Thank you for all your excellent assistance! Also please pass on thanks to all of the American Flyers FIRC personnel for providing such a good course in such an efficient manner. You have made taking the renewal course as enjoyable and easy (course not content) as possible to complete with great text and advice along the way. Additionally, even things like the little video with a full description of how to register with IACRA thereby enabling all necessary paperwork to be completed online is much appreciated. I’m sure I’m speaking for many by expressing my sincere gratitude.
For Dariel Padron, his flying career began January 8, 2008 when he entered the airline program; he began with no accrued flight time. In June 2008, he was hired by American Flyers as a flight instructor. Dariel called the training “quick” and “productive” and he loves what he does. However, the real story begins in the years before he began training. Dariel graduated from Florida Atlantic University with degrees in history and Spanish, but couldn’t find a career that suited him. With many hours spent “looking back” at himself trying to find what it was that moved him, Dariel found himself looking at old school papers and notebooks and realized they bore a common theme; each one was dotted with drawings of airplanes.
Recalling further all the aviation movies he had seen, all the air shows he had been to and all the video and computer games he played, he realized that he had been living the life of a pilot. The only thing missing was the flying itself. As Dariel would say, “I had forgotten I wanted to fly.” His first aviation job was with Silver Express FBO in Miami, and it wasn’t long before he had saved enough money to enroll in a flight training program. Currently, Dariel is gaining experience as a flight instructor, but longs to move on to bigger airplanes. He would like to fly for a regional carrier, “I love twin turboprops,” says Dariel, adding that his favorite is the Beech 1900. While his dream may have been forgotten, it was never lost.
Even though Curtis Griswold, 24, was on his way to take his commercial pilot checkride, he had no trouble thinking back to how it all began. “I’ve been infatuated with flying since I was a little kid”. By the time he was 14 years old, he knew for sure he was going to fly.
His interest began as a small child when he was regaled with tales by his grandfathers. Both granddads served in World War II as bomber pilots; it was these stories that helped lay a foundation for Curtis, allowing his interest to turn into love, and eventually a life-long goal.
Curtis attended the North Georgia Military College, where he was a Corp Cadet Captain. Upon graduation in 2007, he was ready to embark on an aviation career. After completing his private and instrument courses, his sights were set on earning his commercial license. As Curtis succinctly put it, “I want to get paid to fly one day.” His ultimate goal is to be a corporate pilot, hopefully at the controls of a VLJ, saying, that’s just the trend these days. Curtis would also consider a career in the airlines, or as a flight instructor. But no matter which option he chooses, he just wants to fly.
His most memorable flight came on a recent weekend as Curtis flew three friends to Plains, GA for a wedding. This was his first time in IMC after earning his instrument rating. Curtis said, “It was just a good time to be out of the hot-seat and enjoy flying.
There is a reason American Flyers is known as the “Finish-Up School” and Eric Goodenough of Deltona, Florida recently experienced the kind of finishing up we provide.
Eric was the kid who’d run outside every time he heard an airplane fly overhead. He’d search the blue sky for the object of his affection. In high school he studied Airspace Science in Air Force Junior ROTC. “I always had an amazement for airplanes,” he said.
When the time was right, he began training at a well known flight school in Florida, but found the pace to be too slow. His uncle and mentor, Eddie Royko, suggested looking into American Flyers because he’d been their chief pilot in the ’80s when they were based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. Operations Director Joe Cannizzaro met them on a weekend to show them around the Pompano school and Eric was easily convinced that this was the place for him.
He arrived in Pompano Beach in mid-February and flew nonstop. He needed 90 hours to qualify for his Commercial Certificate and within a month and a half he’d met the requirements and passed his check ride. Two days later he started working on his Multi-engine and took that check ride seven days later. From there he went right into the CFI Academy, which he finished with success.
Now he’s taking a couple weeks off to see his family and he’ll back as a CFI in Pompano. His long-term goal is to fly jets for a major airline someday, but for now he thinks he’s going to enjoy teaching.
Kim Unger’s stories about flying must have made an impression on her son, Brian, because when he was offered a ride by a neighbor he jumped at it. Sure enough, mom was right. Flying was great. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be”, he said. After realizing that learning to land wasn’t so difficult, Brian thought, “Hmmm, I can do this.” That’s when he knew that he wanted to be a professional pilot – an airline pilot to be exact.
Brian is enrolled in the career program, having earned his Private and Instrument Rating. He’s considering joining the CFI Academy when he gets his Commercial Certificate. He’s planning to instruct while attending college. Right now, though, he’s enjoying building his cross-country time. He recently ferried an American Flyers airplane to Morristown, New Jersey with an instructor for an aircraft swap.
Through all of his exciting, new experiences, Brian hasn’t forgotten the person he inherited his passion from. His mom was the first person he took flying and she still loved it.
Carlos Castillo has always wanted to fly. For years his dream was stashed in the “someday” file, but the time came when he realized his current career wasn’t going to give him the future he wanted. His desire was both to fulfill his dream and to plan for a still distant retirement. His wife, Cyndi, is an accountant and agreed to her husband’s plans to change careers “after a bit of convincing”. Now Carlos is about to complete his Private and begin working on his Instrument rating, while looking forward to the day he can instruct.
“This is the first thing I’ve ever done for myself,” Carlos explains. Other than becoming a mechanic at 18, his life has twisted along a path not necessarily of his choosing, but of opportunities that came to him. Now it’s his turn to make life go his way.
Having never been in a small airplane before coming to American Flyers, Carlos started with an IntroFlight. The flight was everything he dreamed it would be and he began full-time flight training. “It was harder than I expected. Information-wise it was much more than I thought it would be,” he said. “You have to have patience. It’s a process and you can’t force it.”
When Matt Ketter was offered an opportunity to join the American Flyers Mechanic Internship Program he hesitated. A couple of days later he was listening to a pair of recruiters from another company. The first speaker talked of making tons of money with their company doing a somewhat risky job. Students started signing up like crazy. The second speaker told them if they had a dream, they should follow it. That advice stuck with Matt. He called up Rick and asked if he could still join the American Flyers team, because his dream was to be a pilot.
Soon Matt was headed out to the east coast for six weeks of training on the specifics of the Skyhawk. During his 5th week he learned that he would be needed at the West Chicago location, and was soon packed and on his way to DuPage Airport. Moments after he arrived he jumped right in and started working. Matt hadn’t anticipated how much responsibility he would hold. His responsibilities included managing the shop and hangar; making sure that the airplanes were safe to fly; performing inspections and ordering parts in a timely manner; and studying and training for his pilot certificates and ratings. The independence he was given was balanced by the responsibility he had to take.
As he became accustomed to the routines of his new life, Matt quickly learned how to prioritize his responsibilities and manage his time. His position as an intern mechanic for American Flyers gave him some unique travel opportunities, like flying to Florida a couple of times and out to Morristown, NJ. Flying in different kinds of weather and terrain environments bumped up his experience level, preparing him for the unknown opportunities in his future.
It was a year and a half ago that he arrived at DuPage, and now Matt is finishing up his instructor training. Soon he’ll be teaching full time and earning the experience he’ll need for his wide open future in aviation. He’s not sure exactly what he wants to do but being part of very large airline doesn’t appeal to him much. He’s thinking about mission or bush flying, or maybe a position as a corporate pilot. Whatever opportunities do come his way, he is sure his experience in the internship program will serve him well.
John Downing graduated from American Flyers in April 2008 with a commercial multi engine certificate and now he is enjoying his career as a corporate pilot with some important responsibilities.
John enrolled at American Flyers in Florida after his attempts to obtaining reliable flight training were frustrated. “I have always been interested [in flying], but never thought of it as a career,” said John, who initially began flight lessons in 2001 after graduating high school.
During his first experience in flight training John accrued only four hours of flight time after nineteen days, and he knew he had to do something, “Or I’d still be working on my private.”John came to American Flyers in June 2007 still without his private. After only ten days, he had his certificate in his hand. From there John followed the career pilot track and went on to complete his instrument, commercial and multiengine ratings. After the completion of his courses, he went straight into the world of corporate flying.
The Zanesville, Ohio resident says that his job is roughly “60-70% on-demand” and he has flown every mission type from carrying executives on company trips to air ambulance flights with a full complement of medical technicians on board, to flying harvested organs across the Midwest. Currently, John is a crew member on the Beechcraft F-90 and B-200 series, but his company’s fleet also has Citation II’s on hand.
John expresses his pleasure that he is able to work in aviation saying that it is something, “not a lot of people get to do,” and that he “definitely” wants to stay a corporate pilot.
Having entered the world of aviation as a gate agent for Lufthansa and KLM Airlines, Ana Beltran caught the flying bug and eventually shifted into a career as a flight attendant. She discovered that she loves airplanes and the airline industry. When the captain or first officer needs to leave the cockpit, another member of crew has to come up and sit in the empty seat. Ana realized how great the view is from the cockpit – definitely something one could get used to! Now she has decided she wants to move up to the front of the airplane permanently.
Ana took a year of leave to become a pilot. She regrets that she didn’t know of American Flyers right away, because it took her 5 months to earn her Private Pilot certificate, where it could have taken ten days instead. Training is so hard for ExpressJet, that American Flyers structure has been a good preparation for her. On October 1st Ana has to return to Continental Express either as a flight attendant or as a commercial pilot with 500 hours of flight experience. We are confident that Ana will be a first officer in no time!
Brimming with a combination of enthusiasm for his next flight and a dose of school-pride, Tim Perry, 22, of Los Angeles has been working hard toward his goal of becoming a career pilot. His dream began young, and he has worked hard to make it into a reality.
Tim recalled seeing aircraft overhead near his childhood home and thinking, “I wish I could do that.” Even as he grew up and began working, his dream never really left him. Having computer programming skills and a love for computers, Tim began searching for a job in the computer field, but most of his jobs turned out to be “dead ends,” he said.
However, in 1998, his dream came back in full force with the release of Flight Simulator ’98. “I just really got into it,” said Tim, explaining that he knew that this is what he wanted to do. Even though he was still looking for an ideal job as a programmer, Tim gradually began modifying his job search into a search for a flight school. Tim did find a job, but the prospect of learning to fly still kept him searching for the ideal flight school, and he found one in American Flyers.
In May 2008, Tim began flight training full-time while holding a full-time position as a security officer. After working third shift, Tim heads home for sleep, and by three in the afternoon, he is at the airport working on his lessons. With this hectic schedule, Tim earned his private pilot certificate in July and his instrument rating in September. Tim is currently working on his commercial license and he is eagerly anticipating his flight test.
While looking forward to an airline career in the future, he says, “I really want to instruct.” For right now, it’s one thing at a time.
Andrew Allison spent his early years watching airplanes come and go at the Atlanta airport. At age 7 his family moved out to the country, but still under the flight path for Hartsfield. The simple farm life left time for a boy to dream about technology and watch jets fly over his head. In the mid 1980’s he started at Auburn University as a Professional Flight major. Somewhere along the line he switched into Aviation Management and graduated, but did not finish his Private pilot certificate.
The love of flying stayed with Andrew over the years and when he found the right piece of property out in the country he bought it. Then he bought the house across from it. Then he bought a Piper Aztec and a Pelican (experimental, single-engine, two-seater). Then he bought a pre-owned control tower (and hauled it back on a big truck). Then he bought a pre-owned rotating beacon and tower. Finally he bought a set of pre-owned lights. Andrew is now set to have the best decked out grass strip in the Southeast.
There was only one more thing he needed to do: get a certificate to fly his airplanes. Although he’d gone to three flight schools, he had not completed the training requirements to take the check ride. He’d only accumulated over 100 hours and a bunch of bad experiences. His professional pilot friends told him to come to American Flyers if he wanted accelerated training and a syllabus. When school director, Clint White, told him he’d be done in two to three weeks, Andrew was unbelieving. When he was done in two to three weeks, he was astonished and very glad he came. “Don’t let feeling overwhelmed defeat your goal,” said Andrew. “No matter what obstacles come before you, don’t let it stand in the way of your dream.”
Andrew wants to compliment Clint, Shane and Melissa for the awesome job they did and all the encouragement they offered. “They kept me engaged. They weren’t pushy, but they didn’t let me get sidetracked. Shane went above and beyond what any instructor would be expected to do. On the day of my check ride, I left the lights on in my truck. He stayed with me until we got it going again. And that was after he bought me lunch!”
Air Force Officer Troy Gryga earned his Private Pilot certificate on a recent Friday afternoon and by following Monday morning he was reporting to Randolph Air Force Base for Navigator training. The aircraft he is training in is the T-43, a modified B-737.
Troy has been in the military for 6 years and plans on remaining with them indefinitely. He loves the work and the camaraderie he enjoys with his fellow servicemen. His face is alive with enthusiasm and confidence when he talks about the Air Force and one is left with no doubt to the success of his future.
When he was 14 years old, Troy had the opportunity to take a Young Eagles flight in a Van’s RV-6 experimental aircraft. He was hooked for life! Troy earned a degree in aviation from SIU and he sells jet engines when he’s not in active duty. He and his father are building an RV-6A, a two-seat, single-engine, tricycle gear aircraft. They figure it will take 2 years to build and they’re both looking forward to the day they can soar the sky together.
This is a story to inspire individuals to get their pilot’s certificate; and possibly their own airplane. My name is Steve Okros and this is my story regarding achieving my pilot’s certificate, instrument rating and owning an airplane with the help of American Flyers.
I took my first lesson on February 9th, 2006. With a wonderful 3 days of ground school and 17 days of flight time I received my certificate on March 16th. This story is not to impress anyone with my ability, but to impress that anyone can do this. Next, I pursued my instrument rating, which I received on June 8th, 2006. I placed an order for a brand new Columbia 400 twin turbo charged single engine piston aircraft. I took delivery of the airplane in July of 2006 and received factory training in Bend,Oregon. I flew my plane back to New Jersey later that month.
In the beginning of 2007, I decided to take in 2 partners on the airplane. This is a great way to own one of the best airplanes on the market at reasonable cost.
Recently, I flew the plane for the first time from New Jersey to Florida and had an awesome trip. I hope this story inspires anybody with dreams of flying to pursue their dreams. If anybody would like more information on any of this story, feel free to call me at (732) 673-0700.
Thanks to Lucas with American Flyers of Morristown New Jersey. He referred me to a great partner for my airplane by the name of Dave Sievers, who also completed his private pilot and instrument rating training at American Flyers.
When you ask a pilot why he wanted to learn to fly, most respond with, “Oh, I’ve wanted to fly since I was a little kid.” If you dig a little deeper, you might find out what happened to the kid to make him want to fly. In Bill Knuepfer’s case, he used to build model airplanes with his grandfather, who’d been a Private pilot and airplane owner until losing his medical. After that Grandpa enthusiastically built models and inspired a love of flying in his grandson.
Bill has recently achieved his first solo and intends to earn his Private pilot certificate prior to summer’s end. Come September he will depart to Purdue University to begin his training toward a Professional Flight Technology degree keeping his eyes focused down the road to his dream job of becoming a corporate pilot. Another thing he wants to do once he’s a certified pilot is take his mom and grandmother up for an evening tour of the Chicago shoreline. Bill’s friends are adding their names to the list for a flight as well!
Until recently Adeel Siddiqui had a job as an aircraft dispatcher for Ryan International Airlines. Now he has new position as an administrative intern at American Flyers in Santa Monica. “I was very happy at my old job, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity I couldn’t pass by,” he said of the internship.
Adeel was working on his Private Pilot training at the West Chicago American Flyers location, when he sat with school director, Tim Genc, to talk about funding options for his Career training. What fit his needs best was the administrative internship, which provides a working experience, as well as an education. Within a month he was accepted for the internship, passed his Private Pilot check ride in West Chicago and was on his way to Santa Monica. His wife, Rabiah, will be relocating to their new home soon.
During the one year administrative internship Adeel will earn his Instrument rating and Commercial Pilot certificate. When the year is done, he’ll attend the 30-day CFI Academy and hopes to be hired as a flight instructor. Ultimately, Adeel wants to work in cargo or corporate aviation, but right now he just wants to enjoy flying.