On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 07:41:46 -0800 (PST), Ol Shy & Bashful wrote:

Phone calls to different schools will give
you a partial impression just the way they handle your call. Its a
business but unfortunately many flight schools aren't run that way and
staffed by kids who are not oriented towards the business end.
Ask to speak with the chief flight instructor and have your questions
ready as you posed here. Price, time, experience of instructors,
aircraft, time to completion, any guarantees of performance if you get
scheduled, etc.

I'm building a list of questions, thanks for the headliners, I didn't have
a couple of these.

A new instructor is eager to show off their new found skills but
frequently the student loses actual stick time watching the CFI show
off. OTOH, the new instructor is fresh on nearly everything having
been studying for his/her exams. I enjoy flying with older studetns
such as yourself for a number of reasons. 1. Motivation to learn to
fly and paying attention. 2. Maturity to understand it isn't a game
and requires study and focus. 3. Financial smarts to budget the money
within reason and capable of following thru to the end. 4. Desire to
fly safely and within their own envelope and experience level. 5.
Understanding how skills can deteriorate and the need for regular
training or refresher training.

6. We fear death.

While the older guys take more time to get it down, once they have it,
they HAVE it. Older people are smart enough to figure out when they
are being jerked around and usually have sense enough to say so or do
something about it.

Inverse relationship between age and time to fart around.

Avoid buying every gadget in sight. There are a few basic books that
you need to study and even after 40 years of instructing, I still need
to review them from time to time. There are only a few basic pieces of
equipment that you need and don't buy the most expensive ones!

Have been watching the watch thread.

Experience will be your guide as you progress thru your flying.
Best of luck and don't hesitate to ask more questions. There are some
very experienced and helpful people here to lean on and learn from.

Very kind of you, and of those who have taken their time to help me out.
--
Remove numbers for gmail and for God's sake it ain't "gee" either!