an example, in the Netherlands my club charged 270+ Euros for a Piper Arrow (and this was back when Euro was about 1.4 dollars). In the US, I pay $124. If you want to fly more than a few hours, the costs of getting here get wiped right out.

The flying environment is also much nicer. Better ATC, more accessible airspace, more predictable weather, and the airports (with no fees) are far better equipped than anything GA tends to see in Europe. Many airports actually have a vibrant GA community who'll welcome you and show you around; Europe, not so much.

Having flown about 50-50 between Europe and the USA, USA wins hands down for the actual flying, and lack of hassle. Europe wins out for pretty and interesting cities to visit.

Oggers,

Be careful with that logging of safety pilot carry-on. It's generally not recognised outside the USA

I went to florida flyers a few years ago and logged about 55-60 hrs in just over 2 weeks. I spend about £4000 which included flights there and back, motel for the entire time, car hire, general living and mix of 152 & PA28.

I wouldn't have done it for that price in the UK plus it was a great experience flying somewhere new everyday and being fairly sure of decent weather compared to the UK let me fly pretty much when I wanted.

Usual suspects !
 

Try to get away from the usual places like FLA and CAL, the businesses in these areas know the cost of European flying and some load the prices, try to go some place in the middle of the USA that normally only sees the local business, these places are likely to be the best value for money.

Hello guys!

Does anybody have any info about Summit Aviation @KLGB? They've got C150 for $80/hr wet. They do not require any payments in advance and are quite nice and helpful to deal with over email compared to Flighttimebuilding.com. It seems to be too good to be true tbh.:}

Cheers

$80/hr seems reasonable for a C150. That's a few dollars more than my flying club used to rent their 152 for (and may still do, this was less than a year ago). I don't have any specific info though!

Remember renters insurance, typically that's not included.

Everything in the uS is bigger ;-), so the felt basic trainer is a 172 and 15x are very uncommon birds in the US, so I would advice to go for at least 172 in the US. Family flying typically starts there at 182 ...

You could rent a C172 for $85/hr or an Aeronca Champ for $65/hr, just outside a very nice area to stay. If you want to learn something, the Aeronca would be worth the check out.

First Flight Corp. Fleet - First Flight Corp.

(no affiliation)

Just echoing what a few others have said.

The C172 seems to be the standard rental hack across a lot of the USA, and finding anything smaller can be difficult.

In my experience, you'll get better aeroplanes, at better prices, usually at schools who normally only serve local - rather than international - customers.

G

If I look at my local airport (Palo Alto), there are certainly a few 152s and even 162s, but the great majority of trainers are 172s, with the odd PA28. I think that's pretty typical.

Though if you REALLY want to fly a 152 there's always this (well, I wanted to post a photo, but I couldn't get it to work). But someone at Reid Hillview in San Jose has converted a 152 into a gyrocopter. Well, somewhat, I don't think it's finished and I heartily hope it never will be/

Thanks for your reply guys! Thanks for the Firs flight link! I don't mind 172, but i couldn't find anything under $120 for it.

Cheers