[Kul]

Hello,

I am a Mechanical and Aerospace engineering student at the University of Connecticut. I've dreamed about flying ever since I spent a week at US Space Camp but since none of my family members or friends flew I was clueless about how to start this hobby. At UCONN I enrolled in AIRF201 Aviation Ground School and completed it this semester. I would now like to take actual flying lessons but I still have not picked a flight school and I would be interested in listening to any advice from experts I can get. My plan is to take an hour or two of lessons every Saturday and get a license sometime in the summer. If any of you fly in Connecticut please tell me about your experiences with your flight school. I also heard a bit about Sport Pilot licenses that take less time to get but restrict you to lighter planes with one passenger. Could I get my sport pilot license in 20h and then upgrade it to private pilot once I get 40h or would I have to restart with 0 hours when I will go for my private pilot license.

The primary factors for deciding will probably be the price and time. My ground school instructor told me that it is possible to get my license in 35h while a lot of flight schools I contacted told me that it would be highly improbable and that I should expect around 60 hours. I think some of those schools are placing their interests of making money above mine and therefore may try to hold me back until 60h . Of cause the cost of each lesson will also be very important because I have to pay for them by myself and I am already paying for my tuition. I would be willing to drive for an hour to an airport if I could end up saving some money. I am also interested in learning about any discounts or scholarships you could suggest. Would there be a way for me to get a discount for being an Aerospace Engineer (engineers who actually build planes), a first pilot in the family or something else like that. I found a lot of scholarships for female and minority pilots but I cannot use them since I’m a male and Russian-Americans aren’t considered a minority.

I look forward to your advices on which school in Connecticut I should pick.

Thank you,