[Advice Needed] South Korean student heading to Stockton, CA (JC Air) for flight training. Questions about the school, cars, and life!
Posted by Additional-Still-734@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Hello r/flying! This is my first time posting here.
I’m using an AI to help write this because my English is still a work in progress, so please bear with me.
I’m an international student from South Korea (yes, South, not North! haha) preparing for flight training in the US.
Since many of you are experienced pilots, I’ve organized my questions into a list to save your time.
1. JC Air Academy & Stockton, CA
I am planning to attend JC Air Academy in Stockton. Since I haven't visited yet, I don't know much about the school or the area.
Could anyone share their honest reviews on this academy and whether Stockton is a good environment for flight training?
2. English Speaking & Local Activities
I heard the student demographic at JC Air is roughly 70% Korean, 20% American, and 10% other nationalities.
I really want to improve my spoken English while I’m in the US.
I read and listen well, but Korea's rote learning system makes speaking difficult for me.
I’m thinking of joining local running or boxing clubs to talk with locals, or doing a language exchange with anyone interested in learning Korean.
Do you have any other recommendations for activities to mingle with the community?
3. Buying a Used Car
I know owning a car is essential in the US.
I drove a lot in Korea and actually worked as a traffic researcher, so I know how to handle shady car dealers back home.
However, I am terrified of the used car market in the US because I don't know the mechanical details of inspecting a car.
Are American car dealers generally honest?
Also, what are the best websites or places to buy a reliable Japanese or Korean car?
(I would love to drive a Tesla, but I am on a tight budget! ㅠㅠ)
4. Training Costs
The quote I received from JC Air is roughly: PPL $25,000, IR $26,000, and CPL $29,500, totaling about $80,000 for 210 flight hours.
This also includes 226 hrs of ground class, 78 hrs of tutoring, 29.1 hrs of pre/post flight instruction, and 6 hrs of FAA 141 Chief Pilot special ground school.
Does this pricing seem reasonable for a Part 141 program?
5. Essential Apps
What are the must-have apps for daily life in the US?
I'm curious about the best messengers, navigation apps, and the most cost-effective online shopping sites.
6. Towered vs. Non-Towered Airports
I’ve read that training at a towered airport (where you communicate directly with ATC) is much more beneficial than a non-towered airport.
What are your thoughts on this?
7. Student-to-Aircraft Ratio
I was told JC Air has about 60-70 students and 20 aircraft.
Is this a good ratio?
If I work hard, will this fleet size allow me to fly consistently and reach 300 hours quickly?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
If you have any questions about Korea, please leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them. Have a great day!
makgross@reddit
You need ICAO level 3 to get a student pilot certificate, but honestly it’s not enough. My recommendation is to drop the Korean completely until your English is fluent. This includes entertainment, talking with family, everything. No AI, ever again, for translation. Do not hang out only with other Koreans. Do not live with other Koreans unless they also agree to the program. Fluency takes 3-6 months like that. Doing it comfortably will prevent it for the rest of your life. Yes, this is hard, but nowhere near so hard as understanding what “make a left 360 for spacing” means when you don’t.
Stockton airport is fine, but the city is terrible. Weather will be hot as hell in summer and foggy in winter (generally unflyable even IFR).
$80K for 210 hours is just under $400/hour. With testing fees, that’s not so far out there, but it is somewhat more expensive than some part 61 approaches.
FridayMcNight@reddit
The Stockton airport is a fine place to learn. It's towered, but not busy, and there are several nearby un-towered fields, and plenty of practice areas.It's a near sea-level, wide open space, but with mountains not far to the east if you wanted to get some mountain flying training.
Stockton is in California's central valley in the San Joaquin river delta. It is hot in the summer time (like 35-42c is common), but it is usually clear weather and predictable winds. It does get dense "tule fog" at times in the winter, has can keep you grounded most of the day, and this fog can persist for a week or two at a time, but overall flying conditions are good. Lots of flyable days.
I've been to Korea a bunch, but only to Seoul and Suwon. Stockton is nothing like the Korean big cities I've visited. Population density is dramatically lower, which means much fewer options for everything (food, housing, transit, etc.). Stockton is a small city in a predominantly agricultural area of the California central valley. It has higher crime than average, and yet is still pretty expensive. Compared to other nearby areas in the central valley, it is less desirable. I think your idea of joining a boxing/mma gym is a great way to meet other people. But if the school caters to Korean students, the other students probably have good recommendations too. You should ask.
A car is very useful, but you if you live close enough to the airport, you could probably get by with an e-bike. Car dealers (and even private sellers of used cars) are not trustworthy. You'll want to hire a mechanic to inspect any vehicle you might buy before you purchase it. An EV is not a bad choice, just beware that charging at public charging stations is expensive in California.
I don't know that there are any must have apps. We don't use our phones for as many ordinary tasks here, so no train app, no taxi app, no kakao or alipay, etc.. There are equivalents to these, but paying with an actual debit or credit card is still more common. Google maps is the best mapping/navigation app on the ground. Foreflight is the best app for flying navigation, charts, ettc.. (aks an Electronic Flight Bag). Most people use the text message app on the phone and use SMS/MMS/RCS messaging via their cell carrrier. People with out of country friends use a variety of other apps to communicate with them, such as What's app, Signal, Wechat, Telegram, and so on. It's really about what your friends use. There's no common one here besides regular text messaging. Amazon is probably the most widely used online shopping site, and there are a lot of other specialty shopping sites.
I hope you enjoy your time in the USA. While you are here, be sure to visit Yosemite National Park. You can make a day trip via car to Yosemite Valley from Stockton. It is spectacular. There are other nearby national parks you can visit, but they all take a bit more planning. You should also plan to visit Castle Airport (KMER). It was formerly Castle Air Force base, and has a pretty good museum of aircraft right at the field. If your school allows it, you might be able to fly one of your cross country flights there.
Additional-Still-734@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such a detailed reply. I’ve already bookmarked all the places you recommended on Google Maps! Haha. To be honest, since the US is a country where people can carry guns, I’m already a bit scared. I just hope there are many people in Stockton who will be patient and understanding with my broken English.
You mentioned that there isn’t much to do around there, but since I'm a student on a tight budget, I’m completely focused on self-improvement rather than partying anyway.
Of course, this mindset might fade over time, haha. In Korea, we have a saying called "Jak-sim-sam-il," which basically means your determination only lasts for three days! Oh, by the way! I actually live in Suwon, Haha. Anyway, I rambled on a bit, but thank you again!
Mountain-Captain-396@reddit
The PPL price seems about right, the IR cost seems high, and the CPL cost seems a bit low. Overall though around $80k is a decent estimate for a Part 141 zero to CPL course assuming you are an average student.
MehCFI@reddit
$80k would be cheap for an average student in the US rn. That number was okay 5 yrs ago, and just compare gas prices alone
Mountain-Captain-396@reddit
I just had a student finish their commercial at a Part 141 school, their all in cost was $76.8k. They finished with around \~190 hours (64 hrs for private, 35 hrs instrument, 91 hrs commercial). Cost is variable by location, but the school this was at is in a VHCOL area and rental rates for renters are averaging $240/hr wet for a 172.
Additional-Still-734@reddit (OP)
Now it’s all up to me to just work hard!
m00f@reddit
Like many big cities in the US, Stockton has some good neighborhoods and some bad ones. Be aware.
Additional-Still-734@reddit (OP)
I’d like to roughly mark the safe and dangerous neighborhoods on Google Maps. Also, if possible, I’d like to know what time of day is the most dangerous.
GVoidV2@reddit
I'd lean towards agreeing with this, I'd rather have more hours in a towered airport than uncontrolled if I had to go back over again. Can takeoff and land for the day at the towered home airport and practice landings with less radio congestion at nearby uncontrolled airports. If the flight school was on an uncontrolled field however, I wouldn't consider that a dealbreaker. Just plan on going to towered places on cross-country flights and have your CFI simulate ATC clearances at uncontrolled for practice. Won't be too bad.
That ratio is pretty good depending on how late their operations go. Some of the (much) larger flight schools trend around 15-20 students per plane where things get thin but if all 20 aircraft are working and available I'd say you should be good. Depends on your CFI's availability but don't be afraid to do some extra solo flights to build a couple hours towards your CPL when you get there.
Additional-Still-734@reddit (OP)
Oh, I didn't know Japanese students came to the US for flight training too! I guess a country really needs to have a large landmass....
I guess used car dealers are a headache in every country!! Haha. I understand that Facebook Marketplace is done through Facebook, but how does Craigslist work? Do I need to download an app, or do I visit a physical place? I looked it up and it said it's like a flea market!
I’m so relieved to hear that the flight training cost sounds about right! I’ll do my best to study hard and pass everything on my first try.
I’ll make sure to use Google Maps for navigation, thank you. For messaging, I assume you mean the default text app as well? Which phone carrier do you recommend? I heard that certain carriers work better depending on the area! Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Hello r/flying! This is my first time posting here.
I’m using an AI to help write this because my English is still a work in progress, so please bear with me.
I’m an international student from South Korea (yes, South, not North! haha) preparing for flight training in the US.
Since many of you are experienced pilots, I’ve organized my questions into a list to save your time.
1. JC Air Academy & Stockton, CA
I am planning to attend JC Air Academy in Stockton. Since I haven't visited yet, I don't know much about the school or the area.
Could anyone share their honest reviews on this academy and whether Stockton is a good environment for flight training?
2. English Speaking & Local Activities
I heard the student demographic at JC Air is roughly 70% Korean, 20% American, and 10% other nationalities.
I really want to improve my spoken English while I’m in the US.
I read and listen well, but Korea's rote learning system makes speaking difficult for me.
I’m thinking of joining local running or boxing clubs to talk with locals, or doing a language exchange with anyone interested in learning Korean.
Do you have any other recommendations for activities to mingle with the community?
3. Buying a Used Car
I know owning a car is essential in the US.
I drove a lot in Korea and actually worked as a traffic researcher, so I know how to handle shady car dealers back home.
However, I am terrified of the used car market in the US because I don't know the mechanical details of inspecting a car.
Are American car dealers generally honest?
Also, what are the best websites or places to buy a reliable Japanese or Korean car?
(I would love to drive a Tesla, but I am on a tight budget! ㅠㅠ)
4. Training Costs
The quote I received from JC Air is roughly: PPL $25,000, IR $26,000, and CPL $29,500, totaling about $80,000 for 210 flight hours.
This also includes 226 hrs of ground class, 78 hrs of tutoring, 29.1 hrs of pre/post flight instruction, and 6 hrs of FAA 141 Chief Pilot special ground school.
Does this pricing seem reasonable for a Part 141 program?
5. Essential Apps
What are the must-have apps for daily life in the US?
I'm curious about the best messengers, navigation apps, and the most cost-effective online shopping sites.
6. Towered vs. Non-Towered Airports
I’ve read that training at a towered airport (where you communicate directly with ATC) is much more beneficial than a non-towered airport.
What are your thoughts on this?
7. Student-to-Aircraft Ratio
I was told JC Air has about 60-70 students and 20 aircraft.
Is this a good ratio?
If I work hard, will this fleet size allow me to fly consistently and reach 300 hours quickly?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
If you have any questions about Korea, please leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them. Have a great day!
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