Needing a place to do Multi and Multi IFR Training

[triplebarrel]

Hello

I recently finished my CPL license and went to do my INRAT to get ready to go full steam ahead into Multi/IFR.

Got here and 3 flights and $2000 later the airplane needs a new engine ( 3 weeks to change ) and (it wasn't me)

They had free accommodation if you flew twice a day wx permitting. It was a really nice place and decent plane with a cool GTN 750 which worked out good cause I used the GTN 650 for my CPL so it would have set me up nicely for the IFR portion. I set up shop quite nicely. Being from CYYC/CYBW I would have had to wait a few weeks due to wait lists at that airport. And I also came here since taxi times and delays would be shorter.

Anyways I am looking for recommendations for good quality places to do my Multi/IFR training. Being here I really noticed the necessity for structured professional training, which they didn't have. Calgary Flight Training Center which is based out of Olds is charging $699 plus instructor ($79) per hour for their PA-30 O/T like I said CYBW has wait lists. I am also looking for somewhere with accommodations, all I found was Harvs Air. I read a previous post on Harvs Air saying their MIFR training isn't actually all that great. I'm looking for an honest flight school who isn't going to charge too much extra and I am looking for a flight school who has done this before, continuously and professionally.

I understand I probably won't get free accommodation. I am writing from northern Alberta and willing to take a road trip wherever really but will try to avoid the excessive trip length to Ontario I just feel there's enough FTUs in BC and the Prairies to get this done. But include your recommendation for anywhere since I want structure and professionalism more than convenience.

Thanks!

[mdh]

Try the Regina Flying Club...they have a twin Comanche and are quoting dual at $423 per hour on their web site (although that was effective Jan. 2018 so prices could be a bit higher now.) Also cost of living in Regina is quite reasonable.

[triplebarrel]

Thanks for that, the prices are still $423 but they said they have cadets training there until August 16th

[mdh]

The cadets don't train on the twin. There are a couple of part-time instructors who might be able to put together a course for you later in the afternoon or on weekends - try asking for Jim Thompson or J.T. Marx. Good luck!

[MarkyMark90]

Call Cornwall and calculate the cost of driving up there! It would be a nice experience to do the drive and they are able to get you going quickly and efficiently.

[Tuza]

Hello

I recently finished my CPL license and went to do my INRAT to get ready to go full steam ahead into Multi/IFR.

Got here and 3 flights and $2000 later the airplane needs a new engine ( 3 weeks to change ) and (it wasn't me)

They had free accommodation if you flew twice a day wx permitting. It was a really nice place and decent plane with a cool GTN 750 which worked out good cause I used the GTN 650 for my CPL so it would have set me up nicely for the IFR portion. I set up shop quite nicely. Being from CYYC/CYBW I would have had to wait a few weeks due to wait lists at that airport. And I also came here since taxi times and delays would be shorter.

Anyways I am looking for recommendations for good quality places to do my Multi/IFR training. Being here I really noticed the necessity for structured professional training, which they didn't have. Calgary Flight Training Center which is based out of Olds is charging $699 plus instructor ($79) per hour for their PA-30 O/T like I said CYBW has wait lists. I am also looking for somewhere with accommodations, all I found was Harvs Air. I read a previous post on Harvs Air saying their MIFR training isn't actually all that great. I'm looking for an honest flight school who isn't going to charge too much extra and I am looking for a flight school who has done this before, continuously and professionally.

I understand I probably won't get free accommodation. I am writing from northern Alberta and willing to take a road trip wherever really but will try to avoid the excessive trip length to Ontario I just feel there's enough FTUs in BC and the Prairies to get this done. But include your recommendation for anywhere since I want structure and professionalism more than convenience.

Thanks!

Roland of Excel Flight Training in Lethbridge - he’s super efficient, cost effective, and doesn’t mess around. Definitely cost worthy. I know they help international students with accommodations - setup I think - so you can always ask.

Terri of Super T Aviation in Medicine Hat. They have barracks as they do international and cadet contracts. They have a wicked sim. Did most of my training there and then when moved to cyql - finished and worked on the MIFR. They are pricier than Excel but it’s whatever works for you overall.

And I hear what you’re saying about yyc ybw. I moved up to Airdrie last yr and it has been horrible with wait times!

Makes me almost miss the south. Almost.

Good luck!

[triplebarrel]

Call Cornwall and calculate the cost of driving up there! It would be a nice experience to do the drive and they are able to get you going quickly and efficiently.

They currently have a decent sized wait list! I was considering it since I heard good things. Have you heard much about Pro IFR recently?

[triplebarrel]

Roland of Excel Flight Training in Lethbridge - he’s super efficient, cost effective, and doesn’t mess around. Definitely cost worthy. I know they help international students with accommodations - setup I think - so you can always ask.

Terri of Super T Aviation in Medicine Hat. They have barracks as they do international and cadet contracts. They have a wicked sim. Did most of my training there and then when moved to cyql - finished and worked on the MIFR. They are pricier than Excel but it’s whatever works for you overall.

And I hear what you’re saying about yyc ybw. I moved up to Airdrie last yr and it has been horrible with wait times!

Makes me almost miss the south. Almost.

Good luck!

Hahaha oh ya the south, so exciting

Thanks man I called Roland, he definitely asked me the right questions. Currently looking into August for him at Excel. I called Super T the other day they have no wait lists currently. Current prices: Excel is $464 total, and Super T is $415 total.

My buddies dad who is a pilot for sunwing says Pro IFR is "the place to go" heard much recently about them?

Thanks!

[Tuza]

Roland of Excel Flight Training in Lethbridge - he’s super efficient, cost effective, and doesn’t mess around. Definitely cost worthy. I know they help international students with accommodations - setup I think - so you can always ask.

Terri of Super T Aviation in Medicine Hat. They have barracks as they do international and cadet contracts. They have a wicked sim. Did most of my training there and then when moved to cyql - finished and worked on the MIFR. They are pricier than Excel but it’s whatever works for you overall.

And I hear what you’re saying about yyc ybw. I moved up to Airdrie last yr and it has been horrible with wait times!

Makes me almost miss the south. Almost.

Good luck!

Hahaha oh ya the south, so exciting

Thanks man I called Roland, he definitely asked me the right questions. Currently looking into August for him at Excel. I called Super T the other day they have no wait lists currently. Current prices: Excel is $464 total, and Super T is $415 total.

My buddies dad who is a pilot for sunwing says Pro IFR is "the place to go" heard much recently about them?

Thanks!

No. I have no idea of who they are. There is a Class 1 on one of the threads that is offering a bunch of training freelance and has an aeroplane to rent. Not sure of the costs as I’m waiting for a pm. S/he offers full training from ppl right up to Instructor and goes to where you are within reason. They mentioned Red Deer/Edmonton area as some options. I’m waiting to hear back if they’ll come to Airdrie. Lol

Are you in BC? For some reason I thought you were in AB. I just googled Pro IFR. In Delta so unless you’re a BC’er, might cost more plus they have their extra tax.

The thing about Roland is he wastes no time nor money. At one point I was flying 3-4 x a day. A bit excessive and I had to back off a bit but things can and do get done quick and efficient. And his quote is with instructor right? Super t hadn’t added theirs in yet? And he’s definitely cheapest in the south! Just you’d be in Lethbridge .... and Super T’s sim is sooo much nicer. tough call as it always is. Haha

[triplebarrel]

No. I have no idea of who they are. There is a Class 1 on one of the threads that is offering a bunch of training freelance and has an aeroplane to rent. Not sure of the costs as I’m waiting for a pm. S/he offers full training from ppl right up to Instructor and goes to where you are within reason. They mentioned Red Deer/Edmonton area as some options. I’m waiting to hear back if they’ll come to Airdrie. Lol

Are you in BC? For some reason I thought you were in AB. I just googled Pro IFR. In Delta so unless you’re a BC’er, might cost more plus they have their extra tax.

The thing about Roland is he wastes no time nor money. At one point I was flying 3-4 x a day. A bit excessive and I had to back off a bit but things can and do get done quick and efficient. And his quote is with instructor right? Super t hadn’t added theirs in yet? And he’s definitely cheapest in the south! Just you’d be in Lethbridge .... and Super T’s sim is sooo much nicer. tough call as it always is. Haha

Hahah oh okay that's not bad, I know one of my friends is doing his with Doris a flight examiner and renting a Seneca from SATC. I talked to Roland and I like the sound of his operation in Lethbridge, he even mentioned we can do some IFR in a SE to keep the costs down since I don't have much experience doing approaches and holds etc. He doesn't do accomodation anymore but I can expect 500-700 bucks a month for a room. Basically the same anywhere you go even in Surrey/Delta for PRO IFR

Yes I live in Calgary man sorry for the confusion, after visiting Adventure Aviation in GP and did 3 flights I was willing to go where it was the most professional, it sucked because they also had a brand new ALSIM 250. But what I found was there was zero structure and professionalism etc, I was not very confident in the 400 bucks an hour I was spending. I want to know and feel like at least my money is worth it/well spent. We are in the twin and buddy left the plane mid way through the start up checklist to get a CPL (yes CPL) student a cushion and to sign her out, shouldnt she have been already signed out by her acttual instructor? not sure. That took a good 25 minutes, so I did the run up and everything this is my second flight in the multi.

So yeah in conclusion I think Super T and Excel are excellent options even though Excel is more I think ill save money with Roland, those prices I gave you are all in without TAX however PRO IFR is $436 with tax, fuel , DUAL I talked to the girl yesterday they can take me on right away but thats in BC. They run REDBIRD and the thing with over there is the wx...so my buddy was explaining how here its sunny then we get nasty convection in the prairies then we go to TS which isnt very good IFR practice. Also all the turbulence from our daily heating etc we are all use to it. Over there however in Delta its more like drizzle, light rain, and stratus cloud formation which gives you good IFR wx thats safe to fly in as long as no icing.

Just my info to you, still standing by! waiting to hear from 1 option here at home in CYBW then if its a no ill bounce asap.

And very tough call man I hear you, the redbird at calgary flying club kept F****** up and it was the biggest piss off, thats a problem and thats part of our training at this point. In CPL and PPL your just getting some sim time for the license getting exposure but now you have to truely rely on it as a skill building tool

[Tuza]

No. I have no idea of who they are. There is a Class 1 on one of the threads that is offering a bunch of training freelance and has an aeroplane to rent. Not sure of the costs as I’m waiting for a pm. S/he offers full training from ppl right up to Instructor and goes to where you are within reason. They mentioned Red Deer/Edmonton area as some options. I’m waiting to hear back if they’ll come to Airdrie. Lol

Are you in BC? For some reason I thought you were in AB. I just googled Pro IFR. In Delta so unless you’re a BC’er, might cost more plus they have their extra tax.

The thing about Roland is he wastes no time nor money. At one point I was flying 3-4 x a day. A bit excessive and I had to back off a bit but things can and do get done quick and efficient. And his quote is with instructor right? Super t hadn’t added theirs in yet? And he’s definitely cheapest in the south! Just you’d be in Lethbridge .... and Super T’s sim is sooo much nicer. tough call as it always is. Haha

Hahah oh okay that's not bad, I know one of my friends is doing his with Doris a flight examiner and renting a Seneca from SATC. I talked to Roland and I like the sound of his operation in Lethbridge, he even mentioned we can do some IFR in a SE to keep the costs down since I don't have much experience doing approaches and holds etc. He doesn't do accomodation anymore but I can expect 500-700 bucks a month for a room. Basically the same anywhere you go even in Surrey/Delta for PRO IFR

Yes I live in Calgary man sorry for the confusion, after visiting Adventure Aviation in GP and did 3 flights I was willing to go where it was the most professional, it sucked because they also had a brand new ALSIM 250. But what I found was there was zero structure and professionalism etc, I was not very confident in the 400 bucks an hour I was spending. I want to know and feel like at least my money is worth it/well spent. We are in the twin and buddy left the plane mid way through the start up checklist to get a CPL (yes CPL) student a cushion and to sign her out, shouldnt she have been already signed out by her acttual instructor? not sure. That took a good 25 minutes, so I did the run up and everything this is my second flight in the multi.

So yeah in conclusion I think Super T and Excel are excellent options even though Excel is more I think ill save money with Roland, those prices I gave you are all in without TAX however PRO IFR is $436 with tax, fuel , DUAL I talked to the girl yesterday they can take me on right away but thats in BC. They run REDBIRD and the thing with over there is the wx...so my buddy was explaining how here its sunny then we get nasty convection in the prairies then we go to TS which isnt very good IFR practice. Also all the turbulence from our daily heating etc we are all use to it. Over there however in Delta its more like drizzle, light rain, and stratus cloud formation which gives you good IFR wx thats safe to fly in as long as no icing.

Just my info to you, still standing by! waiting to hear from 1 option here at home in CYBW then if its a no ill bounce asap.

And very tough call man I hear you, the redbird at calgary flying club kept F****** up and it was the biggest piss off, thats a problem and thats part of our training at this point. In CPL and PPL your just getting some sim time for the license getting exposure but now you have to truely rely on it as a skill building tool

I hear you on all of it. In my experience, MH had the best wx for sure consistently but yeah this last year has been crazy all over Alberta. Lethbridge is crazy wind at times depending esp in afternoon of course. My thing with Delta specifically would be the airspace. I had an instructor at Super T who also trained at Victoria and he told me the airspace is crazy busy but for IFR I would imagine a good opp. When I moved up here last yr I was 3/4 finished my MIFR (had the mutli from Super T) and it was haze for frikin’ Weeks!! Like 6! And then everyone was so busy or disorganized at some schools it was SO frustrating! Angrily so. And I couldn’t justify travelling back and forth to Lethbridge as the gas was crazy and I’ve got kids so not just a quick anytime jump. But hindsight I should have just done it.

Sucks about no accommodation. I don’t even know anyone to offer you to crashpad there. I was only there for less than a yr.

Hopefully something works out you!

Oh and not sure if it’s just slang - I use it all the time, “man” but that I’m def not! Hahaha

[triplebarrel]

No. I have no idea of who they are. There is a Class 1 on one of the threads that is offering a bunch of training freelance and has an aeroplane to rent. Not sure of the costs as I’m waiting for a pm. S/he offers full training from ppl right up to Instructor and goes to where you are within reason. They mentioned Red Deer/Edmonton area as some options. I’m waiting to hear back if they’ll come to Airdrie. Lol

Are you in BC? For some reason I thought you were in AB. I just googled Pro IFR. In Delta so unless you’re a BC’er, might cost more plus they have their extra tax.

The thing about Roland is he wastes no time nor money. At one point I was flying 3-4 x a day. A bit excessive and I had to back off a bit but things can and do get done quick and efficient. And his quote is with instructor right? Super t hadn’t added theirs in yet? And he’s definitely cheapest in the south! Just you’d be in Lethbridge .... and Super T’s sim is sooo much nicer. tough call as it always is. Haha

Hahah oh okay that's not bad, I know one of my friends is doing his with Doris a flight examiner and renting a Seneca from SATC. I talked to Roland and I like the sound of his operation in Lethbridge, he even mentioned we can do some IFR in a SE to keep the costs down since I don't have much experience doing approaches and holds etc. He doesn't do accomodation anymore but I can expect 500-700 bucks a month for a room. Basically the same anywhere you go even in Surrey/Delta for PRO IFR

Yes I live in Calgary man sorry for the confusion, after visiting Adventure Aviation in GP and did 3 flights I was willing to go where it was the most professional, it sucked because they also had a brand new ALSIM 250. But what I found was there was zero structure and professionalism etc, I was not very confident in the 400 bucks an hour I was spending. I want to know and feel like at least my money is worth it/well spent. We are in the twin and buddy left the plane mid way through the start up checklist to get a CPL (yes CPL) student a cushion and to sign her out, shouldnt she have been already signed out by her acttual instructor? not sure. That took a good 25 minutes, so I did the run up and everything this is my second flight in the multi.

So yeah in conclusion I think Super T and Excel are excellent options even though Excel is more I think ill save money with Roland, those prices I gave you are all in without TAX however PRO IFR is $436 with tax, fuel , DUAL I talked to the girl yesterday they can take me on right away but thats in BC. They run REDBIRD and the thing with over there is the wx...so my buddy was explaining how here its sunny then we get nasty convection in the prairies then we go to TS which isnt very good IFR practice. Also all the turbulence from our daily heating etc we are all use to it. Over there however in Delta its more like drizzle, light rain, and stratus cloud formation which gives you good IFR wx thats safe to fly in as long as no icing.

Just my info to you, still standing by! waiting to hear from 1 option here at home in CYBW then if its a no ill bounce asap.

And very tough call man I hear you, the redbird at calgary flying club kept F****** up and it was the biggest piss off, thats a problem and thats part of our training at this point. In CPL and PPL your just getting some sim time for the license getting exposure but now you have to truely rely on it as a skill building tool

I hear you on all of it. In my experience, MH had the best wx for sure consistently but yeah this last year has been crazy all over Alberta. Lethbridge is crazy wind at times depending esp in afternoon of course. My thing with Delta specifically would be the airspace. I had an instructor at Super T who also trained at Victoria and he told me the airspace is crazy busy but for IFR I would imagine a good opp. When I moved up here last yr I was 3/4 finished my MIFR (had the mutli from Super T) and it was haze for frikin’ Weeks!! Like 6! And then everyone was so busy or disorganized at some schools it was SO frustrating! Angrily so. And I couldn’t justify travelling back and forth to Lethbridge as the gas was crazy and I’ve got kids so not just a quick anytime jump. But hindsight I should have just done it.

Sucks about no accommodation. I don’t even know anyone to offer you to crashpad there. I was only there for less than a yr.

Hopefully something works out you!

Oh and not sure if it’s just slang - I use it all the time, “man” but that I’m def not! Hahaha

Oh dang! Sorry ya I deffs was using it as a slang but half as much thought you were a dude so im sorry about that! Wont assume next time haha.

Yeah sorry to hear about your troubles, it can be tough at times in Alberta since we got the bitter cold, then the smoke, then the crazy heat giving us thunderstorms. Sometimes I wonder how I got anything done lol. In terms of Delta I talked to a buddy who did his Rotary CPL out there and he said it was deffs super congested but the practice areas are relatively close and it's not bad once you're out there. But I agree, I am all for congested airspace for good practice especially the multi and Group 1.

So I don't know if you got a reply from that freelance guy (his name is James I know he's a guy, he must be) but he's got no planes to offer and charges $100 an hour! I also have another option for you since for me the pilot training gods have finally listened and I think I may have found my solution. Ill PM you a phone number and details!

Thanks for all the info!

[Schooner69A]

Try http://auroraaviationacademy.com/

They are just starting up in Vernon, BC which wouldn't be that far from you. They will be offering single and twin training.

[Tuza]

Triplebarrel - pm’d you.