If this was 15 years ago, I would recommend Plant City airport near Tampa, FL. But now the flight school has changed name, so I don’t know if it still is as friendly and cheap like it used to be. Today the name is Atlas aviation https://atlasaviation.com/aircraft-rental-2/
I and my wife flew over to our friends in Tampa twice, 1999 and 2001. Both times we rented a C172 from that airport and flew to Seattle and back, about 70 hours in 4 weeks both times. We had friends or relatives everywhere… that was great!
On those days when we paid the flight in advance, they gave a pretty big discount, so the rent was really cheap. And they were awfully friendly. The first time we found the place just by driving to different airfields to ask for a plane to rent. The next time we made the reservation already by email. We were happy and they were happy – they seldom get a customer who flies so much and pays in advance.
You could at least mail them and check it out. Tell them about us and ask if they still have the same people working there as 20 years ago. If yes, say hello and thanks from me and my wife. And if you look at that home page, the rent seem to be pretty cheap still now – about the same as in flight clubs here in Finland. And if they still will give a discount…
Hannu Hakkinen
by the way, Florida is a very nice state to fly around. A lot of little fields everywhere. We had a tent and sleeping bags etc when flying.
Ibra wrote:
If you are renting a retractable turbo Arrow you should budget for “10h checkout”, that was with 150h PIC on Arrow, I am not sure why it required “type rating for rentals” ?
In one word: insurance. Any retract these days attracts higher insurance premiums and hour requirements (and, of course, the FAA complex endorsement).
@Martin: I would go for a C172. You’re familiar with it and you really don’t want to sit in a Piper in the temps out there. Seriously. Cirrus, unless yo already have the Cirrus transition under your belt, you can forget, especially the ‘22. These things also are needlessly expensive (again – insurance mostly to blame) and any FBO will insist on a checkout that’s way too much for your purposes. A C182 would be the perfect airplane for your trip, but there are not that many around for rental and you need the FAA high-power endorsement.
As for your time scale. A good friend of mine comes out from Europe every other year or so and we go on a flying trip of about 7-8 days. He usually budgets 2 weeks including the intercontinental flights. We usually hang out in LA for a couple of days, then fly, same afterwards. Makes for a stress-free trip. Don’t forget: you should never, ever have to be somewhere if traveling in a SEP.
I’ve rented from: Poteau, Oklohoma,; Grand Junction, Colorado; Billings, Montana; Rapid City, South Dakota.
The place I’ve gone back to is Grand Junction. Cheap hotels near the airfield, with a selection of restaurants. Good aircraft availability. Usually good weather, March-April and September to November, the times I’ve visited. Desert canyon walking near the town. I’ve landed in New Mexico, Utah, Arizona. Great scenery.
The person called “Martin” is long gone.
My friend and I ……
I did my IR in Arizona but mostly under the hood. The bits I did see were spectacular though. If I was going to fly there normally I would certainly start with Arizona and Utah. Bryce Canyon (visited by surface) is the most spectacular place I have ever seen.
Why New Mexico?
Some reasons already explained, but it’s dry and temperate in the fall, has gorgeous aerial scenery with lots of variation, and you can basically put it down anywhere if you have trouble. Airspace is endless Class E (i.e. uncomplicated freedom), which is part of what you want to experience flying in the US right? You get mesas, Shiprock, and the Four Corners in the northwest, the Sandia mountains near Albuquerque, White Sands in the southeast, and the absolute best Mexican food in the country (Hatch green chile and honey-filled sopapillas anyone?). You can easily cross into Arizona, Colorado, or Utah if you like.
Someone mentioned Atlanta and Charlotte, which are also options if you want to experience good weather (although less trustworthy than New Mexico). Airspace is much denser than NM, but still reasonable compared to most of Europe, and there are loads of airports everywhere that you can pop into. The downside is that the view from the air isn’t that interesting (really just endless trees). Avoid Florida, unless you like 1000% humidity, and it will still be hot as hades in the fall.
If you decide to go to either NM or the Atlanta region, I can suggest a full itinerary if you like. In Atlanta, KRYY would be a good base with Superior Flight School for an easy checkout in your typical Cessna. At most places they probably won’t rent you anything other than a 172 or P28A without hours of checkout. This is due to US insurance requirements. In NM I’d look at Farmington as a home base, which puts you in range of a lot of good flying territory. It’s also on top of a mesa, which is just amazing!
Thanks @dutch_flyer – NM definitely sounds like an option. Let me speak with my colleague and I will DM you, don’t want you to spend time on an itinerary if he’s insisting on LF or SoCal :)
Really don’t do Florida! The heat and humidity are absolute misery in a GA airplane, and fall is also hurricane season. Also there isn’t much to see that you haven’t seen already elsewhere. The desert landscapes of the west are like nothing in Europe. The two hours of extra time difference will be worth it.
