Hello all... I'm considering getting back to aviation after 30+ years, and the dream is to fly bush / floats (you can read my whole sob story here if you wonder: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=115297 ). I'd like to do it all from scratch (PPL+CPL), just to be sure I didn't forget anything all these years, and the option of doing the whole PPL+CPL on floats with Air Hart in Kelowna is very appealing. Yet, several people have also highly recommended Ocean Air (Victoria / Patricia Bay) for floatplane training, so I'm not sure if it would make sense getting started w/ Air Hart on their C172 on floats (following the advise of staring float training with relatively under-powered a/c before moving to the C180) and then, after I have some experience on floats, move to Ocean Air in Patricia Bay to get more "refined" training...? Would this makes sense...? However, I'm not sure if "changing schools" midway through float training would do more harm than good... Also, if I don't get started w/ Ocean Air, maybe I won't get the benefits of their well-reputed training, anyway...? I might even bring bad habits from Air Hart!? How does Ocean Air compare w/ Air Hart float training, anyway? Would they be that different, or about the same? (it would be interesting training w/ floats in both lakes and ocean water, anyway, I suppose these are somehow different environments, each with their own quirks...) And while I'm at it, what about Fort Langley Air...? Any references...? (it's closer to my home in fantastic Surrey, so I could save in accommodation if I fly off Fort Langley... although by the looks of it I'll probably have to sell my place to pay for the PPL+CPL anyway, so this may not be an issue...) This isn't for right-away, I'm aiming for next year, if everything goes well... Just trying to get organized and plan ahead...

You feedback is greatly appreciated!

I'd recommend checking out Randy Hanna at Pacific Seaplanes (http://pacificseaplanes.ca/). He will start you off in a 172 to get your rating, then you can do further training on the 180.

I have no experience with the CPL but I can say that John Crawford at Fort Langley is top notch, they do a bush flying course but I don't know about CPL stuff.
I fly out of Pitt and have met Tom Dryborough from Island Coastal several times, super guy and always helpful even though I'm not and never have been his student. I wouldn't hesitate to use them and I believe they have PPL and CPL programs that incorporate float flying throughout the learning process.
Other than the cost I don't think I'd worry about 172 vs 180 as much as the quality of the instruction I'm getting.

Didn't you ask this very same question back in march...???

I've heard good stuff about Tom Drybrough at Island Coastal at Pitt Meadows. Have met the guy once but didn't train under him.

CpnCrunch, MattW, praveen4143, many thanks for your feedback, greatly apreciated...

Floatr wrote:Didn't you ask this very same question back in march...???

Nope, back in March I asked about general prospects in bush flying (nothing specific about float training, which is the topic of this post...)
I don't blame you for getting confused, though, as I have the bad habit of writing very long posts that few people actually finish reading...

Cheers!