Any Mooney instructors in Orange County California ?

[Raceclub]

Hi Everyone, 

I am student pilot with 40 hours of time on Cessna 172. I am looking for Mooney instructor in Orange County California to take lessons and get some experience in mooney aircraft. Please let me know if there is any recommendations ?

Thank You,

[MHemperly]

Welcome! 

I'm not an instructor but I'd be happy to take you up in my M20E, and help you out as much as I can. I know Dubois over at KCNO has a M20C that they do instruction in. Might be worth looking at. My plane is based in Corona but I live in Laguna Niguel. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. Also on a side note, I just listed my E for sale on controller. Good luck!! 

Mike

[MB65E]

Speaking of flight training, who can recommend a nice flight school. I have a client In the LA area. Most of the schools have dried up. Rather not use American Flyers. 

-Matt

[Raceclub]

Hi Michael,

Thank you very much for your offer. It is very kind of you. I would take you upon your offer, please let me know when your flying next time. I don't even mind if you have some extra time to take me flying in your mooney once in a while and of course I would compensate you for your time and plane

Thank You,

Mike

[Skates97]

1 hour ago, MB65E said:

Speaking of flight training, who can recommend a nice flight school. I have a client In the LA area. Most of the schools have dried up. Rather not use American Flyers. 

-Matt

If they are anywhere near the Inland Empire I would recommend DuBois. They are who I used and I enjoyed it from start to finish. Plenty of planes, well maintained, and just good people.

http://www.duboisaviation.com/

Edited January 9, 2017 by Skates97

[MHemperly]

1 hour ago, Raceclub said:

Hi Michael,

Thank you very much for your offer. It is very kind of you. I would take you upon your offer, please let me know when your flying next time. I don't even mind if you have some extra time to take me flying in your mooney once in a while and of course I would compensate you for your time and plane

Thank You,

Mike

No problem! And no need for compensation. Whenever our schedules mesh I'll take you up. Do you already own you own mooney or do you just want to see if mooney is a good fit for you? Where are you doing your training?

[Hoeschen]

Pinnacle Aviation Academy in Carlsbad, CA. Last I knew they had an M20J.


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[Simon]

4 hours ago, MB65E said:

Speaking of flight training, who can recommend a nice flight school. I have a client In the LA area. Most of the schools have dried up. Rather not use American Flyers. 

-Matt

I'm currently training with California Flight School out of Van Nuys.  My experience with them has been excellent + who doesn't want to

learn to fly on 16 right?

[Raceclub]

1 hour ago, MHemperly said:

No problem! And no need for compensation. Whenever our schedules mesh I'll take you up. Do you already own you own mooney or do you just want to see if mooney is a good fit for you? Where are you doing your training?

Sounds good, I have my own business so I could do any day you are available. I don't have my own plane yet, but I am strongly thinking of buying a Mooney as soon as I feel comfortable and have more training. I live in Irvine and training at OC flight center at John Wayne Airport.

[TheTurtle]

4 hours ago, MB65E said:

Speaking of flight training, who can recommend a nice flight school. I have a client In the LA area. Most of the schools have dried up. Rather not use American Flyers. 

-Matt

Royal Aviation at SNA is awesome but thats not really LA...

I have a mooney at SNA if you want a ride...  I dont get all the "mooney" instructor stuff.  Its just a plane.  Grab a CFI and go flying.  My CFI for PPL had a couple hundred hours in a 201 15 years ago and we didnt have any trouble figuring out my old F.  Although he did fly it home with the gear down when I first bought it due to having never used a johnson bar.

[TheTurtle]

3 hours ago, Skates97 said:

If they are anywhere near the Inland Empire I would recommend DuBois. They are who I used and I enjoyed it from start to finish. Plenty of planes, well maintained, and just good people.

http://www.duboisaviation.com/

I heard the owner is a douche to his CFIs?  Not true?  They do seem to have tons of planes.  And any time you can say hi to the girls at flying tigers is nice.

[Raceclub]

1 hour ago, Hoeschen said:

Pinnacle Aviation Academy in Carlsbad, CA. Last I knew they had an M20J.


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Thank You, ill check them out,

[Skates97]

43 minutes ago, TheTurtle said:

I heard the owner is a douche to his CFIs?  Not true?  They do seem to have tons of planes.  And any time you can say hi to the girls at flying tigers is nice.

Not sure where you heard that from. My CFI that I had really likes the owner. I dealt with four different CFI's, my main one, two for stage checks prior to my solo and PPL check-ride, and one on a day my CFI wasn't available. None of them had anything negative to say about the school or the owner. Maybe a case of a CFI that didn't fit in well there? I know that I have past employees that I fired that probably don't have nice things to say about me but I have others that have worked for me for 14 years (as long as I have been with the dealerships) and they love working for me.

[TheTurtle]

Just now, Skates97 said:

Not sure where you heard that from. My CFI that I had really likes the owner. I dealt with four different CFI's, my main one, two for stage checks prior to my solo and PPL check-ride, and one on a day my CFI wasn't available. None of them had anything negative to say about the school or the owner. Maybe a case of a CFI that didn't fit in well there? I know that I have past employees that I fired that probably don't have nice things to say about me but I have others that have worked for me for 14 years (as long as I have been with the dealerships) and they love working for me.

just some airport talk one day.  I heard it from one of the CFIs.  I guess another cfi got a new job that started sometime in the future and the owner fired him instead of letting him work until the new job started.  Airport rumor mill I suppose

[Skates97]

Just now, TheTurtle said:

just some airport talk one day.  I heard it from one of the CFIs.  I guess another cfi got a new job that started sometime in the future and the owner fired him instead of letting him work until the new job started.  Airport rumor mill I suppose

Maybe... When I was there my CFI was transitioning from teaching at Hawthorne and they worked with him for a few months while he finished up students he had out there. There was another one that was instructing at another school as well that was finishing up with some students but they worked with him.

One thing that my CFI had said he really liked about working there was that when he was getting checked out in their Apache and Mooney to instruct in them he didn't have to pay for the time in the plane. He said the other school he had instructed at he had to pay for hours in the plane when he was getting up to speed and checked out.

All I know is that I never had a negative experience with any of the CFI's there, the owner, his wife, or anyone else that works there. They have plenty of planes and allow you to schedule three weeks out so I never had a problem getting a plane when I wanted one, including after I got my PPL and just renting. Plus when you are renting there are no minimum hours/day which is nice if you are going to fly somewhere for a few days, you don't have to pay for the plane sitting on the ramp while you're there.

[kortopates]

2 hours ago, Hoeschen said:

Pinnacle Aviation Academy in Carlsbad, CA. Last I knew they had an M20J.


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That was years ago - long gone 201DD - unless they have gotten another one I don't know about. Let us know if you check with them.

1 hour ago, TheTurtle said:

Royal Aviation at SNA is awesome but thats not really LA...

I have a mooney at SNA if you want a ride...  I dont get all the "mooney" instructor stuff.  Its just a plane.  Grab a CFI and go flying.  My CFI for PPL had a couple hundred hours in a 201 15 years ago and we didnt have any trouble figuring out my old F.  Although he did fly it home with the gear down when I first bought it due to having never used a johnson bar.

You might not agree with the wisdom of getting a Mooney instructor but the accident/incident rate of new Mooney pilots porpoising to a prop strike, and gearing up record speaks for itself all too often. Yes, its just a plane but very different to someone that is coming from C or P brand, due to is sleek airframe and rubber disk gear which just underlines the need for proper speed control unlike many of the other more forgiving airframes. On the other hand your F is just an early J - essentially same airframe and engine - so I wouldn't have expected your CFI to have any trouble. But I am sure he could have gotten you through the Johnson bar faster if he was familiar with some of tricks that I am sure you know well now. But good transition training is important for more than just learning to land. A good checkout ensures you learn all aircarft system and emergency procedures as well as any additional equipment installed. If IR, a Mooney specific instructor can get you set up with the necessary PAC's that will work with your airframe......

Edited January 10, 2017 by kortopates

[Hoeschen]

You might not agree with the wisdom of getting a Mooney instructor but the accident/incident rate of new Mooney pilots porpoising to a prop strike, and gearing up record speaks for itself all too often. Yes, its just a plane but very different to someone that is coming from C or P brand, due to is sleek airframe and rubber disk gear which just underlines the need for proper speed control unlike many of the other more forgiving airframes. On the other hand your F is just an early J - essentially same airframe and engine - so I wouldn't have expected your CFI to have any trouble. But I am sure he could have gotten you through the Johnson bar faster if he was familiar with some of tricks that I am sure you know well now. But good transition training is important for more than just learning to land. A good checkout ensures you learn all aircarft system and emergency procedures as well as any additional equipment installed. If IR, a Mooney specific instructor can get you set up with the necessary PAC's that will work with your airframe......

Last I flew it was a couple years ago but according to their website 201DD it is still on the line and they do keep their website current.


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[kortopates]

7 minutes ago, Hoeschen said:

Last I flew it was a couple years ago but according to their website 201DD it is still on the line and they do keep their website current.

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Thanks for checking. I had no idea they got it back - in fact if you flew it a couple years ago they had sold it and repurchased it before you flew it. Actually, I just checked the FAA registry and see they registered it 6 years ago. It was gone for about 5+ years before that.