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robzilla71173 t1_jbpza09 wrote

I'm in the same boat, went back a couple years ago after a similarly long hiatus and got close to my checkride, but had some health and financial issues that sabotaged it. I'm looking at going back this year.

I was flying out of Fulltron and I plan to go back there, really enjoyed the small school atmosphere and they were pretty nice and professional. Definitely a very pro general aviation vibe and the owner is an aerobatic pilot, so it's really fun to just talk flying with him. I think the instructor I had (Joseph) may have moved on, which is a shame because he was really good. Overall I was very happy with them and the training environment. I can confirm that they're still open at the downtown airport (saw them flying this morning) and according to their website, they're having a bbq on March 25. If you're interested in checking them out or even just meeting local pilots and CFI's that's a good way to do it, it's how I got to know them originally two years ago. It looks like they probably did buy out Springfield Flying Service, because the website now shows them as managing the whole airport. https://www.fulltronaviation.com/

Sky Adventures is unfortunately closed. I saw that someone had bought their fleet and was planning to keep the airplanes available as rentals.

Premier is still there and is obviously pretty top notch. I think most, if not all of Fulltron's instructors (along with Sky Adventures when they were open) were Premier grads. With them you get the advantage of getting used to the Class C environment. That being said, you can get a lot more landings per hour at smaller airports so it's just up to what someone prefers. I've seen the same advice about sticking to Part 61 schools if it's just a hobby.

Pro Flight is definitely out of business. I don't know much about EAS.

Anyway, I definitely recommend Fulltron. I had a good experience and I plan to go back this summer. If you want to check them out just give them a call or go by their bbq in a couple of weeks and I'm sure someone will give you a look around.

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arcticmischief OP t1_jbpztiz wrote

OK, interesting--I had found a link to Fulltron earlier that was dead, so it must have been an erroneous link or a temporary DNS glitch or something. Glad to see they're an option, and thanks for the recommendation! (Will fix my post above in case anyone else stumbles across this in the future.)

And the BBQ sounds cool. Good opportunity to check them out!

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robzilla71173 t1_jbq12bj wrote

The guy that did their website when I was there wasn't really an employee, just a pilot who hung out at the hangar all the time and helped out with the site and youtube channel, so sometimes the links were hit or miss.

Here's more detail on the BBQ, looks like it's being put on partly by the local EAA. These are fun, they make some fine homemade ice cream for desert. https://www.fulltronaviation.com/eaa821/

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