If you've driven from Seattle to Orcas you know how long it takes. There's the 1.5 hr drive, the…read more40 minute to hour long wait for the ferry and the hour ferry ride. A good alternative is Kenmore Air. Drive to Boeing field where parking is free (!). They greet you warmly at the counter, no TSA frisking necessary, you hop on a small plane and in 40 minutes or less you're on Orcas Island. It's stress free.

My son and I took a flight with Lou this afternoon in the Piper. We are both novice pilots and…read moreoften take "discovery flights" when traveling. It gives us the chance to spend some time in the air and learn the area in a unique way. We took off from Friday Harbor, and flew to Orcas Island and back. Lou is a terrific pilot and instructor, and the Piper is a terrific aircraft. We had great visibility and the trip was smooth. It was a wonderful few hours. Next up, the biplane!

This morning while eating breakfast, my husband saw a flyer for AeroClassic. We called to see if…read morethey could fit us in and Lou was wonderful about setting up a 2pm flight for us. We arrived a little early, the building is extremely easy to find and it gave us time to gaze at the airfield and a couple little planes. When Lou arrived he was super friendly and went over the plan for our Introductory Flight for Two. As I have never flown before he gave me a short explanation of aerodynamics and how to use the rudders to turn the plane (very useful information once we got into the sky!). Lou was an amazing teacher in the air and let me guide the plane and decide where to go in that time period. When my time was up, we landed on Orcas Island to switch pilots and let my husband fly. Lou was a great teacher, he was very patient and kind. After this amazing experience with Lou; both my husband and I want to take private pilot lessons, we only wish that Lou was closer to be our teacher!

This is the second time I've had this tour with this company., the first one was with my Husband…read morefor our anniversary back in 2016 and really remember how much of a nice time we had and how much my husband enjoyed, for he does not like heights but with age comes more braveness. Second trip was this past September 26th I thought I'd see if my two sisters wanted to go for a try since we were doing a 2 day 1 night get away to re-quaint our sisterhood. My oldest Sister another one who was scared and nervous but got her to say yes. HAHAHA it was so much enjoyment seeing the look on her face before she was strapped in LOL. boy oh boy another one pleased! actually all of us had a wonderful experience with our flight and pilot. Thank You West Wind Aviation on both flights. Fabulous from the ease of booking to meeting up with the pilot for our 45min trip over the San Juans.

I wanted to give my fiancé something unique for Christmas, so I booked a scenic tour of the San…read moreJuan Islands with Westwind Aviation during our recent visit. I thought it would be a great experience gift, although we were nervous initially because we had never been on a tiny, three-seater aircraft before. I spoke with a nice gentleman when I called in to set up our reservation two weeks prior. Sorry I didn't get his name. He was professional and gave detailed information about what to expect. I requested a confirmation email, which he couldn't provide immediately, but he said someone else in the office should be able to create one for me and send it the next business day. I got it as promised. We got to the Westwind office at the airport a few minutes before our reservation time. Our pilot, Scott, was at the front desk, all ready to go. We shook his hand, and he led us out to the little plane. He gave us a nice run-through of the door, seat belts, headsets. Shortly after, we were on the runway, preparing for takeoff. The tour was a delight. It was a beautiful day, mostly clear skies. The views from up above were breathtaking. We easily forgot how nervous we were about being on a tiny plane because we were just so amazed by the views and the whole experience. Scott was knowledgeable about the islands and historical events that took place there. He was also great with answering our questions. Scott did a very smooth landing that we barely felt anything, too. He's a real pro. When we got off the plane, my fiancé needed to use the restroom, and even though he didn't plan on heading back to the office, he took the time to take us there so that we could have access to a restroom. What a memorable experience. I highly recommend contacting these guys if you want to do a scenic tour of the San Juans in a super-cool fashion.

We stopped by to check it out for future adventures. Small parking lot but plenty of spaces, clean,…read moreand the staff were friendly. We were able to get information and pamphlets.

Every time I called no matter the reason each person was so kind and patient with me. They made me…read morefeel really listened to. Thank you so much each and every one of you. Robin Smith

Po is a great instructor. We had a blast flying with him and will definitely be back again!read more

It was almost Mother's Day, and my 80+ year old mother needed something out of the ordinary. After…read moreall, she had to parent my three brothers and I. Not that we were tough to parent, well, yeah... we were. It's a wonder she isn't an alcoholic or in a mental institution. She was overdue for a special "Thanks". A surprise flight in a small plane seemed like a good idea. Two of the brothers were shocked at the idea, and my wife was as well. "Tea room" was my wife's idea. Wife seems to have forgotten about the times our mom played tackle football with us boys as we were growing up. I set the appointment, and my poor mom was clueless as we arrived. Pilot Kenn was terrific, and is a flight instructor there as well. He carefully helped her get in the plane, and get all situated. Take-off was smooth, as was the rest of the flight. Kenn flew where she wanted to go, even though she didn't really know where she wanted to go, and kept changing her mind. If you were on the ground and thought that you saw a drunk flying a plane, that was a very sober pilot flying us in ever changing directions. Mom has spent decades in the area, but had never seen the view that the seagulls get. It is truly an amazing experience. Kenn even allowed her to fly the plane briefly. If this isn't on your bucket list, shame on you. Your mom/dad deserve this rare treat. Just think of all the times they wiped your backside, took you to the hospital, and watched you strike out for the hundredth time. Yeah, you owe this to them. We went to the Airport restaurant after the flight, and enjoyed (very) fresh oysters. Mom was thrilled by the flight, and can't quit telling all her friends about it. Got back into the good graces of my mom! Now, let's see if I can stay there for a few months.

Daniel, the office manager, is absolutely one of the most rude individuals I have ever met. He…read morecalled me stating that one of the flight instructors I wanted to train with was not available and condescendingly said that I had to go with another choice or I could go to another school. The guy then went about threatening me, saying that what I was asking me for (flying with the original instructor) isn't according to FAA regulations. It doesn't even make any sense. This guy is out of his mind in terms of rudeness and not caring about the customer experience. He obviously thinks that he has too much business and he's the king of the place so he will just shut people down without trying to help the customer. Absolute disaster of a place. They lost my business for sure. Buyer beware! Update: I spoke with the owner of this school and thought that he would be more understanding of the situation and try to fix the situation because I already paid them $400 for the discovery flight and was genuinely eager to take their classes. I was dead wrong. The owner of the school was just as rude and even said that me posting a negative review was in bad taste, basically trying to silence me from speaking the truth. Unbelievable. He didn't even try to understand the situation more and instead just jumped to conclusions stating that whatever Daniel did was because of FAA regulations, which is obviously bs. Then he suggested I take classes with his school to get over it. LOL. I can't make this up.

Great flight school, I got my PPL here and the team is great. Planes are new and CFI's are…read moreknowledgeable

Got the one hour Discovery flight as a surprise for my husband's birthday. He loved it! Flew over…read moreThe Seattle area. Brandon was awesome answering all of our questions making it a very memorable experience.

I bought it from Groupon for my boyfriends birthday gift. He told me it was the best gift ever!…read more Anyway the flight instructor was amazing! We had to keep on reschedule multiple time due to Covid but the instructor was super friendly and reply quickly to my request!! Lastly the flight was great! He went thru lots of detail about flying, and my boyfriend said he definitely learn a lot and would love to try obtain a pilot lesson in the future from this place :) drive over to the airport from Seattle was also super nice!

Lovely flying service. Clean and knowledgeable. We booked a scenic flight and everything went…read moresmoothly.

My initial impression of Snohomish flying service was good but after my instructor (Michael) left,…read morethey failed to communicate who my new instructor was. It took over a month to get the new instructor assigned and once assigned the staff made me feel like it was my fault that they never told me what was going on. The new instructor was a younger person looking to move on into airline pilot training. The one lesson I had scheduled with him was ruined due to the plane not being returned on time for our flight. I got two laps in the pattern as opposed to my hour of scheduled time. He gleefully told the person who returned it late that it was fine. I was then assigned another instructor who seemed like might be good for me as he was older and seemed to be interested in my plan. unfortunately the plane which had been in the service hanger for several weeks had not been prepared and was short on oil. we spent a half hour getting it ready to fly and I managed one lap in the pattern. to be clear my overall instruction in terms of actual flying time was 3 laps in the patter in over two months. my frustrations mounted to the point where I canceled my lessons with Snohomish Flying Service and am pursuing a different flight school to complete my training.

As a long time student and renter at Regal Air, I can't say enough about how awesome this flight…read moreschool is. Barb and Alena do an amazing job at the front desk taking care of reservations and dispatch. Ricardo is a world class chief flight instructor who's always willing to lend a hand. Michael Flannagan is the best CFI I've ever had the pleasure of studying under. And at the controls of it all is Ron, an amazing guy and business owner! If you're looking for a flight school, this is the one!

I've been a Part 61 and part time student at Regal Air for a couple of years and have compared it…read moreto others schools in the area (i.e., Everett, Renton, Boeing Field). I'm confident Regal Air is at the top for the following reasons: 1) An excellent group of instructors with vast experience and great dedication to their students. They are great at tracking your progress and customising training -as far as the regulation allows- according to your needs. They will try their very best to accommodate to your -sometimes crazy- hours and to offer as much ground and flight instruction as needed -even done remotely-. They do walk that extra mile for you! 2) Unmatched quality and safety. Having aircraft maintenance and FAA certified avionics repair station branches allows them to keep their planes in optimal conditions for students and rentals. Part of their management has Air Force background, which translates into impecable service, operations and procedures. As with facilities, you will always find airplanes extremely clean and well equipped and maintained, ready for your next flight. Their front desk staff is professional, helpful, friendly and very competent. 3) Great location. Paine Field is THE place where you want to learn. Delta and Echo -depending on the time of the day- neighbouring Bravo, Charlie and Golf air spaces, means you will have plenty of airspaces and traffic (including airlines) to practice with and become a very knowledgeable, competent and confident pilot. A large number of nearby airports and airfields with the umatched scenery of the area plus its own great location within Paine Field -which allows you to access its two runways within a few minutes-, make Regal Air one of the best located schools in the Pacific Northwest. 4)* During Covid pandemic times, I've been greatly impressed with their safety and sanitary measures. Regularly cleaned and sanitised facilities, temperature and symptom screenings upon entering the building, masks required inside facilities and when flying accompanied -which are actually enforced and complied with-, and gloves provided together with isopropyl and wipes to sanitise airplane interiors before flying. These are only a reflection of their professionalism and commitment.

I enjoyed my day here at Hurricane Ridge. Even the 17 mile drive from Port Angeles was a beautiful…read moredrive. I was able to pull over at a couple of the scenic stops along the way. At an elevation of 5,242 feet, Hurricane Ridge is one of the two most visited areas in Olympic National Park. The Hoh Rainforest is the other one. Activities include hiking, skiing and snowboarding. Some people come up here just for the views. The main visitor center for the park is located at the beginning of the drive on Hurricane Ridge Road in Port Angeles. Hurricane Ridge is the most easily accessed mountain area within Olympic National Park. I drove up here to hike the popular 3.4-mile out-and-back Hurricane Hill Trail. There are other trails in this area including a couple of easy nature trails. The Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge and Visitor Center was sadly destroyed by fire in 2023. The park put a temporary structure in its place with a ranger on site to answer questions. There are shuttles that will take you up here from Port Angeles if you don't want to do the drive. The view of the surrounding mountain range from Hurricane Ridge is amazing. You might see wildlife like Mule Deer wandering around. The entrance stations into Olympic National Park are on Hurricane Ridge Road right after you pass by the Olympic National Park Visitor Center. Sometimes there can be a line of cars at these stations.

If you are visiting the Olympic National Park, you must visit Hurricane Ridge. The scenery is…read moresurreal and the trail is exceptional. The trail is well paved with lots of room. Be advised the trail is approximately 1 1/2 miles uphill, at approximately 5000 feet elevation, so be prepared for the steep climb.