★★★★★
5 out of 5
3 months ago
During my pilot journey I have been to 5 different flights schools for various ratings. By far Chandler Air Service is the BEST school I have yet to attend. I got my Tailwheel training done here. They fly a Piper Super Cub PA-18-150 with a 160hp mod. Really high quality instruction. And my favorite is they do NOT charge a .25hr pre-flight fee or a .5hr debrief fee. This shows integrity and earned my respect. Originally I chose them because they do aerobatic training in the Great Lakes and hoped some of the aerobatic training would blend into my Tailwheel training. 100 percent it did. Two pilots currently doing tailwheel training are highly experienced, seasoned CFI’s (aka not some fresh CFI in their 20’s teaching you what they barely know themselves) Again, great quality instruction. Key things learned in Tailwheel were the falling leaf, Dutch roll using the rudders to keep the nose centered, and the absolute most fun thing I have yet to do… idle abeam touchdown, full flaps, dip the left wing and full right rudder! Controlled turn in a full-slip from the downwind through base, final and into ground effect to land on the numbers. Absolutely a blast. Also did 3 point takeoff (soft field), wheeled takeoff, 3 point landing, wheeled landing. Practice one wheel passes to simulate testing the ground surface before a committed landing. There is a dirt strip nearby at Ak-Chin that you will do landings at too. It was refreshing to fly a plane with only three gauges. (ASI, Alt, Rpm) For us “age of the magenta” pilots this is great experience flying without a glass panel or even using ForeFlight. Left the iPad at home and it forced me to improve visual scanning for other aircraft… the old fashioned way. Absolutely fantastic place to get your Tailwheel endorsement.
Ryan McMartin
