(April 2011) Dr. Michael Bliss holds an ATP certificate and a CFIA, CFI-I and CFMEI. He has been a pilot for more than 40 years and an active instructor for 30 years. He oversees curriculum standards and development for American Flyers and is the chairman of its safety board. He says:
Whether it is better to learn to fly at a controlled or an uncontrolled airport largely depends on what you intend to do with your pilot certificate after you obtain it. If your desire is to make local or short flights to nearby airports and just enjoy the atmosphere of the local airfield, then the uncontrolled airport is probably the place you should learn.
However, if you intend to go on for an instrument rating or use your airplane for business or to take the family on vacations, then it makes sense to learn at a controlled field. While it’s true that having to deal with ATC on every flight adds an extra element of training that someone learning at an uncontrolled airport doesn’t have to handle, the payoff is more than worth it. Learning at a controlled airport ensures that you will become comfortable dealing with ATC and the various procedures for entering the complex airspace that general aviation pilots encounter. Isn’t it better to have these initial learning experiences with an instructor on board to guide you through them, rather than to experience them later on your own?
Flight instructors often discover that many of those who learn at uncontrolled airports avoid flying into controlled fields because they lack confidence in dealing with ATC. Unfortunately this puts them out of reach of the best services, both for the airplane and the pilot, that are available at the busier airports.
The pros and cons of the best training environment have been debated for years, and the issue won’t be resolved in these few words. However, we might find some guidance in what flight instructors call the Law of Primacy. It states that people learn best what they learn first. It reminds us that our first experiences lay the foundation for all that follows. If this is true, it would make sense that you should lay the foundation that best suits your future flying goals.
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Dorothy Schick**_ is the owner of TakeWing, a Cessna Pilot Center located at Hobby Field Airport (77S) in Creswell, Oregon. A CFI with 2,800 hours of flight instruction, she is a member of SAFE (Society of Aviation and Flight Educators) and a FAASTeam representative. She says:_
Training for a private pilot certificate will eventually take you to both nontowered (uncontrolled) and towered (controlled) airports. And, while towered airports offer bigger runways and anonymous radio voices telling you exactly what to do and when to do it, there are some drawbacks. The aircraft Hobbs meter keeps ticking away whether you are on the ground or in the air, and towered airports always require more ground time. So, if you don’t mind paying for driving lessons in your three-wheeler, that’s fine, but most of us want to spend as much time as possible using our wings.
While the amenities and infrastructure at smaller, nontowered fields can be antiquated, I have been to some absolutely beautiful nontowered airports with modern facilities and all the amenities you could ever want. The atmosphere also tends to be more relaxed and friendly.
At nontowered airports you follow recommended approach and departure procedures just like at towered airfields, but you do have more freedom in this regard. With that freedom comes responsibility. You’ll have to actively engage with your fellow pilots in the air-to-air communications, learn to be highly vigilant for other nonstandard traffic and learn to make more decisions about wind direction and speed.
Communicating over the radio seems to be one of student pilots’ greatest fears. Unless you were a radio personality before you started learning to fly, you will be apprehensive making radio calls to ATC and to other pilots whether or not you are training at a towered or nontowered airport. However, nontowered airports don’t require communications, so if you freeze up on the mike or miss a call, it’s no sweat.
Finally, pick up a sectional and tell me this: Are there more towered airports or nontowered on it? If you are choosing the life of a pilot, you are going to need the skills required for both nontowered and towered airports, but until you get your air carrier wings, the statistics are in favor of you landing at more nontowered airports than towered.
Which is better for learning to fly? The answer more often really comes down to your proximity to the airfield and the flight instructor or flight school you choose.
