Where to rent in Seattle?

['Vejita' S. Cousin]

Howdy. I'm a PP-ASEL VFR only renter living in Seattle. I go to the
UW and live in Wallingford. Due to school I haven't been up in 6mo. I
finally got a break (well lighter load) and the weather is nice; but it
turns out that the place I use rent from no longer has rentals (Aeroflight
a BFI). I checked out Wings Aloft but there's no way I can afford them.
I heard a rumor of a new club at BFI but I asked around and no one can
confirm, and I drove the whole length of the field and didn't see anyone.
Besides driving all the way up to PAE, what options does a renter in
Seattle have?

Thanks in advance.

[Demonick]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 23:06:47 +0000 (UTC), 'Vejita' S. Cousin wrote:

> Besides driving all the way up to PAE, what options does a renter in
> Seattle have?

At PAE I'd suggest Northwest School of Aviation. I know the owner, and
it's a great operation with mostly Piper planes. 7 miles east, just south
of the city of Snohomish is Harvey field, S43, where Snohomish Flying
Service exclusively rents Cessnas.

Demonick

[M]

NW school of aviation is a great place. They even have a Piper cub.

Alternatively you can also try Northway aviation which is in the same
building as the NW school of aviation. They have a fleet of new
Cessnas and a Piper Chrokee.

[pnw_aviator]

Thirded. NW School of Aviation is a nice outfit and Dave is a heck of
a nice guy. Before getting my own plane last year, I used to rent the
140 from Dave. He's since changed his rental rates to dry rates which
may or may not come out to your advantage depending on where you fuel
up.

Renting in Seattle is a little pricey. You'll find better deals if
you're willing to drive a bit. Crest Airpark and Auburn both offer
pretty reasonable pricing for rentals as well.

[Journeyman]

In article >, 'Vejita' S. Cousin wrote:
> Besides driving all the way up to PAE, what options does a renter in
> Seattle have?

Have you considered Renton? Anything doing there?


Morris

[Smutny]

Renton has two non-club FBO's and the Boeing Flying Club (which has
relaxed its membership requirements).

Pro-Flight has a good fleet of 172's and 177's for rent.
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KRNT/PRO_FLIGHT_AV

There is a new outfit called AcuWings with a Tomahawk and a PA-28-140 in
the Southwest corner. The Tomahawk goes for $50/hour wet according to
their website. http://www.acuwings.com/

Personally, I like flying out of Renton better than either BFI or PAE.
But that's where my plane is based and I learned to fly here 20 years ago...

However, I have hear nothing but great things about the Northwest School
of Aviation on PAE. http://www.northwestschoolofaviation.com/

-j-

Journeyman wrote:

> In article >, 'Vejita' S. Cousin wrote:
>
>> Besides driving all the way up to PAE, what options does a renter in
>>Seattle have?
>
>
> Have you considered Renton? Anything doing there?
>
>
> Morris

[Baha]

I am the owner of AcuWings and would like to update some of the
information that was posted here. Our Tomahawk goes for 69.99/hr wet.
After its brand new paint is one of the best looking Tomahawks.
We also have a PA28-151, great plane for cross country trips, trainer,
basically all purpose. The rate is $99.99 /hr. (We had to add $.99 to
the rental rate recently because of the increase of the fuel price).

We have a generous block time package, you buy 10 hrs, you get 1 free.
That's 10% off if you think about it. We have no club rates, no monthly
dues, no fuel surcharges, no strings attached.

We are in the process of negotiating a twin and a Piper Archer that
will be a first in Puget Sound (cannot tell you more about it until it
happens though) :)

If you'd like to check us out, we have $49.99 intro rates on Tomahawk
and $59.99 on the Warrior. Visit our website to see how we are
different than the other schools or give us a call at (425) 254-9464

[Peter Duniho]

"Baha" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> We have a generous block time package, you buy 10 hrs, you get 1 free.
> That's 10% off if you think about it.

I thought about it. I get 9%, not 10%.

> [...]
> If you'd like to check us out, we have $49.99 intro rates on Tomahawk
> and $59.99 on the Warrior. Visit our website to see how we are
> different than the other schools or give us a call at (425) 254-9464

Interesting...I like the idea of introductory rates. Nice to allow someone
to try out your rental services at a reduced rate. How many hours does one
get at the reduced rate? One? A full rental flight? More than one flight?
One can learn a little about the planes in just an hour, but it takes time
to figure out whether the other aspects of the rental outfit are good or
not.

Pete

[Baha]

Peter,
I teach from the Jeppesen Private Pilot Syllabus and the flight #1
portion actually calls for .5 long of a flight. So, our intro flights
are for .5 (half an hour) but there have been many cases that I went
over that.

My motto is, even if I don't make any money on the first flight, you
will stick around and finish your private with us.

I also intentionally don't sell "private pilot packages" because I
don't want anyone to sign up and then feel the frustration of not being
able to get their money back. Believe me, I have seen really bad flight
schools that they will take your money $1000 or more and will never
return it because it's hidden in some place on their rental agreement.

I have seen many bad flight schools in places I thought or rented
airplanes before, I have seen a few really good ones as well. I am just
trying to be like the good ones..

[Peter Duniho]

"Baha" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I teach from the Jeppesen Private Pilot Syllabus and the flight #1
> portion actually calls for .5 long of a flight. So, our intro flights
> are for .5 (half an hour) but there have been many cases that I went
> over that.

Ahh...I misunderstood. I thought by "rates" you meant those were the hourly
rates for those aircraft. I think intro prices are good policy, but yours
don't really differentiate your outfit at all. Your intro offering is
basically the same one would find pretty much anywhere, and now heavily
advertised through http://www.beapilot.com.

> My motto is, even if I don't make any money on the first flight, you
> will stick around and finish your private with us.

Yup, there's a reason lots of schools and FBOs have a similar policy. :)

> I also intentionally don't sell "private pilot packages" because I
> don't want anyone to sign up and then feel the frustration of not being
> able to get their money back. Believe me, I have seen really bad flight
> schools that they will take your money $1000 or more and will never
> return it because it's hidden in some place on their rental agreement.

Couldn't that be addressed by either a) giving the student's money back, or
b) not hiding whatever restrictions exist on refunding the money?

> I have seen many bad flight schools in places I thought or rented
> airplanes before, I have seen a few really good ones as well. I am just
> trying to be like the good ones..

Well, that's certainly a smart idea. :)

Pete

[Baha]

Peter Duniho wrote:

>
> Ahh...I misunderstood. I thought by "rates" you meant those were the
hourly
> rates for those aircraft. I think intro prices are good policy, but
yours
> don't really differentiate your outfit at all. Your intro offering
is
> basically the same one would find pretty much anywhere, and now
heavily
> advertised through http://www.beapilot.com.
>
And we are part of the beapilot program. By intro rates I meant intro
rate on the two seater and the one on the 4 seater.
We are the only outfit that offers intro rates in Renton Airport.
That's when our differentiation comes in. There are other flight
schools in the area that don't offer that at all.

> > My motto is, even if I don't make any money on the first flight,
you
> > will stick around and finish your private with us.
>
> Yup, there's a reason lots of schools and FBOs have a similar policy.
:)
>
> > I also intentionally don't sell "private pilot packages" because I
> > don't want anyone to sign up and then feel the frustration of not
being
> > able to get their money back. Believe me, I have seen really bad
flight
> > schools that they will take your money $1000 or more and will never
> > return it because it's hidden in some place on their rental
agreement.
>
> Couldn't that be addressed by either a) giving the student's money
back, or
> b) not hiding whatever restrictions exist on refunding the money?

It could , but most of the local people don't do that.. There have been
cases where other flight schools hung on to their customers block money
($200 to $1000) in expense of losing the customer for good.

[kage]

Baha,

Don't worry about what dunaho says. He is NEVER going to use your service.
His pleasure only comes from disagreeing with everything anybody posts on
this group.

Karl


"Baha" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Peter Duniho wrote:
>
>>
>> Ahh...I misunderstood. I thought by "rates" you meant those were the
> hourly
>> rates for those aircraft. I think intro prices are good policy, but
> yours
>> don't really differentiate your outfit at all. Your intro offering
> is
>> basically the same one would find pretty much anywhere, and now
> heavily
>> advertised through http://www.beapilot.com.
>>
> And we are part of the beapilot program. By intro rates I meant intro
> rate on the two seater and the one on the 4 seater.
> We are the only outfit that offers intro rates in Renton Airport.
> That's when our differentiation comes in. There are other flight
> schools in the area that don't offer that at all.
>
>> > My motto is, even if I don't make any money on the first flight,
> you
>> > will stick around and finish your private with us.
>>
>> Yup, there's a reason lots of schools and FBOs have a similar policy.
> :)
>>
>> > I also intentionally don't sell "private pilot packages" because I
>> > don't want anyone to sign up and then feel the frustration of not
> being
>> > able to get their money back. Believe me, I have seen really bad
> flight
>> > schools that they will take your money $1000 or more and will never
>> > return it because it's hidden in some place on their rental
> agreement.
>>
>> Couldn't that be addressed by either a) giving the student's money
> back, or
>> b) not hiding whatever restrictions exist on refunding the money?
>
> It could , but most of the local people don't do that.. There have been
> cases where other flight schools hung on to their customers block money
> ($200 to $1000) in expense of losing the customer for good.
>

[Peter Duniho]

"kage" > wrote in message
...
> Don't worry about what dunaho says. He is NEVER going to use your service.
> His pleasure only comes from disagreeing with everything anybody posts on
> this group.

Geez...you can't even spell my name right.

Where did I disagree with him?

Seems like you've got a big chip on your shoulder, but inventing conflict
where none exists isn't going to get you anywhere.

[Ron Natalie]

Peter Duniho wrote:
=
>
> Interesting...I like the idea of introductory rates. Nice to allow someone
> to try out your rental services at a reduced rate.
>

Back when we had the Navion available for rental we used to give a
discount on the rental while you were getting checked out.

[Montblack]

("Ron Natalie" wrote)
> Back when we had the Navion available for rental we used to give a
> discount on the rental while you were getting checked out.


Overall, was renting out your Navion a positive experience, or would you hop
in the local Way-Back Machine and tell yourself - don't do it?


Montblack

[Ron Natalie]

Montblack wrote:
> ("Ron Natalie" wrote)
>
>> Back when we had the Navion available for rental we used to give a
>> discount on the rental while you were getting checked out.
>
>
>
> Overall, was renting out your Navion a positive experience, or would you
> hop in the local Way-Back Machine and tell yourself - don't do it?
>

Well, it would have been nice to allow it to have worked. We had a
number of mechanical issues (just us wringing out stuff that we would
have found anyhow as private owners). The thing that doomed us was
incompetent maintenance shop (honest at least, but incompetent) that
kept the plane from being as available as it needed to be and a small
taxiing incident with a student that knocked her off the line for a
couple of months. The thing that really pulled the plug however was
that the insurance for rentals of a lot of things (our operation also
had a 170, a 180, and a turbo arrow) got pretty close to unobtainable.

We never really had too much of a problem other than we never got the
thing rented enough to cover the costs. Insurance (when we could get
it) was 3X what it was for private use.

I think less and less of the aviation insurance industry every day.
It's going to kill aviation faster than rising gas prices are going
to.

[Morgans]

"Ron Natalie" > wrote
>
> I think less and less of the aviation insurance industry every day.
> It's going to kill aviation faster than rising gas prices are going
> to.

Give the man a cigar!

Insurance is the reaction to litigation, and will always react fast enough
to make sure it is the big time winner. Insurance will continue to control
more and more property and investments, and where it will stop, I don't
know.

To get a handle on insurance, we must first get a handle on the legal
system.
--
Jim in NC