Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:09 pm
Jon, I'm a bit late in adding this as I only ran across your Intro today.
FWIW one of the best things that serendipitously happened to me when I began flight training was learning to fly from an airport on the very edge of a Class B. In addition, SPG is only 5 miles from the busiest USCG Air Station in the U.S....AND there are 8 airports, grass field to Tampa International, just within the land perimeter of Tampa Bay.
And - wait for it - as a bonus, 3 of the 4 approaches at SPG are over the water.
Here, take a look: http://www.stpete.org/airport/
And altho' it seems to have dropped off significantly in the last decade, Tampa Bay used to be one of those areas where masses of international students would come to learn to fly in the USA's cheap airspace. It was an international experience both on the ground and in the air.
I can't think of a single disadvantage to that kind of location for a student (tho' the learning curve can seem a bit ambitious) and it will subsequently help you have zero reservations about flying in or near controlled airspace. No matter how comfortable the setting, what a disadvantage it would be to 'learn aviation' at a small county airport in Parched Fork, Kansas, distant from active airspace.
FWIW one of the best things that serendipitously happened to me when I began flight training was learning to fly from an airport on the very edge of a Class B. In addition, SPG is only 5 miles from the busiest USCG Air Station in the U.S....AND there are 8 airports, grass field to Tampa International, just within the land perimeter of Tampa Bay.
And - wait for it - as a bonus, 3 of the 4 approaches at SPG are over the water.
Here, take a look: http://www.stpete.org/airport/
And altho' it seems to have dropped off significantly in the last decade, Tampa Bay used to be one of those areas where masses of international students would come to learn to fly in the USA's cheap airspace. It was an international experience both on the ground and in the air.
I can't think of a single disadvantage to that kind of location for a student (tho' the learning curve can seem a bit ambitious) and it will subsequently help you have zero reservations about flying in or near controlled airspace. No matter how comfortable the setting, what a disadvantage it would be to 'learn aviation' at a small county airport in Parched Fork, Kansas, distant from active airspace.