Glacier Air or Langley Flight School

[chubchub]

Hi all, I've done some research and fam flights (glacier and sea land air) and want to get my ppl/cpl at either one of these schools. The fam flight at glacier was great actually, I could tell the instructors were genuine and excited. The thing is I live in Burnaby so it's quite far but I was going to sign up there since the quality seem to be worth it. Now Ive found this forum and it seems Langley Flight School gets many praises as well. I have not tried a fam flight there (and I will) but I definitely prefer the shorter drive. Current CFI at Glacier is Francois while LFS rehired David Parry, both get recommendations in this very forum.

Which would you pick and why?

[RevT]

Hi all, I've done some research and fam flights (glacier and sea land air) and want to get my ppl/cpl at either one of these schools. The fam flight at glacier was great actually, I could tell the instructors were genuine and excited. The thing is I live in Burnaby so it's quite far but I was going to sign up there since the quality seem to be worth it. Now Ive found this forum and it seems Langley Flight School gets many praises as well. I have not tried a fam flight there (and I will) but I definitely prefer the shorter drive. Current CFI at Glacier is Francois while LFS rehired David Parry, both get recommendations in this very forum.

Which would you pick and why?

I trained at Glacier and was very happy with them. CYSE is a great place to fly out of. But at the end of the day, it's all about having a good instructor and getting out flying as much as possible. If you find an instructor you like at Langley, I would probably go there just because the commute is shorter for you. Just remember that you're not marrying the school. If you don't like your instructor, grab your PTR and switch! Heck, there's nothing stopping you from working through a few lessons at each school and then committing. You might pay for an extra hour of flying as a "switching cost" while instructor B gets a feel for you but in the grand scheme that's money well spent.

[lhalliday]

Go for a fam flight at Langley and see what you think. Their Cherokees have zillions of hours and aren't as new or shiny as some school's planes, but they are well-maintained, solid flying machines. These are planes to fly, not computer games with wings. If Langley Flying School can teach me to fly they can teach anybody.

Langley is a nice little airport and I keep my plane there. As the crow flies there's not much difference between Burnaby-CYNJ and Burnaby-CYSE, except that one is 95% freeway.

...laura

[chubchub]

thanks rev and laura. sounds like langley flight school might be the way to go for me. I'll go on a fam flight and perhaps a few lessions like Rev said, if it doesnt work out I can go to Glacier. I'm so excited just thinking about starting!
@Laura: do you recommend any particular instructor at LFS?

[geneticistx]

Im training at YSE...
I love it.

[AirFrame]

Tough call... Langley is the shorter commute, but Francois is awesome. If you're considering Langley, I suggest going for a fam flight at SkyQuest as well.

[lhalliday]

@Laura: do you recommend any particular instructor at LFS?

No.

On a practical level, the instructors I have the most experience have long since moved on.

On a moral level, this is a decision you must make yourself. I can't make it for you. The LFS instructors are, by definition, all fully qualified for their jobs.

...laura

[RevT]

@Laura: do you recommend any particular instructor at LFS?

No.

On a practical level, the instructors I have the most experience have long since moved on.

On a moral level, this is a decision you must make yourself. I can't make it for you. The LFS instructors are, by definition, all fully qualified for their jobs.

...laura

This is why it makes no sense to fully commit to any particular school. Every school has qualified instructors by definition. But you're only going to discover the X factor face to face and shoulder to shoulder with them. You don't need to be besties to get good training but you're going to be spending a bunch of time with these folks and spending a bunch of money to do it. Training is fun (if occasionally frustrating) - so if you're not enjoying it and not progressing then.......

[ScottS]

How close to the freeway do you live? Distance wise it is shorter, but I can't really see the drive to YSE being much shorter than YNJ time-wise. You are either paying for tolls on the Port Mann or dogging it through Surrey. Unless you are coming up in the Whistler rush it is only an hour tops from BBY to Squam.

[North Shore]

Squamish all the way - miss the rush/congestion along hwy 1 to the Port Mann, and you can take your MTB, rock gear, or kite and have some kick-ass recreation after your lesson, with great scenery to boot.

One school is pretty much as good as another, really - it's how competent your instructor is, and the relationhip between you and them that counts..