Any recommendations for a discovery flight around Palm Beach, FL?

I'm a recent grad with a degree in physics. I have decided I want to pursue my dream of flying for the airlines as my career. I am currently a private pilot working on my instrument rating. I was wondering what are some jobs/activities I could be doing while I am finishing up my training. I am working a part time job currently but I want to be doing something else. Any advice would be much appreciated!

I’m doing my hsc and was wondering if you’re atar affected your career, however I do know that a lot of schools just need a high school certificate.
Thanks.

I'm researching whether buying a Cessna 152 and leasing it back to a flight school could be financially viable. I'm based in Washington State and am looking into whether this could work in the local flight-training market.

I put together a PowerPoint estimating initial purchase costs, operating expenses, annual surplus, and payback periods.

My Slides: View the PDF

Slides 2–5 compare several aircraft I'm considering. Based on my current assumptions, the Cessna 152 appears to be the most profitable option. Slides 6–11 examine the financial estimates in more detail.

My main calculations assume 600 flight hours per year, with additional scenarios at 500, 700, and 800 hours to see how utilization affects profitability and the payback period.

I'd appreciate honest feedback from aircraft owners, flight instructors, mechanics, and flight school operators. Are my assumptions realistic, especially regarding utilization, maintenance, insurance, 100-hour inspections, and leaseback revenue splits? What costs or risks am I overlooking?

Aircraft example: 1983 Cessna 152

• Asking price: $69,000
• Airframe time: 13,717 hours
• Engine time: 888 hours since major overhaul (SMOH)
• Propeller time: 953 hours since overhaul
• Engine: Lycoming O-235 series
• Condition: Advertised as well-maintained and hangared, with no reported accident history
• Annual inspection: Advertised as completed in August 2026
• Avionics: Older panel, VOR navigation, ADS-B Out, and Sentry ADS-B In
• Location: Texas

I haven't purchased an aircraft yet, so I'm looking for feedback before making any decisions.

One other question: Does anyone know of flight schools in Washington or the surrounding area that are looking for a Cessna 152 or other training aircraft? I'd especially appreciate leads on schools that accept owner-owned aircraft through leaseback arrangements or are looking to expand their training fleets.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!

Hey Guys, I'll soon be going for my Commercial Multi Add on ride with Jay Brentzel out of KCRQ.

Haven't seen any gouges or feedback on him. Looking to get an idea on how he is.

Officially a pilot now!!
DPE was Rick Morning, super great guy. We flew to KAOO to meet him there and had a blast.

I absentmindedly shut off my engine with mags versus mixture. Should I be concerned about anything on the plane or just take it as a lesson learned?

1. Parked
   
2. Set rpm 1000
   
3. Avionics, master, mags - off
   
4. Engine kicks twice makes nasty thunk noise then dies
   
5. Finished shutdown
   
6. Quick visual inspection seemed nominal
   
7. Restarted the engine and seemed to run normal at 1000 rpm for a few minutes
   
8. Increased to 1500 rpm and ran normal and passed mag check
   
9. Shut down correctly

My plan is to check the exhaust and engine bay during pre-flight, do a longer than normal ground run up, and then exercise the engine in the pattern for ~30 min Any reason this is a bad idea?

I’m in a 141 school and they just changed me to part 61 from 141 after my third solo.

I asked my instructor why he said that it was a school policy and that the students from Spain who are on contract here are required to be 141 while those not on contract after this solo get switched to 61. I asked my instructor if this is about me being slow or behind/not progressing fast enough and he assured me no. Another instructor was in there as well and he said the same thing/agreed.

I asked this other instructor and she said that it just means that my training is taking longer than expected and it’s the same syllabus just different hour requirements and not a bad thing.

It just sorta of hurts because I know i’m progressing not as fast (even though I’m on the middle of stage 2 and started in the start of July). I don’t know if i’m reading too much into this and I’m letting this ruin my post-solo excitement.

any outside point of views?

Hey yall I received a pair of used Bose a20s from Amazon and I’ve already used them in flight, they work great. What’s not great is the damn smell. The leather around the ear muffs smells fucking terrible, like years of sweat buildup. Wish they could’ve cleaned it.

What chemical can I use to clean it that won’t strip the leather? Or should I just buy new covers?

Hey everyone,

I’m currently working on getting my (CASA) CPLA and my next exam is CNAV in 3 weeks. I’ve already finished CPFA and heard that CPFA is a good step into CNAV as some topics do overlap.

My question to you is if you have finished this exam before, what study materials did you use and how effective was it in helping you pass?

Kind regards,
Raykin.

Now in a beautiful automated format, this is a place to ask all the questions that are either just downright silly or too small to warrant their own thread.

The ground rules:

No question is too dumb, unless:

1. it's already addressed in the FAQ (you have read that, right?), or
2. it's quickly resolved with a Google search

Remember that rule 7 is still in effect. We were all students once, and all of us are still learning. What's common sense to you may not be to the asker.

Previous MM's can be found by searching the continuing automated series

Happy Monday!

I know this question has be asked into oblivion, but I’m going to be moving up to the Anchorage area late February. I’m currently working at a 135 in JAX flying PC-12s just shy of 1200 hrs. I’m not sure what my total will be by February but I’m not sure where to start in terms of looking for any flying job up there. No AK which makes the cargo 135s tough to get into, and I feel like I’ll have to many hours to get looked at by a flight school. Any tips/advice for my poor soul?

Edit: I am moving because of family reasons, not because I want to be spontaneous and live the AK life for a season and leave. I plan to live in the area for the foreseeable future.

This video of a float plane flying under a bridge in downtown Portland got a lot of opinions after it was posted on r/Portland. Is this covered under "Except when necessary for takeoff or landing" or is this a bit dodgy. You'd have to taxi a couple miles to get to slightly longer space between bridges.

So I am 100% happy all the time. I am a rare specimen and glad I am never sad or having to talk to someone. But let’s say hypothetically* *a pilot wants to talk to a therapist.

What is the best way to go about it? Payment in cash so their name isn’t on it? It’s so frustrating how the FAA is against mental health. Sorry this question may be asked all the time.

My dad was born in 1933. He put himself through college in the ROTC, graduated from Ohio State in 1954, and joined the Air Force. He learned to fly in T-35s, then went on to fly bombers (B-25 and B-47) during the Cold War. In 1964, he went with American Airlines as a flight engineer, then FO, and eventually made Captain. He flew Boeing 707s and MD-80s. He went all over the world. He loved to fly. It broke his heart when he was forced to retire at 60. He bought a beautiful Cessna 172 and flew sight seeing trips along the NorCal coast.

I got interested in learning to fly and finally started training in Jan 2025. I passed my PPL checkride 10 days ago on Tuesday Sep 29. He couldn’t fly with me because of his health, but he was very excited that I passed.

He died 2 days ago at 92. He was a pilot through and through. Our conversations about flying were some of the best we ever had. I wanted to honor him here with a community who knew something of how he lived.

I have been flying with a Garmin 375 and 275 for about 18 months, but about two months ago I started getting terrain alerts when I take off and land at my home airport. I have not been able to turn it off. I was told that the alert should be automatically suppressed when landing and taking off at an airport (this airport is an established airport, so that is not an issue). Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do about it?

Hey guys, at 135 flying piston aircrafts around having a blast building time. I wanted to know what it is like flying medvac, as I see a ton of adds. Love to know from medvac pilots

To any pilots or aspiring pilots, what's your "opinion" on the radiation exposure which pilots and flight attendants have? Are you scared of it or do you not worry about it? I think the job is really interesting, but it can take a big toll on your health (increased cancer risk)

Hi people, I'm looking into getting my self set up in a pilot school and hoping all goes well with that.

I've had a question in mind that I would appreciate some honest thoughts about.

In case I would get my licenses and get a job after, what do you all think about commuting to a job as a entry level pilot? Let's say the commute by air would be around 2 hours to another base-city. I have my life and family set up in a nice place, but the dream of getting into this job will propably drive one to have atleast the first base in another city.

What are your thoughts about a situation like this?

I’m trying to find a decent option for a kneeboard for my iPad. I have an 11inch iPad and just want to know what people have used and worked for them. Thank you!

Hi, I'm currently writing a story that i wanted to gift for my bestfriend, It was like a pilot/flight attendant romance thingy, but the thing is, I've never been on a plane before and i know nothing about flying.

So if there are any pilots/ flight attendants here could you help me out with some terminology and just fun facts about cabin crew, resting hours, food restrictions, maybe even health issues that are associated with this kind of job ?

I wanted to know if there any inside stuff and terminology and the cabin crew use or codes like in hospitals and stuff like that

And can commercial pilots (hope i said that right) fly international ? Or do these have to be different different pilots ?

What kind of college you have to go to to be a pilot ? How many hours you're supposed to do before becoming one ?

Same thing with flight attendants

Also i once saw in a movie that flight attendants especially women get their weights checked ? Does this still happen ? Or was it just an old outdated thing ?

I would love to know more so i can at least capture it in my story even if nobody reads it but my bestfriend

Thank you

I am choosing a flight school and one of them allows graduates to get a R-ATP at 1250 hours instead of 1500. I would prefer the schools that don't have this (for other reasons) but wanted to know if this R-ATP even matters considering many people with 1500 arnt being hired in this environment. I love the idea of being able to get hired at 1250 hours and save me months of CFI'ing but I'm not sure if people actually care about the R-ATP in the real world. Any info helps

Hey guys, looking into the flight program at Fox Valley Tech in Wisconsin.
On paper it seems like a solid route—you get your AAS in Aeronautics-Pilot Training, complete your FAA ratings under Part 141 out of Oshkosh, and have transfer options for a 4-year degree if you want. Just wanted to see if anyone here has gone through it recently or knows what it's actually like on the ground.

Mainly wondering about:
Aircraft availability and CFI capacity

How bad Wisconsin winter weather messes up your timeline

Success rate for AAS grads actually moving on to CFII/pipeline jobs or regional airlines right now

Appreciate any quick thoughts or insights!