The best advice I can give someone looking for a flight school is this: when you take a tour of the facility, ask to see their airplanes. If the airplane has garbage floating around, ripped seats, old tires, and needs paint, it shows you that this flight school is unconcerned with investing in their equipment. If that is the case, you need to ask yourself “how will they invest in my flight training?” At American Flyers, we take great pride in our equipment. Our National Director of Maintenance, Rick Farmer, spends a considerable amount of time ensuring that our equipment looks just as good today as it did the day it rolled off the assembly line.
Rick started with American Flyers in 2003 as an intern mechanic. While in the intern program, Rick completed his Private, Instrument and Single-Engine Commercial Certificate. After completing our intern program, Rick moved to our Santa Monica location where he took over the day-to-day operations of our FBO and simultaneously managed our West Coast maintenance operation. While Rick was based in California, it became obvious to the company that he had incredible potential. It was not long before Rick was asked to take over our entire maintenance operation. In 2009, Rick and his wife, Nancy, moved to Dallas.
As our National Director of Maintenance, Rick is responsible for hiring the right people, managing our equipment and maintenance standards, and training new mechanics. Because of his tireless work, American Flyers has an impeccable maintenance record. We cannot thank Rick enough for his efforts and incredible work ethic. Rick is capable of troubleshooting better than anyone else, has a great sense of humor and truly cares about people. Rick is also a member of American Flyers’ Advisory Board. Clearly, he is a real asset to the American Flyers family, as well as the aviation industry.
When Rick is not hard at work, you can find him, his wife and their two kids spending quality time together on their farm.