The following piece was written by a client of The Flight Academy who came over to get a US version of a Private License and then add on his Instrument Rating. He was kind enough to detail the experience and I thought I'd share it here.
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The objective of my trip was to finally obtain my FAA Instrument Rating. Although I had almost a thousand hours with more than 500 in the Cirrus, I was very much out of practice when I arrived in Las Vegas.
I chose the Flight Academy based on many COPA members’ positive reviews and decided on the North Las Vegas to avoid as much as possible bad weather issues. That was a really good move as the Seattle area was buried in snow during the month of March.
Although I have many hours in the Cirrus, I had to get used to the PFD as my G1 has a Sandel. I also was new to the system as I had never flown in the USA except in Kona Hawaii where the traffic was light. I was not ready for the Vegas class Bravo, nearby AFB, and very fast rising terrain around the airport. Also, although I have been living in an English speaking country the last twenty years, I sometimes had problems understanding ATC until I got accustomed to the accent and the different terminology.
The first three days were only VFR touring flights and we had some interesting trips to Sedona, Santa Barbara, and Palm Springs. My first landing was at Sedona with howling winds followed by a good lunch at the airport. The traffic in California was fairly dense and I began to understand the real value of our traffic avoidance system. I had not yet seen the meaning of fast dense traffic yet. It was another experience driving down to LA a few days later…
After these three days of nice aerial tourism, we jumped into the IR stuff and although my brain knew fairly well what was to be done, it took an awful lot of time to achieve the level of precision required as well as the capacity to multitask.
We would usually do 4 or 5 approaches before landing at a new place almost every day. We would then get a lift or a crew car and hunt for the best spot in town for lunch. We would then be off again, another 2 or 3 approaches and back to VGT for a couple of ILSes.
I think we hit almost every airport within a hundred NM out of Vegas. Many of these airports had challenging and unforgiving terrain around, and I understood first hand the recent discussions about ODP on the COPA website. I have fond memories of Lake Havesu, St George, Kingman, and Cedar City where we had some real food treats as well. I couldn't list them all but just a few:
The Mahi Mahi at the small beach restaurant within a mille of the Santa Barbara airport, we hit it twice. Try Babes at Palm Springs for their ribs and sweet potatoes chips, thanks to Jesse for the lead. The big Steak house at Kingman and the Mexican in St George are to be visited as well. I should add one very good spot in Vegas. The Jambalaya at the seafood restaurant of the Texas Hotel Casino, only half mille away from the office is really worth the visit.
The service at these FBOs was impressive; we were always offered a crew car or a lift to town just for buying some fuel. Pretty amazing service compared to what we get in other countries.
We had to break the IR training for a few days to prepare me for the Private test exercises that are not taught in other countries and ended up choosing the day when a cold front was moving across the Vegas area. We were doing the ground maneuvers with 35 G 40 knots of wind and achieving a GS of 200 Kts at 6000 feet with 50 % power between the ranges West of Vegas. I can also recommend testing your landing skills at Shoshone, 30 nm South West of Vegas, 2500 feet and very narrow. Quite exciting when windy. Jean, 20 Nm South of Vegas with a 25 knot crosswind had to be done, of course. It worked out well preparing me for the test as I got very similar conditions the day of the exam.
Well, after three weeks, I felt more confident than I had before any other flight test. That was a new feeling for me as my yearly Australian IR reviews were always very stressful. Well rested, I easily passed both the US Private and IR on the same morning. The VGT tower guys were very helpful giving us approaches on 12 L when 30 + knots winds were favoring 30. It worked pretty well as there was hardly anyone flying this particular morning due to the gusty winds and turbulence.
Just a few more remarks:
The aircraft we used was a basic G2 with AC. The AC was a treat and I am now seriously considering a trade to a new G3 Garmin Cirrus. Curiously, I estimate my old G1 to be at 5 to 7 knots faster; maybe it's the weight or the rigging.
The training team:
I almost worked exclusively with Chase Friesen with the support of Luke Lysen and Jesse Owen. I found Chase to be first class. I have been there and done that before so I can compare. During that type of 3 week long intensive course, it's not uncommon for the student/intructor relationship to become tense and sometimes unpleasant. Chase was knowledgeable and always cool. He could feel when it was time to call it a day. I really enjoyed working with him.
The location:
I think that the Vegas area is good for IR training except during the summer. It may be also a good idea to fly out a bit and get some extra Northern exposure flying in real clouds in Seattle. As far as the winds are concerned you will get plenty in Vegas. There are not as many close approaches but with a bit of planning, one can make the best out of it.
Foreign pilots:
For foreign pilots who currently fly on a Part 61.75 certificate:
My advice is to spend the extra 3/4 days getting a clean Private Certificate and add your IR on it. The new requirements recently put in place require that your foreign certificate should be verified each time you intend to add any new rating. I know from personal experience and decided to make the jump. The Private will also prepare you for questions that you could be asked during the IR test and not covered by the specific IR studies. VFR map symbols are among them but there are many more that the DPE could chose to ask. He will expect you to know the basic stuff, though.
Also be prepared to spend more time adapting to the communication with ATC and give yourself plenty of time. The high altitudes you will have to fly at and the jet lag will no doubt take their toll. I am quite sure that the 12 hours time difference and high flying had a negative effect on my abilities for at lest one week if not two.
Last, I enjoyed very much the place and the always friendly people I met during this trip.
Cheers
JJ
The Flight Academy
www.theflightacademy.com 
Posted
9 Apr 2009 15:32
by
John Fiscus