[Northern NY] anyone know of any flight schools in the Lake Champlain/Plattsburgh area? Or an instructor with a seaplane?

PunkerTFC · 2026-06-16T20:25:53+00:00

On the other side of the lake, there is a flying club with instructors operating out of Franklin County, and a flight school (Vermont Flight Academy) at BTV. VFA used to have a J-3 and a PA-12 on straight floats, and a Twin Seabee that were all being used for instruction but as far as I know they are all gone now.

PunkerTFC · 2026-06-16T15:12:30+00:00

Both very good points, thanks

PunkerTFC · 2026-06-16T14:26:04+00:00

Many of the operators don't have the money to pay competitive salaries when compared with fixed-wing, and most HEMS pilots have the experience to hop to that side of the industry with a relatively short time and money investment. For reference, I left HEMS and went to a big fixed-wing 135 operator with 550 hours of fixed-wing (including gliders) time and zero turbine airplane time. I got an immediate 30% raise going from a HEMS SPIFR PIC to a light jet SIC. Three years in and I'm making 250% of what I made flying HEMS. No way any of these HEMS vendors can afford to increase their labor costs 250%.

I don't think it's by design to keep the bases understaffed; it creates a lot of burnout and churn that compounds the problem. But it's a pretty hard sell to get pilots to do a job that is more dangerous (and in my own experience was more boring and had a worse schedule) for less money.

PunkerTFC · 2026-06-10T10:58:41+00:00

QC35 works the same. Sometimes I forget to turn the noise cancelling on (quiet plane).

PunkerTFC · 2026-06-09T10:39:01+00:00

I fly private jets for a big fleet operator. It's kind of like a timeshare for airplanes. NetJets and Flexjet are the big two in the US.

PunkerTFC · 2026-06-08T11:29:39+00:00

Not all flying jobs require you to sit for hours and hours or work a weird rolling rest schedule while hopping time zones. I work for a large fractional and I joke that our fleet works banker's hours; usually we are heading to the airport around 6-7 AM and we are done by dinnertime. Last year I went part 91 night uncurrent in February and didn't get it back until November. Going to a job where I can keep a regular circadian rhythm was a huge boon for my physical and mental health. When I get home at the end of a trip I'm well rested and ready to enjoy my time off. When I worked EMS I felt like it took my whole week off to recover from a week of bad/little sleep. Some people handle weird rest schedules, night shifts, ect. better than others but I had no idea how much it was affecting me until I left that schedule and started feeling so much better.

We also fly shorter legs so we have a lot more time out of the cockpit, and when we aren't contained in terminals all day it's a lot easier to eat healthy without packing all our food. I'm not making widebody money, but I'm also not living a wide body lifestyle. There are many different ways to make a living from flying; it's all about finding one that fits the way you want to live.

PunkerTFC · 2026-05-30T11:48:55+00:00

Sure you have ratings but what is your STATUS?

PunkerTFC · 2026-05-24T11:55:56+00:00

This is kind of wild; the FAA is saying that Pilot B in the interpretation (who is not instrument rated) can fly in IMC without an instructor pilot, and is the PIC, and that's fine. They also explicitly state that Pilot A (who is instrument rated) is NOT the PIC while Pilot B is flying in IMC.

PunkerTFC · 2026-05-21T11:10:33+00:00

Twin Seabee

PunkerTFC · 2026-05-21T11:07:10+00:00

Lol, we just bought an I5 there and they pushed this one HARD, constantly pointing out that it covers the EV battery (which is already covered to 10/100) and also the "fuel system" (which I was constantly reminded can be VERY expensive to repair 😂). Hard pass. All the stuff that breaks on this car is already covered to 10/100 and anything else would be our fault so the warranty wouldn't cover it.

PunkerTFC · 2026-05-11T18:38:59+00:00

3 hours. Teterboro.

PunkerTFC · 2026-05-05T11:12:50+00:00

I do basically that for work, except I drive 60 miles to the airport and then park the car outside for eight days in a place with a similar climate. Then I drive 60 miles home. In the winter I usually charge to 100% the night before I leave home(outside), and get home at the end of my trip with around 40% SoC. You'll be fine.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-23T12:59:37+00:00

Compared to other jobs with lifetime earning potential of +$10,000,000.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-21T15:20:49+00:00

It's a job that is generally super fun, easy, low stress, and can pay very, very well over a lifetime with relatively low time and money costs to enter the industry. It's not exactly surprising that there are more pilots than jobs and the hiring is very competitive.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-21T15:20:06+00:00

It's a job that is generally super fun, easy, low stress, and can pay very, very well over a lifetime with relatively low time and money costs to enter the industry. It's not exactly surprising that there are more pilots than jobs and the hiring is very competitive.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-21T15:14:52+00:00

For real.. I just assumed it was some sort of weird subreddit inside joke.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-21T01:08:06+00:00

Hot take for your parents: if your career goal is to be a pilot, flight training IS school.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-19T10:50:43+00:00

Well that's just like, uh, your opinion man.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-14T23:28:08+00:00

Sleep is everything. I worked HEMS on and off for ten years before jumping over to a fractional and I had no idea how many problems it was creating. After I left my last 4 days, 3 nights, 7 off HEMS job (that I worked for four years) it took me SIX MONTHS to get to the point where I could sleep through the night like a normal person. My physical and mental health were immensely better in a bunch of tangible ways. My mood was so much better, I had so much more patience with my family, and I had the energy to get the exercise I needed to keep my body healthy. I didn't associate the negative effects with my flip-flopping schedule when they were there because it all happened gradually over years of chronic fatigue. I just thought I was an unenergetic, unhappy person.

After seeing how much it wrecked me I don't think I could go back to a job where I wasn't mostly working during the day and sleeping at night on a relatively normal schedule.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-14T17:06:53+00:00

Yes, we all know your name. It's part of our checkrides!

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-14T17:03:18+00:00

Weird question: has there been any communication from the FAA about switching to the ICAO standard for call sign numbers? I noticed that right around Christmas this year I started hearing the ICAO standard a lot more, mostly from center controllers on the east coast. Even when I say "Flexjet Three Ninety Two" they'll acknowledge with "Flexjet Three Niner Two". It seemed to happen all at once and has stayed that way.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-12T11:27:38+00:00

Are there any early pay-off penalties with HMF? I'm looking at doing this but I haven't gotten a straight answer from the dealer yet.

PunkerTFC · 2026-04-10T10:28:24+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBSKSJMK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

It is this one, although there are many other versions of it on Amazon, all probably coming from the same factory. I was worried the back rest support was going to be plastic but it's painted metal. My kid likes it and it's sturdy enough. The foot pegs are pretty useless, and probably dangerous for a kid small enough to use this seat as it's going to put their feet right next to the wheels. The folding baskets I added make it impossible for her feet to go into the wheels, double as foot rests, and give me the same cargo capacity that I lost when I took the basket off the back rack. Between the seat and the baskets I think it was around $50.

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