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Houston Pilot's License

6,142 Views | 54 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by MaroonDontRun
IrishTxAggie
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AG
Any recommendations on a school to go to or a person that does the requirements independently? I live in MedCenter, but I don't mind having to go to the northside if there is a good referral up there.

Hoping to start working on mine the beginning of next year and wanted to start getting stuff lined up. Thanks
The Milkman
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Whats the all in cost on getting that done? You've got to rent plane time for your hours and all that right?

$7,500ish?
IrishTxAggie
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Yes. You have to rent plane time, have an instructor accompany you for x hours, and then fuel costs. That is on top of the coursework. I've seen costs for all said and done range from $8-$12K.
tk for tu juan
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Way too late, the guy needed a pilot today
IrishTxAggie
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tk for tu juan said:

Way too late, the guy needed a pilot today
tk for tu juan
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The West Houston Airport (Energy Corridor) has a flight school. Think you need around 40 hours of flight time at about $200-300/hr for the plane rental, plus the ground school courses.
CenterHillAg
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Joy Bowden at Houston Southwest in Arcola. Definitely worth the drive.
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O'Doyle Rules
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IrishTxAggie said:

Yes. You have to rent plane time, have an instructor accompany you for x hours, and then fuel costs. That is on top of the coursework. I've seen costs for all said and done range from $8-$12K.


Then you'll have the wonderful opportunity to pay an examiner about $650 for your checkride.
fire09
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$10k > use weiser or hooks, > $10k use iws
MaroonDontRun
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The demand is pretty high right now. West Houston has trouble keeping instructors and as of about a month or two ago they only had two available which really makes it difficult to schedule.

Anson at Sugarland has more instructors but it is still difficult to get them scheduled because of the demand and neither one of these schools rent airplanes cheap.

I actually drove up to College Station to Brazos Valley Flight school because of the quality of their instructors. They are down two instructors right now but of the instructors they have left I think you will be hard pressed to beat their experience. On top of that they are a little less expensive related to plane rentals and instructor rates.
  • C172 - $129/hr wet
  • C172 with G1000 - $139/hr wet
  • C162 - $99/hr wet
  • C150 - $96/hr wet

The instructor rates are $40/hr.
https://bvfs.net/

Good Luck!

BTW, my checkride was only $500 so I think it just depends on who you get. If you can, use Wanda out at Madisonville. She is really good and it was actually enjoyable with her.
IrishTxAggie
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Thanks! Appreciate the information!
CenterHillAg
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Those Brazos Valley numbers look real good, I paid very similar money 6 years ago when I got my private in Bay City.
XpressAg09
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I would estimate that it's $10k total. Ground school, headset, medical, rental, instruction, checkride. And that's assuming you take the exam at 40-43 hours (I believe I took mine at 42).

I rent from Texas Flight up at David Wayne Hooks. Definitely recommend.
07ag
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I used anson in sugarland, but that was 6 years ago, wasn't too difficult to schedule lessons/planes back then
The Kraken
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Watching this thread. I've been wanting to take lessons once things slow down at work a bit, hopefully this fall going into winter. Anson at KSGR would definitely be the closest.

How many of you have purchased a plane since getting your license?
CenterHillAg
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I bought a J3 Cub with 6 hours in my logbook. I love that plane and it taught me more about flying than any instructor could teach me. Later on I bought a 182, we use it quite a bit traveling to see family and other short trips.
ballchain
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MaroonDontRun
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I did.

MaroonDontRun
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Flight clubs are a good idea and you should probably investigate. I was a member of US Flight Club before I purchased. https://www.usflightclub.com/

It is at Houston Executive (Brookshire) so probably a little far away for you.

There is a flight club at Sugarland that has a Cheetah, Tiger and Mooney Ovation. The instructors in the group are airline pilots so I'm not sure of their availability and they do have a limit on the number of members at any one time. I do know they are good guys. http://aero-on-demand.com/index.html

I do want to make mention that I would stay away from Flying Tigers. My mechanic and several other people have warned me about the lack of maintenance that they do on their aircraft so much so that I heard there were DPE's refusing to fly in their planes.

ballchain
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MaroonDontRun
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I'm just getting used to it but Mooneys are really fun to fly, fast and climb like a dream. The only drawback is 940 lb. useful load but I don't need any more than that so it works perfectly for me and the wife. I also have long range tanks so i can carry 100 gallons of fuel.

As a side note, they are not as hard to land as some would have you believe, you just have to manage your speeds a little closer than you do with other aircraft (the laminar flow airfoil doesn't give you much drag). I honestly land the Mooney better than I did the Archer.
fire09
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Fellow mooney owner/pilot, and I'm pretty sure we knew each other during my time at USFC.
ballchain
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MaroonDontRun
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Quote:

Fellow mooney owner/pilot, and I'm pretty sure we knew each other during my time at USFC.

We may have known each other at USFC but i was only there from February until this month. Harry sure hates it when we decide to step out and buy our own. My buddy is currently doing his instrument training with Harry and therefore spending tons of money with him and unfortunately for Harry he just bought into joint ownership of a twin commanche (also a very underrated aircraft).
MaroonDontRun
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Quote:

Whenever I can fly enough hours to justify ownership and get over the fear of mx surprises (with piston singles in general), Mooney will be the way I go. Great looking birds.

When you get to the point where you begin your search be sure to reach out to me and fire09 and we'll convey our experiences with the process and what to look for.

For any airplane you look at the overhaul time and for the Mooney's you want to look at the condition of the shock discs and when were the tanks last re-sealed and if not recently, are they leaking currently.

ballchain
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AlaskanAg08
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Are there any Aggie flight instructors in the Houston area?
XpressAg09
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Quote:

I was a member of US Flight Club before I purchased. [url=https://www.usflightclub.com/][/url]https://www.usflightclub.com/
What benefits are you getting for $200/month and still paying $140 wet for an Archer?
12th Man Ag
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I am an absolute novice here, but wanted to ask a question. My 12-year old son wants to get his license. What age can they start taking lessons? Thanks!
IrishTxAggie
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12th Man Ag said:

I am an absolute novice here, but wanted to ask a question. My 12-year old son wants to get his license. What age can they start taking lessons? Thanks!


16 I believe.
CenterHillAg
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ballchain said:

Thanks! I regularly read MooneySpace for those kinda gotchas. When the time comes, I'll definitely be reaching out.


I used to think MooneySpace was the biggest group of nerds on the internet.

Then I found Pilots of America...
pilot
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IrishTxAggie said:

12th Man Ag said:

I am an absolute novice here, but wanted to ask a question. My 12-year old son wants to get his license. What age can they start taking lessons? Thanks!


16 I believe.


I believe you can take lessons at any age. You have to be 16 to solo.
XpressAg09
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Take lessons at 14, I want to say. Cannot test until 16.
MaroonDontRun
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Quote:

What benefits are you getting for $200/month and still paying $140 wet for an Archer?

The main reason I used them is for aircraft availability. I had trouble getting airplanes from the flight school and if you overnight them you typically have to have a minimum number of flight hours per day which becomes prohibitive (I think I remember a minimum of 3 hours per day).

All 3 of the Archers (and the Saratoga) are air conditioned which is kind of nice and also well maintained.

If I had to do it again I would probably try to join aero on demand. They are a little cheaper and have a Mooney available plus the Tiger is fun to fly as well.
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