Minneapolis FBOs - Rental

Hello all,

Passed my Private Pilot Checkride yesterday (see my posting in
r.a.student), and just in the nick of time, as I'm moving from Omaha to
Minneapolis next week to begin my medical residency. Despite being
overworked I still plan on flying at least once or twice a month. I
will be living just NW of the U.

Could anyone give me some reviews of FBOs at Crystal (MIC) and Anoka
(ANE), specifically regarding aircraft rental?

I'd be most interested in renting 152s, 172s, Archers or Cherokees, but
not necessarily the newest model (I trained in a 1966 C172, and loved
it!). I haven't found much in Google newsgroup archives, so I thought
this would be a good thread for discussion.

The idea of joining a flying club had crossed my mind, but with my
limited income and expected flying time I didn't think the investment
would be worthwhile. If my thinking is wrong, let me know! Also if
anyone has some tips about flying around the Twin Cities, I'd love to
hear them!

TIA,
Neil Bratney, M.D., PP-ASEL

"Neil A. Bratney" wrote in message
news:q03tc.44516$5a.25607@okepread03...
Hello all,

Passed my Private Pilot Checkride yesterday (see my posting in
r.a.student), and just in the nick of time, as I'm moving from Omaha to
Minneapolis next week to begin my medical residency. Despite being
overworked I still plan on flying at least once or twice a month. I
will be living just NW of the U.

Could anyone give me some reviews of FBOs at Crystal (MIC) and Anoka
(ANE), specifically regarding aircraft rental?

You might want to start with airnav.com and see what FBO web sites rae
linked to the fields above.

Looks like Northland might be a start:

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMIC/NORTHLAND

I go in and out of FCM on the SW side. I know they have rentals there.

Any retract rentals in Omaha? I might be in Lincoln, NE. I had started a
thread here on that.

worr wrote:

I go in and out of FCM on the SW side. I know they have rentals there.

Any retract rentals in Omaha? I might be in Lincoln, NE. I had started a
thread here on that.


I've been flying out of Council Bluffs, Iowa (CBF) which is about 20
minutes east from my downtown Omaha apartment. Might be a little bit
far from Lincoln, but I know they have a C182RG that's available for
rental as well as complex and high-performance training. See
http://www.advancedaircb.com

Otherwise, ask about the Millard airport. Never been there but that is
on your side of the city... probably only 40-45 miles from Lincoln.

Happy flying and thanks for the tip!

Neil

Prices seem high...those brand new birds? $120 for the `82RG...I rent a
Comanche 260C for $110.



I've been flying out of Council Bluffs, Iowa (CBF) which is about 20
minutes east from my downtown Omaha apartment. Might be a little bit
far from Lincoln, but I know they have a C182RG that's available for
rental as well as complex and high-performance training. See
http://www.advancedaircb.com

The two more expensive 172s are the newest... I think 7MA is 1998 and
85Y is 2002. The 182RG is circa 1981 I think...

NAB

worr wrote:

Prices seem high...those brand new birds? $120 for the `82RG...I rent a
Comanche 260C for $110.




I've been flying out of Council Bluffs, Iowa (CBF) which is about 20
minutes east from my downtown Omaha apartment. Might be a little bit
far from Lincoln, but I know they have a C182RG that's available for
rental as well as complex and high-performance training. See
http://www.advancedaircb.com

Congratulations Neil, both on your pilot's license and your medical
degree. I'm sure both will be fulfilling in the future, well worth all
the effort expended. Good flying and good luck in MSP.




On Wed, 26 May 2004 10:49:43 -0500, "Neil A. Bratney"
wrote:

Hello all,

Passed my Private Pilot Checkride yesterday (see my posting in
r.a.student), and just in the nick of time, as I'm moving from Omaha to
Minneapolis next week to begin my medical residency. Despite being
overworked I still plan on flying at least once or twice a month. I
will be living just NW of the U.

Could anyone give me some reviews of FBOs at Crystal (MIC) and Anoka
(ANE), specifically regarding aircraft rental?

I'd be most interested in renting 152s, 172s, Archers or Cherokees, but
not necessarily the newest model (I trained in a 1966 C172, and loved
it!). I haven't found much in Google newsgroup archives, so I thought
this would be a good thread for discussion.

The idea of joining a flying club had crossed my mind, but with my
limited income and expected flying time I didn't think the investment
would be worthwhile. If my thinking is wrong, let me know! Also if
anyone has some tips about flying around the Twin Cities, I'd love to
hear them!

TIA,
Neil Bratney, M.D., PP-ASEL

Neil A. Bratney wrote:

Could anyone give me some reviews of FBOs at Crystal (MIC) and Anoka
(ANE), specifically regarding aircraft rental?


I trained at Crystal Shamrock from spring to winter of 2002. I enjoyed
it. Nice people, good service, and an OK selection of planes, mostly
Cessnas. The only Piper they had at the time was a Seneca. Some of the
152's and 172N's were getting pretty worn out but they kept up on
maintenance. They had a couple of newer 172's also. Rates were
reasonable - pretty much the norm. No online scheduling.

I enjoyed flying at Crystal because it's Class D - I like radio work and
it helped when I started instrument training. It was actually quite a
switch for me when I moved to Fleming Field over in South St. Paul to
finish my private (job change moved me to the other side of town).
Having to announce all my pattern legs really had me mixed up for a while!

Fleming is a good field, too, by the way. They have a CAF wing out
there so don't be surprised if you end up in the pattern with the B-25
"Miss Mitchell". Great plane. And you can get your seaplane rating at
Wings, Inc - they share facilities with Wipair, maker of Wipline floats.
(Check out the Fire Boss at
http://www.wipaire.com/partners_fireboss.html - very cool.) Oh, and
Wings has a pretty nice online scheduler, too.

Never flew out of Anoka. Like Crystal, they do a lot of flight training
so it can get pretty hectic. ( BTW, Crystal has *two pairs* of parallel
runways and they frequently run 14-32 right and left at the same time.
Don't overshoot the turn to final.

Good luck and if you see Roger Gayle at Crystal, tell him I said hi.

-Scott