TheLorax Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Moving into a condo @ WP Beach on Monday for more training. Anyone around Lantana airport? How's the area? Hopefully we're in for some good summer weather.. Clear Skies for All. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Lorax, that's my hometown. My parents live 2 blocks from LNA. I also flew out of that airport when I started my FW training back in the day. Palm Beach helicopters are on the airfield there, pretty cool crews when I met them. If you are going to fly there, PM me and I'll give you a contact for Night Flight Concepts. They fly at Palm Beach Helicopters doing training with NVG's. The owner is in my unit, cool guy. CHAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjl2001 Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I don't live down there, but did visit a couple weeks ago and looked at all the helo schools. Palm Beach Helicopters, and Helicopter Academy are there at LNA; then Ocean Helicopters and Cloud 9 are at a smaller airport towards the north (F45). Personally, I found Cloud 9 to be the friendliest bunch even though Ocean said not to trust them. If you are there for training/flying keep in mind that Palm Beach Community College offers Helo flying programs with those schools also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I also visited Cloud 9 at north county airport... while I agree they were very friendly people, i didn't get the feeling they were well situated for serious training. I may be wrong, just the sense I got when I visited there. CHAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomer Pylot Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I've only been there for the Flight Safety course. I didn't like the area much, but I didn't spend enough time there to make an intelligent judgment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLorax Posted March 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 rjl2001, i will be with helicopter academy, my current flight training org.can you elaborate a little more on WP beach community college? FLHooker, training with nvgs huh? how often does that come into place in civilian flying? i'm extremely curious of what your response will be. thanks guys. G. Py: intelligent judgements are overrated. what flight safety course was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomer Pylot Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 S76C+ a few years ago. As for NVGs, a number of EMS operations are starting to use goggles. I think it's going to be rather common in the future. It hasn't been that long sincce the FAA wouldn't even discuss allowing them, but now there has been a complete turnaround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjl2001 Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Ya, my understanding is that a lot of law enforcement and EMS pilots use NVG's. Looks like a lot of departments using them require pilot applicants to already have the training and X amount of hours with them. From the people I've met, I would say the majority of these jobs are filled by prior service military pilots. But that being said, it certainly couldn't hurt to gain the experience. As far as the Palm Beach Community College, they have had a Professional Pilot program for quite a few years. However just this year I believe they decided to offer the helicopter flight portion. They offer three degree tracks: commercial aviation, flight operations management, and aviation maintenance management. Depending on the courses you take you can earn either an A.S. degree or A.A.S. degree. The college has contracts with all four of those flight schools, and they keep a seperate flight account for you at the college which they use to pay whichever school directly ($250/hr. as of FEB '08). Most of your college classes are aviation related courses, with 1 or 2 regular academic classes per semester (english, math, etc.). All of the related financing goes through PBCC, and they offer financial aid such as federal subsidized student loans, as well as private student loans from different vendors. The best P.O.C. at the college is: Suhe Bethell, Program Specialist, (561) 868-3916. So your at Helicotper Academy, how is that going? They are actually the one school I wasn't able to visit down there. Talked to a guy on the phone at their main headquarters somewhere who made it sound like a very fun and interesting program. Are you just starting your training or trying do some time building with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Lorax, Gomer was able to respond faster than I, just look at his response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Hampshire Aviator Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Hi, I spent a week with PBH back in January. They are a great bunch of mostly prior military (not pilots) instructors. I flew 18.5 in 5 days in R22 and R44 with a variety of instructors. I am from NH so flying over aligators and sharks was a blast. I got to know just about everyone there and when I get some more fun money I will go back to visit. I was there to build time for commercial and the equiptment is above average despite the FL sun, which is pretty destructive despite hangar use. I would reccomend that if you plan to do pattern work and or autos that you go to another field (F45) as LNA is uncontrolled and has a lot of fixed wing student pilots with poor english speaking skills. They have a IFR R44 time building weekly trip that I plan on completing when I return.Fly safely!Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceWater Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Hey Lorax,I live directly across the street from LNA. Been here for almost a year and it's not bad. Very humid summers, you can almost always count on heavy thunderstorms in the afternoons (Like clockwork). Hmmm Lot's of older people here, and the drivers here have to be by far the worst i've ever seen in any state or country for that matter that I've ever seen Hahaha. where is your condo at? PM me if you want to know more and maybe we can link up -Hae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 3-3:30... The daily t-storms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 I was wondering what ya'll were paying for rent in WPB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceWater Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I was wondering what ya'll were paying for rent in WPB I hear $1100 - $1400 for Two bedroomsabout $800 - $1100 for one Bedroom place depends on the area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RW-1 Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Hello, I've been flying with C9 at F45 for over a year, am about to add my CFI-I. I've not flown at PBH for training, but have flown with Lyn and Shawn in the R-44 and Shawn is an excellent CFI-I and recently became chief pilot at PBH. (I was the first timebuilder flyer to gainsville and back, AWESOME experience, if any think about going, do it, you will not come away dissatisfied!) To the original poster, if you are near LNA, do go to PBH, they are close, but if you wish to research all schools in the area, you have C9 and Ocean at F45. BTW, I believe F45 is a terrific place to fly out of (Realize I don't just say this to urge you to go, I drive up there and back about 100 mi round trip each time). Although uncontrolled, you have an ILS, GPS and VOR approach to the field, so you may not have to go elsewhere. (LNA may have the same, I haven't checked). One thing for certain, as of late, LNA noise complaints have risen for heli use, something the operators at F45 do not have to contend with due to its semi-remote location. (just giving facts, this isn't degrading any schools instructional capabilities). As with any choice of where to fly, I'd say go to all schools and meet with instructors and active students to see whom would make a good match for ya. Then decide if the distance driven will be worth it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I hear $1100 - $1400 for Two bedroomsabout $800 - $1100 for one Bedroom place depends on the areathanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 There are a couple of places down in Boynton Beach which is just south of LNA that are offering the first 2 months of rent for free because they can't get enough people to rent right now. Make sure you call around. My little brother got such a deal off of Gateway Blvd and Congress Ave CHAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8shandini Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hey all, I'm kinda new here and also new to WPB. I recently started work at that helicopter manufacturer down the road from F45, but I think I'm about to pack it in when it comes to engineering and try my hand at flying for a living. The pilots here are a good resource, but they're all ex-military and I'd like to learn more about folks who have made it / are making it the hard way. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you South Florida folks wanted to get together for a beer sometime. I've learned alot doing some research on this board, but you can always learn from a good gripe session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceWater Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 There are a couple of places down in Boynton Beach which is just south of LNA that are offering the first 2 months of rent for free because they can't get enough people to rent right now. Make sure you call around. My little brother got such a deal off of Gateway Blvd and Congress Ave CHAD Yes! be very carefull of these places! Lol I ended up getting a month free at my complex, and a week later after i moved in I saw a torched car in my neighborhood. Some parts of my compex are not very nice. I lucked out and got a quiet corner, but that's slowly changing. There's a reason why they're giving out a month free rent. Lots of foreigners live down in Boynton beach. PM me if you have any questions -D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Oh, agreed, the apts that my brother are in are not half bad, haven't seen any torched cars... atleast not in the last 24 hours... Kidding, it all depends on where you are at. And, there are foreigners all over the place down there man, not just in boynton. CHAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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