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Commander CFIs

If you cannot find a local CFI, Kevin Holbrook will travel to you www.holbrookaviation.com (714) 271-6799

I am in South Louisiana and I picked up my 114 in North Alabama. He met me there and we did my checkout over a couple of days. Very knowledgeable and easy to work with. He owns a 112 TC and if you are a 112 driver, you can also go to him at KOUN, Norman OK.

Chris
 
I'm in Cortez, CO. CFII Pete Sattig
 
My original Insurance quote wanted the 25 hours with CFI. Even though AVEMCO was a little more, per the rep, they don't require more than 10 hours for SEL aircraft. If I added up just the fuel costs for the other 15 hours, it was wayyyy less expensive to pay the higher AVEMCO quote. When you add in the day rate for a good CFI, then the reduction in total cost to get checked out more than balanced out the higher quote by several grand.

Chris
 
Still looking for someone a little closer to Albuquerque that can do 10-25 hours training for a 112TC/114 if anyone knows of anyone closer to this area. Ideally I locate the CFI first before buying one I can’t get insured on lol
 
I always end up buying the plane that's on the other side of the country. Meet the CFI their, you could put on some hours flying it home........
 
When I bought my 114-B, the insurance folks wanted a CFI-I with a bunch of Commander time. In my area this was a no-go, so I reached out to them about an instructor with a bunch of Bonanza time along with his proposed lesson plan for my complex and high performance sign-offs. They were very happy with this plan. Just food for thought about other options as most CFI’s will not have Commander time, but may have time in other high performance retract singles.

Jim
 
My insurance only required 5 hours... It took me sometime to find a CFI. He is currently aged out, meaning the insurance won't even consider him any more. He is over 80 now.
 
I also have an insurance requirement, if I want to consider buying a Commander 114. I need 4 hours of time with a CFI with 40 hours of Commander time. I live in the Northeast Ohio area, are there any CFIs meeting those qualifications nearby?

As an aside, and it may only be my perception, but I think the lack and accessibility of qualified CFIs is a real stumbling block in passing the fleet onto another generation of potential Commander pilots.
 
As for BruiseR and his 6000' MSL airport elevation out West, I really think you should look at turbo Commanders. A 112 normally aspirated is going to be too slow in climb, especially on high density altitude days and fighting for useful load. A 112 is for perfect for low altitude airports. A turbo thinks it's at sea-level everywhere as they say. This is an opinion only.
 
BruiseR said:
Still looking for someone a little closer to Albuquerque that can do 10-25 hours training for a 112TC/114 if anyone knows of anyone closer to this area. Ideally I locate the CFI first before buying one I can’t get insured on lol
Click to expand...

I bought my Plane out of South Carolina (many years ago) but took a CFI with me
and got most of my required hours out of the way on the trip home.
 
Jaybird said:
As for BruiseR and his 6000' MSL airport elevation out West, I really think you should look at turbo Commanders. A 112 normally aspirated is going to be too slow in climb, especially on high density altitude days and fighting for useful load. A 112 is for perfect for low altitude airports. A turbo thinks it's at sea-level everywhere as they say. This is an opinion only.
Click to expand...

I recently took off from KLMT on a high DA day. Elevation is 4100' and DA was around 6500'. The runway is 10,300 feet. I have a normally-aspirated 114, and I wasn't off the ground until almost 4500' down the runway, and wasn't comfortably climbing away from the runway until I was almost at the end. So, yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to try that in an airplane with less horsepower than I have in mine. There was never any question I could do it under the given loading/runway/environment conditions, but I'd *really* be questioning it in a 112. I would be inclined to echo this opinion and say if you want to go with a 112, make sure it's a turbo. Even in a 114, it's going to be a maximum performance take-off every time.
 
Commander91gm said:
I bought my Plane out of South Carolina (many years ago) but took a CFI with me
and got most of my required hours out of the way on the trip home.
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2000 : I used a local CFI in Missouri for the legal checkout. He didn't know much. He would only allow me to go to 36 inches of manifold pressure. That's it. Said the rest was emergency power only. We were at a 400 foot field elevation. I did think - What a %$^ (airplane). It flew in the face of the POH. The "CFI" was adamant. So i got what i got on take-off performance - burning a lot of runway. The 2 hour checkout did fulfill the legal requirements but i was pretty unfamiliar with the airplane.

i called one of my friends (a CFII out of east coast) - he had checked me out in the T210 a couple of years before that. He flew to Missouri the next morning and we ferried the plane back - correctly using the POH and no issues. I dropped him off in Kentucky on the way and continued solo to my home base in Caldwell, NJ

So careful with "CFI".


khudson said:
I recently took off from KLMT on a high DA day. Elevation is 4100' and DA was around 6500'. The runway is 10,300 feet. I have a normally-aspirated 114, and I wasn't off the ground until almost 4500' down the runway, and wasn't comfortably climbing away from the runway until I was almost at the end. So, yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to try that in an airplane with less horsepower than I have in mine. There was never any question I could do it under the given loading/runway/environment conditions, but I'd *really* be questioning it in a 112. I would be inclined to echo this opinion and say if you want to go with a 112, make sure it's a turbo. Even in a 114, it's going to be a maximum performance take-off every time.
Click to expand...

The TC has been fine ever since - max gross ; high DA, etc. I find the TAS (137-145) under 10K to be sufficient.
I have rarely operated it above 10K seeking the 150+ TAS ( during my Caribe flights mostly for more options) and to get over weather a few times - since i dont carry oxygen.

I would look at the turbo if high DA is a thing - as Kelsey highlights.

I have 5 hours in a C177 Cardinal - NA and i know what poor performance feels like (part of my journey to try different types)


These are the types i tried before i bought the 112TC :

PA28-161 - primary training
PA 18-181 - primary training
PA R201 - instrument training
PA28-R181 : Underperforming retract.
PAR201T - Cruising around SLC/Utah/Arizona
C177 RG - Poor DA performer
C172 RG - Poor DA performer
PA 28 -140 -- why did they even make this thing
PZL-150A - Nice 2 seater but not a travel machine. Comparable to a Cheetah.
DA - 20. : Composite kite. No way. I felt every mini-bump of airflow.
Cessna 172 variants : Part of instrument training / checkride and available to rent in most destinations
Cessna 152 : fun - but not for ownership.
Cessna T210 : Nice airplane - this was 1 consideration but my mechanic told me the OPEX is punitive here.
PA32-R301T Saratoga : Very nice aircraft. This is what i was pressing to buy. I had 20-30 hours in this.
112TC - Rockwell Turbocharged commander - this is what i found in my price range :)

I since added the BE76 and Seneca during my multi-ratings. I would want to own neither.

The Turbo experience with the T210 and PA32-Turbo toga convinced me that i wanted to end up with a turbo.
Renting the Turbo Arrow in SLC to fly to Utah and Page doubled down on that experience.

With 300 measly hours - i ended up with the TC - and have since added more than 1000 hours just in the TC ..
 
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See my logbook entry with the CFI for checkout - 8.25.2000. 7 Take-offs and landings - using 36" MAP. using up runway.

Look at the single logbook entry the following day 8.26.2000- which restored my faith in the airplane. All i needed was 1 take-off using 40-42 inches of MAP to know how the airplane actually performs at max gross weight in the summer

Click image for larger version Name: Screenshot 2023-09-15 at 10.10.04 AM.png Views: 0 Size: 282.0 KB ID: 199211
 
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buerlingp said:
I also have an insurance requirement, if I want to consider buying a Commander 114. I need 4 hours of time with a CFI with 40 hours of Commander time. I live in the Northeast Ohio area, are there any CFIs meeting those qualifications nearby?

As an aside, and it may only be my perception, but I think the lack and accessibility of qualified CFIs is a real stumbling block in passing the fleet onto another generation of potential Commander pilots.
Click to expand...

Come to the Dayton fly-in this weekend. There will be at least one, if not several, CFIs with thousands of Commander hours.
 
Justin Welsh with Eagle Aircraft in Valparaiso, IN - KVPZ - CFII gold seal instructor w/ significant hours in my 112TC. If that's close enough to NE Ohio, I can put you in touch.
 
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