Airport Manatee

This morning I drove up to Airport Manatee (48X). You might be able to tell from the photo that Airport Manatee is something of a small field. I met CFI Bill, who runs the one man flying school there, and talked to him for about an hour and a half. Very friendly and seemingly knowledgeable gentleman. We talked about cost, his style of instruction, his aircraft, scheduling and lots of other stuff.

I liked the man and what he had to say. I'm taking the "Discovery" flight tomorrow, which for him is a half price first lesson. The thing I liked the most is that he is first and foremost a flight instructor. He is not building time looking for an airline job. If I was to choose him, I would have the same CFI for every lesson. The biggest downside is price. For private pilot through ATP trainining he uses a Piper Cherokee 180. Yep, the rental rate is a lot more than a Cessna 152 or 172.

I've got several other flight schools to check out and medical exams to take before I make a decision. Tomorrow I'll let you know how the flight went.