My in-laws live a couple of miles from the Katama airfield, so I run by there every few days to work out. I've done a couple (literally 2) hours in a Citabria there, it was pretty fun! There are definitely some incredible places to fly down around the Cape.Ahhh…Hanscom! My wife is from the area and I lived there for a number of years. You’ll probably find the base aero club cheaper in more ways than just the wet time and instruction. Check both places and see if they have a fixed price deal for your PPL. Once you finish ground school I recommend flying at least once a week (twice if you can swing the time and cash). More and your mind might get scrambled with other non-aviation stuff (like your real job), less and you really aren’t learning. I’ve known people to knock out their PPL in about two months…that seems fast to me but you’ll know yourself once you start training. If you can afford it go past your ppl check ride and knock out your instrument as well…it will expand your world.
You have some beautiful places to fly to around there. The flight over the bay to PVC (P’town) is beautiful and of course you need to run the beach north to 7B3 (Hampton NH) and have breakfast at their excellent airfield diner! Reach out to @ChuckMK23, he is a CFII and knows the business well.
I think I could swing $ to go twice a week out of Hanscom, but I'll need to be judicious about work time to go twice a week. The thought of instrument flying scares me - though that's probably a healthy attitude to have at the start?
My ultimate goal is to get a rotary wing PPL, I think.
I mean you could fly over and pick me up, but it might take a while.. ?If you were in southwest Michigan, I’d learn ya in my 172……. 2-3 days a week will keep you sharp and save money in my opinion
Turn over of flight instructors is super high now. Changing CFIs will set you back and cost money. Pick a place for training that has a stable CFI corps. That means finding young guys not wanting to move up to the airlines or older guys who are truly dedicated to training in General Aviation. My preference would be for a retired or semi retired guy that is instructing for the love of aviation.
Thanks for both of these posts - I wouldn't have thought about the CFI shortage/turnover or the length at which you can schedule out into the future. Glad to know I wasn't off base about trying to do too much too soon. What do most people do w.r.t. ground school: get it done first, or get it done at the same time as flying?Like Wink said, figuring out a consistent instructor will be helpful. A base club can be more stable because a lot of times it's retirees that are the CFIs. Don't expect them all to be former military pilots, though. I flew with one at Jax that was a retired P-3 FE.
Availability will be another issue. Whatever scheduling system the place has, ask to look at it so you can see how far out you have to schedule/plan to get both a CFI and a plane. Planes may be more available than CFIs, and both may be unavailable on weekends.
I would plan on flying no less than once a week, as Skybert said, it can cost you more money in the long run if you do it infrequently. That doesn't mean if something comes up you'll forget everything in a week, but initial muscle memory and consistency are EXTREMELY helpful, no matter how many hours you have. I would also recommend not doing two days in a row, at least initially. Figure out your mental stamina, which will increase after your first few flights.
Grizz mentioned ground school. Personally, I'd recommend doing some flying first before doing dedicated ground school. It will help in applying the concepts in the class. You'll get short pieces of ground instruction during every lesson, but it won't be the official ground school training.
Lastly, remember to have fun!