Harv's Air Advice

[qiviutboy]

I wondered if all you knowledgeable folks can help me.

I am a Brit who has just signed up to do my PPL at Harv's in Manitoba. I am still trying to make a couple of final decisions.

My goal is to possibly work towards a CPL with an aim to stay in bush aircraft. I am also very time limited due to work and will be aiming to get as much done as possible over 4-5 weeks.

with these things in mind:

A) Steinbach vs St. Andrews. Pros and cons? My goal is to get my head down and learn to fly, both ground schooling (I can't do online due to being at sea and limited bandwidth, but am trying to read online resources) and flight training.

B) Should I start by learning in a tail dragger? (which I know would keep me at Steinbach) Does anyone know if there is a lot of competition for time in the tail draggers and getting time with instructors?

C) Does anyone have some suggested online reading that would prep me for Ground School?

Thank you for your input!
Alastair

[shamrock104]

no, there should not be a problem with the taildragger thing, but make sure they have more than one just in case the thing breaks. Harv's will get you done in that timeframe if you put in the effort. For ground studies, order ' From the Ground Up"
which is a Canadian publication which will cover all of your ground subjects.

[metal]

St Andrews is much better than Steinbach according to my friend who flies with Harvs. I'll ask him today, the pros and cons of each one.

[qiviutboy]

So do you think it is better to learn first in a tail dragger or to do the tail dragger conversion at a later date?

[shamrock104]

Does not make a great deal of difference what way you start. Just make sure they have a couple of taildraggers thoug because if not and you break something you will be behind in your schedule.

[qiviutboy]

Thanks for the advice shamrock. That makes perfect sense. My other concern is that if they have only 2 aircraft and there are lots of folks interested in tail dragging, the planes will be busy

[flyingreg38]

Hi,

I'm actually doing my ppl at Steinbach.
A little runway, some trees on the side, a little town where you won't be disturbe from your studies...Compared to St Andrews, I think it's the best choice for a fulltime student who wants to be a bush pilot !

I'm not sure you will have time to do your ppl in 5 weeks...
In a perfect world, it could be done, but most people do it in around 2 months. It depends of yours skills, your instructor's skills, weather, planes available, etc...

I started my ppl at the beginning of September. I try to book 2 flights per day, 6 days a week. Unfortunetly, I had some flights cancelled cause too much wind for a newbie... I made around 20 hours in three weeks.

Instructors are pretty busy, but some new guys have been hired, so it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Indeed, there are two taildraggers available ( 2 citabria, also used for aerobatic). Most of the fleet is C152. I think you would have less problem to find an aircraft free with the cessna's. But, on another way, at this time, I don't see so much people flying on taildraggers.
The key to have an aircraft is to book it in advance ! Don't hesitate to book a week before. Easy to do by the online booking...

if you have another questions, feel free to ask...

Greg

PS : sorry for my mistakes, i've just arrived three weeks ago from France

[gavrailoff]

I am also doing my PPL at steinbach right now. My advice, don't learn on the taildraggers because thats one more person to take bookings away from me. haha. The citabs are awesome to fly, I would definetly suggest it. Might take you a few more hours to get to solo on it but it will help you develope better skills. First few take offs will be scary! Booking the plane can be a hassle sometimes, but like the person before said if you book in advance you'll have no problems.
In terms of the airport itself, its a good place to learn. A few tricky factors like trees and narrow runway but again it can only improve your skills. You will get grounded from strong cross winds more compared to St. Andrews. Steinbach isn't very exciting so if you live at the field you'll do nothing but fly.