I wanted to take a moment here for an unashamed plug for Wings Aloft’s 14-day instrument course.
I just completed the course today, having begun the day before the attack. The checkride went well, despite today being the first ‘hard ifr’ day we’ve had during the course, with rain, gusty winds, and lowish ceilings. We managed to fly every day it was legal, and used simulators when we were grounded. Early in the emergency, Victoria Terminal (Canadian ATC) was a godsend, allowing us to shoot approaches in Bellingham WA under their control when all the US was shut down.
The instrument rating is looming as a basic requirement for using our aircraft when and where we want to. The WA course got the job done in a hurry, was tailored to the Cirrus, and was alot of fun.
Wings Aloft at BFI is a great facility, with a clubhouse featuring a hanger door opening onto Boeing Field. They are a Cirrus Service Center, so when my starter failed they had the broken power lug repaired in 20 minutes and we didn’t even miss the lesson. The guys on the line staff kept me fueled, my windows clean, and even washed the plane for the trip home!
A big thank you to Kevin, Nancy, Christy, Steve, Katy, Jim, Vince, Dimitri, Mito and everyone else at Wings who made this such a great experience. And now I can even fly home!
-Curt
I wanted to take a moment here for an unashamed plug for Wings Aloft’s 14-day instrument course.
Pass your written and go to GATTS for a 7 day course.
Congratulations!
I did PIC’s ten day course this past July. I am glad that you had a good experience doing Wings Aloft’s program. I considered it; but I wanted to stay home, I was not sure if they had much experience doing such a course, and a couple of Wings Aloft CFI’s that I spoke to did not seem too psyched about doing it. I kind of wished I had done it with Wings Aloft. The PIC program and the instructor supplied were good; however, I think that I would have learned much more through Wings Aloft due to their obvious expertise with the SR20.
I already need an IFR refresher and think that I am going to use an opportunity to fly in a Wings Aloft CFI for the best use of my time.
Curtis, congratualtios.
Not surprised about your experience with Wings Aloft. I have found them to be top rate, from A to Z!
Andy
I wanted to take a moment here for an unashamed plug for Wings Aloft’s 14-day instrument course.
I just completed the course today, having begun the day before the attack. The checkride went well, despite today being the first ‘hard ifr’ day we’ve had during the course, with rain, gusty winds, and lowish ceilings. We managed to fly every day it was legal, and used simulators when we were grounded. Early in the emergency, Victoria Terminal (Canadian ATC) was a godsend, allowing us to shoot approaches in Bellingham WA under their control when all the US was shut down.
The instrument rating is looming as a basic requirement for using our aircraft when and where we want to. The WA course got the job done in a hurry, was tailored to the Cirrus, and was alot of fun.
Wings Aloft at BFI is a great facility, with a clubhouse featuring a hanger door opening onto Boeing Field. They are a Cirrus Service Center, so when my starter failed they had the broken power lug repaired in 20 minutes and we didn’t even miss the lesson. The guys on the line staff kept me fueled, my windows clean, and even washed the plane for the trip home!
A big thank you to Kevin, Nancy, Christy, Steve, Katy, Jim, Vince, Dimitri, Mito and everyone else at Wings who made this such a great experience. And now I can even fly home!
-Curt
Pass your written and go to GATTS for a 7 day course.
That looks like a good option if time is your top priority. The Wings course is similarly priced, is taught by experts in the Cirrus and Garmin, and gives you more days of training. Whether those extra days of training are a bug or a feature is a personal preference.
-Curt
Anybody know what the Wings Aloft 14-day IFR course costs?