re: Recommendation on the best place to get your pilots license in BR?

Just go to the DMV and do the flying test. Pretty simple take off and landing

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I finished up at Flight Academy of New Orleans. I would recommend doing Part 141 training if you didn't grow up around aviation (I did). It's pretty structured and is probably best for private pilots training. Are you looking for just a private license or instrument/commercial?

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Not looking for it as a career. I own a business that requires me to travel a good bit regionally. I'm going to start with the private training with the intention of owning a small plane. Based on what I've read, I'd like to get my instrument certification as well.

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Hammond used to have a place called Fly By Knight. You can look into them. I'm sure there's an instructor at BTR though.

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still do

I was fortunate that when my first CFI was leaving, he offered me a great deal on his plane. I bought it and was able to fly my own plane through every portion of instruction and the check ride. Now I have abt 110 hours and every minute has been in that one plane.

Aside from the safety aspect of being familiar with one plane, buying my own plane was an investment. Usually it costs around $150/Hr (incl fuel) just to rent a plane and fuel for instruction, so I spent that ~$6,000 that I would be paying to rent a plane for the remaining 50 hours toward my own plane ($120/Hr * 50).

But then again, this is the OT. Just go buy yourself a jet and a pilot and be done with it.

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offered me a great deal on his plane

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I was talking with a pilot friend this week about getting my license. He recommended me buying a plane first. He thought it would be around $8k to get licensed in my own plane. I haven't had time to follow up but that's the way I'll approach it as I do my research.

I grew up with Dad, Uncle and Grandpa all flying their own private planes and me spending many hours in them. Just haven't told the wife yet.

Owning your own plane is the way to go, in my opinion. If you have the means and your wife agrees, of course. I bought my 1974 Cherokee 160 with low hours. She was perfect for training and has been great for building hours and then knocking out my IFR.

If you rent a plane from Gulf Coast Aviation w an instructor, you're paying $200/Hr all in for a Cessna 152--assuming you're a small person. The min hour requirements are 40, but there's no way any school lets you finish in less than 60 (incl 10 hours solo). That's a total cost of $11,500. However, you'll have to pay for training books, ground school, written test, and the flying test--not to mention your own fancy ANR headset. All in its close to $14,000.

If you were to buy your own plane, you'll save the $120/Hr for the plane--that's $7,200 invested in your own plane. But you still have to buy fuel (~$30/Hr) and pay for the instructor (btwn $40-$50/Hr). Assuming you go this route and require 60 hours, that puts you at $1,800 in fuel, $2,500 in instructor. You still have to pay for the training aides, ground school, and tests so all in for your license, not including plane expenses, I'd say your buddy was close.

Sounds like you are well aware of the yearly costs associated w owning a plane (besides the purchase cost and fuel)--I tie down at KNEW for $90/mth, insurance policy as a student was $900/yr, and the annual will be a min of $1,800 (I assume $2,400 bc there's always something to upgrade).

Just depends on what you're looking for. Hope this doesn't scare anyone off, but helps level expectations so you don't get frustrated halfway through and quit.

I don't have any recommendations for flight schools in that area, but I did want to stop by and give you some encouragement!

I finished up my PPL about a month ago. It was one of the most challenging things I've ever done, but certainly one of the most rewarding. It will take some serious commitment. You will have to learn shite you never even thought about, and it will take a serious time commitment. There is about an 85% "dropout" rate of people doing this, and you'll understand why. If you have the money and time, you'll be fine - as long as you're committed to finishing.

Also, I'll reiterate what another poster said, and this may be the most important part - find an instructor that you get along with really well. There's nothing more miserable than being stuck in a plane with a guy who is trying to impress you or is just a jerk. Flying is a lot of fun. Make sure you're being instructed by someone who views it that way.

Also, don't be turned off by someone's age. My first instructor, who left the flight school to take a job with SkyWest, was 23 years old. My second instructor, who I finished my PPL with, wasn't even old enough to buy alcohol and had just graduated from ATP - but had basically every rating imaginable and was a super hard worker.

The quality of your instructor, combined with your time commitment will determine how long it takes you to get finished. I was signed off for my checkride after 40.2 hours. I took the plane up a couple more times after that to polish up my maneuvers, and I was finished completely with only 44.1 hours. I was able to do that because I committed to taking at least 2 lessons per week, and I studied every chance I got.

You'll have to take a written test and there will also be an oral exam that you'll have to take as a part of your final checkride/practical exam. There are some really fantastic resources you can find to help you through all of that. I would highly recommend Cessna'a PPL online course. It's a little over $300, but includes so many things in addition to the online course, including a year's subscription to the Garmin Pilot system (GPS, flight planning, weather, etc...), which is worth $100 by itself.

The minimum score on the written test is 70, but you need to aim for the 88-95 range. Anything less than that, and your examiner is going to poke and prod and see what all is missing in your knowledge, and anything more than that and he or she will think you're a know it all or that you just memorized test answers and don't really know much.

Another cool resource is MZeroA. They're an online flight school that is subscription based, but they put out free videos on YouTube that are super helpful.

Sorry for the long post. I hope this helps. I'll add some helpful links for you in another post. Good luck! You can do it!

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I'm talking full spin either climbing under full power until it quits flying and kicking the pedal or kill power and fly until it stalls, kick rudder and go into a spin. It was required to demonstrate that you knew how to recover. It was exhilarating too.

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They were once a required part of training, at some point the FAA decided the emphasis should be on recognizing the onset of a stall and recovering from that, with the logic being if you never achieve a full stall then you can't spin.

Curt McDonald, Based at Signature at BTR. Great deal on yearly lease on plane. not nearly as expensive as in NOLA.

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