(1) My View as a Ramp Agent! (2) Editing my first batch of plane spotting pictures! (3) One of the finished Products. Enjoy!
Hi All!
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer.
2024 has been quite the year for me. I began flight lessons and online ground school and I finished my first year at college.
2024 has also been a huge mental battle for me. I remember just one moth ago laying in bed thinking about my year thus far. I had no motivation to fly or continue with ground school lessons, I thought about my dreams of flying commercially less, and I was generally unhappy. I had distanced myself from my closest friends, and I had very frequent anxiety and gastrointestinal issues which sent me to the ER after a myriad of doctor visits at one point all of which I had never had before.
That night I realized halfway into 2024; I had been depressed for six months. As someone who always had a goal in life to fly, to laugh, and to work out, I never thought I would be depressed.
I blog about this to bring awareness to the fact that anyone can deal with mental health battles and that its extremely hard for those in the midst of a battle to realize they are struggling. Life can throw us all curveballs that depress us and traumatize us as they can to fill us with utter joy and pure determination. However, realization is the first step to recuperating from any mental health battle and thus I am now doing better each and every day.
For me, for the last few months my focus shifted from flying and this wonderful community to recovering from my mental health which physically sent me to the ER and through numerous doctor’s visits due to gastrointestinal issues which went undiagnosed for four arduous months.
As I work on myself each and every day and the clouds begin to clear in my life, I am determined more than I ever have to fly again and to complete ground school as swiftly and to the best degree I possibly can. My dream of being a commercial airline pilot is once again filling me with determination and an amazing purpose! Two weeks ago, I returned to the airport to work as a ramp agent again this time contracted to Frontier Airlines where I will even be trained for loadmaster, pushback, and potentially station training manager duties! I also contacted my flight school’s owner to discuss flying again, and I have begun Sporty’s ground school training again. I also now plane spot which serves as an activity which brings me peace and tranquility. It’s a great mental reset. And like always I work out every day.
To anyone struggling physically or mentally, just know struggle is temporary. Even on your worst of days. Find your life purpose(s) even in the darkest of times, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Even when you feel horrible, love yourself and live life undeniably and confidently.
Hi all! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the warmer spring weather. In February and March, my flight training was placed on hold because of my health. I had an ear infection and bad stomach/digestive issues and therefore was forced to tend to myself rather than fly. As a result, I became rusty. I forgot how to execute steep turns and stalls properly, among other maneuvers that I was well versed in just weeks ago.
Finally, after three months, I am much healthier. I can consistently weight train to my liking in the gym, and I have found great additional health benefits in going to the sauna every day and adopting a regimen of supplements. I have also had one flight since.
All this is to say, that health is paramount in aviation. Without a healthy body, nothing is possible. Fight training takes discipline in scheduling out days to a lot for flights, studying, and ground classes. Additionally, it also takes discipline in taking care of your body and treating it as if it were a high-performance car. If you fuel your body with bad fuel and neglect to care for it by exercising, your body will not perform well, and vice versa. Flight training is so much more than flying!
Here is what I did to turn around my health (I hope this can help someone who is looking for ways to improve theirs too):
-Sleep early (sleep is everything, our body recovers during sleep, and sleep changes the chemistry of our brain and body)
-supplement regimen including multivitamins, vitamin C, and more
-weight training at the gym every day
-daily sauna sessions for 15-25 minutes at or around 290 degrees Fahrenheit
I remember standing in awe watching as my grandfather tuned his stereo to perfection, feeling the deep bass booming through my chest as Spanish bull dancing music and later a Beethoven symphony flowed through his speakers. As I soaked in my newfound wonder, my grandfather gently held my hands and began to wave them in the air teaching me to conduct. He turned to me as we danced and conducted and said, “good musicians not only know how to play their instrument, but they also know how to teach and conduct their music. Music is meant to be interpreted, not followed.” Those words never left me, and shortly thereafter I began to learn the piano, which has now brought me to places like Carnegie Hall to perform and Friends of Children With Special Needs to give back to my community after 12 years of practice.
Much like music, aviation has been a constant obsession of mine, as I aspire to be a commercial airline pilot. At age five, I was given the opportunity to experience flight from San Francisco to Seattle. I vividly remember waiting in San Francisco’s terminal three watching as our Airbus A320 glided into the gate. I stared at its funnel-shaped engines, majestic white wings, and spotless tail glowing in a soft orange hue as the rising sun peeked over the bustling terminal.
As we boarded the plane, the first officer invited me into the cockpit. I gazed at the parade of multicolored buttons and switches that popped out of the instrument panel as he explained their functions. Finally, I placed my hand on the side stick and asked, “Captain, how did you become a pilot?” From that moment I knew I wanted to take flight as a commercial airline pilot.
Fast forward to the fall of 2022, I was nominated as a finalist for a local flight scholarship that would take me from zero flying hours to a private pilot’s license in just one summer. I could not believe that such an opportunity was in front of me. I could finally begin my journey to the cockpit, and I was thrilled! I walked in for the interview fresh from taking my PSAT, my junior year of high school, a little tired, but nevertheless excited. I had memorized an entire packet of information and prepared for the interview in every way possible. I breezed through much of the interview with confidence and authenticity, though extremely tired, and sometimes not as coherent as I would have liked. Still, I was extremely confident I would be selected as one of the recipients. However, a few days later I was devastated when I heard I had not made it past the final rounds. Though devastated because I didn’t know if I would ever receive such an opportunity again, I vowed to continue my pursuit of flight, to find another opportunity, because I knew I wouldn’t not let one moment of adversity bar me from my dreams. Instead I reached out to the committee of scholarship I did not receive to seek additional scholarship opportunities and research tips. I had to keep purist my dream, and this time with even more ambition. My reasoning was simple: Every aspiring pilot faces failure at some point along their journey, I was lucky to face such adversity so early on. It would prepare me for the journey ahead, and ultimately make me a better aviator. Thus in late 2022, when I applied for the Flying Musicians Association Scholarship, following my promise to myself, I was eager to hear back, eager for another opportunity, and the opportunity came.
In May of 2023 almost a year later, I received the 2023 Flying Musicians Association Solo Scholarship, after a year of searching for any opportunity possible. It was a perfect fit. It encompassed both my passions of aviation and music.
Since receiving the FMA 2023 Solo Scholarship I have begun flight training at Aerodynamic Aviation at Reid Hillview Airport in San Jose, California with the help of my wonderful CFI Cameron Kissler, and the help of everyone at Aerodynamic and FMA. Aerodynamic aviation is the area’s oldest flight school having provided excellent training services for almost 100 years since Reid Hillview AIrport (KHRV/RHV’s) inception in 1937. I currently fly in a Cessna 150M, allowing me to truly master stick and rudder flying. Aerodynamic has one of the most affordable CFI and aircraft rates along with an excellent community! I have 5.5 hours, and am actively working towards soloing, having completed my first stage of flight training in which I practiced maneuvers such as slow flight, powered on and off stalls, ground reference maneuvers, and so much more.
I have also been lucky enough to work as a ramp agent for Delta Air Lines over the summer of 2023, after applying for every airport job possible with the hope that any airline would offer me a chance. My previous adversity with my local scholarship taught me to seize every opportunity possible and thus I aggressively applied for every open position. To my surprise, I landed a job with the prestigious Delta Air Lines. As a ramp agent for Delta I have loaded and unloaded bags, disconnected and connected towbars and steering pins, serviced beautiful aircraft ranging from the A220 and A320 to the 737 and E175, and I have interacted with numerous wonderful Delta pilots and flight attendants who all gave me guidance towards my goal of being a commercial airline pilot.
Reflecting on my journey thus far, without the help of the Flying Musicians Association and its extremely supportive community of unique like minded musically talented aviators, my dreams of flying for the airlines would have seemed so much more distant. But through combined efforts of FMA and Aerodynamic Aviation, I have been able to jumpstart my dreams. If there’s anything I can take away from my journey thus far besides the fact that flying is mesmerizingly amazing, it’s that when you have a dream you must pursue it relentlessly, treating adversity as a steppingstone to success, and a challenge which you embrace without hesitation, rather than an obstacle. Without overcoming my early adversity, I would have not been lucky enough to receive the FMA 2023 solo scholarship, work as an 18-year-old ramp agent for Delta Air Lines or interact with the wonderful group of people I have met at Aerodynamic, Delta, and of course the Flying Musicians Association.
Hi all! I hope you are all having an excellent start to 2024. Happy New Years! This post is an update on my journey after receiving the FMA Solo scholarship and a sincere thank you to you all at FMA and out sponsors such as Hartzell, Gleim Aviation, MyGoFlight, and more who have given me wonderful tools like flight bags, logbooks, and pens to aid me in my flight training journey.
After receiving the 2023 scholarship, I immediately picked out a plane, N66459 a 1974 Cessna 150M. Though small, this plane is amazing! I initially had some issues finding a CFI. After months of searching and changes in my choice of instructor, I finally landed with my CFI, Mr. Cameron Kissler, who is an absolutely wonderful CFI passionate and very knowledgeable about what he does.
A few weeks after finding my flight instructor, on January 17, 2024, I flew my first flight lesson. It was everything I had hoped for and more. It was exhilarating, freeing, and a realization of a lifelong dream. During my first flight Mr. Kissler and I practiced preflight preparation, taxiing, run-ups, takeoffs, climb, turns/steep turns, descents, and radio calls. And after my first flight lesson I knew I was even more passionate about aviation. I promised myself while driving home that I will do anything and work extremely hard to achieve my goal of being a commercial airline pilot, because I loved my first few hours of flight lessons that day and have continued to cherish every lesson I have had since.
Since that day, I have had a total of three light lessons which have now put me at 4.5 hours of flight time towards my short-term goal of soloing, my intermediate goal of obtaining my private pilot’s license, and my long-term goal of being a commercial airline pilot. I have completed everything in stage one of my flight school’s syllabus such as things like steep turns, ground reference maneuvers, stalls, and more which puts me 1/3 of the way closer to soloing once I pass my stage checks, and practice more.
Without the assistance of you all at Flying Musicians Association, from the regional ambassadors to the members, former FMA Solo recipients, and FMA President Mr. John Zapp, who constantly pushes me and checks in with me even on LinkedIn when I began my job as a part time sales associate at Nordstrom, my dream of flying would have been so much harder to realize. Everytime I fly, I always remind myself that it is because of the generous people behind this amazing organization, that I have the opportunity to jumpstart my dreams, and experience such deep-enriching joy. I owe everything to FMA. Thank you, and let’s keep soaring!
Both the F22 Raptor and the Piper X-Cub images are credit to my friend Sean Albanese. The rest are all credit to the Air Academy staff.
Hi again Flying Musicians Association! I hope you are all having a great holiday season! Christmas is just around the corner! This article will be focused on the wonderful experience I had at EAA Advanced Air Academy back in July-August which I was honored to receive a full ride scholarship to through EAA Chapter 393 and VAA Chapter 29. Before I get started, I want to give a big thanks to these two chapters as well as Mr. Scott Cameron and his wife Julie Cameron, the camp directors, and everyone else who took time out of their summers to give me such a wonderful experience!
For those who don’t know what EAA Advanced Air Academy is, I have linked it here. It is a nine-day summer camp tailored to honor aviation from all aspects. It is wonderful experience where for the first three days, Air Academy participants like me, had the whole day to explore AirVenture and eat juicy, flavorful, and cheap Bratwursts (German hot dogs popular in Wisconsin). During the remaining seven days of Advanced Air Academy, we utilized the airfield and surrounding facilities of KOSH/OSH and the Air Academy Lodge to hold a wonderful summer camp in which we learned a great deal of aviation from aviators, aircraft mechanics, schoolteachers, welders, and more. Everyone came together and volunteered their time to share their common passion for aviation, teaching us for no personal reward. I can’t thank them all enough and will indefinitely be in debt to them for the kindness and all the hard work they put into Air Academy for us. Together, these volunteers and our amazing camp counselors who were all college aviation students, welded mugs and structures, built airfoils, made kneeboards, learned about university flight teams and opportunities, and so much more. Perhaps one of most thrilling aspects, was the fact that we all lodged together in the Air Academy lodge, creating a sense of community as we flew on flight sims, watched movies, ate delicious meals, and played pool together.
Now focusing on the famed EAA AirVenture, I loved it. It was a wonderful experience. I walked from booth to booth and met with Delta Air Lines recruiters, sat in the Cirrus SR22 T, Cessna 182T, the Cirrus Vision Jet, Bell Helicopters, flew a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator, spoke with Airbus representatives, and even sat in a few prototype jets that are set to debut later this year. Among those in attendance were also our wonderful sponsors: Honda, Foreflight, BOSE, Gleim Aviation, Hartzell Propeller, Sporty’s Pilot Shop, MyGoFlight, and more! They really had a wonderful showing.
Beyond the countless booths, I watched many airshows in awe, observing teams to the likes of the F-35 and F-22 demo team as well as the Ghost Writer Airshows crew perform their amazing death-defying acrobatic stunts showing the utmost degree of airmanship, unlocking previously unimaginable capabilities of flight. I also spoke to tenured commercial airline pilots and private owners, and even German Air Traffic Control professionals who were ground and center controllers in Frankfurt and Cologne, demonstrating just how diverse and international of a community EAA AirVenture attracted. The best way to describe Air Venture is to say it’s a Disneyland of aviation for three thrilling days.
EAA Air Venture is a celebration of aviation. It demonstrated to me just how powerful, tight-knit, passionate, and unique the aviation community us. You get to experience all the facets of aviation from prototype planes, to airlineners, and mom and pop businesses like newly invented parachute gear and arobatic harnesses. It’s an excellent way to meet people, to familiarize and enter yourself into the aviation lineage which is full of rich tradition and passion. AirVenture is what you want it to be, it can be a chance for you to meet airline recruiters or speak with an aviator with 50 years of experience flying and about the Super Decathlon he just restored. As long as you immerse yourself in the booths, activities, and people there, you will have an excellent and enriching time. It demonstrates the unimaginable strength and companionship unparallel to anything that you feel from being an active member in communities like the aviation community and FMA. I will forever think about those delicious $2 Bratwursts (hotdogs) and I will without a doubt be back in Oshkosh for EAA AirVenture every year I can!
Coupled with the amazing efforts of the EAA Air Academy volunteers and camp staff, my EAA Air Academy experience taught me so much about not just flying but the engineering and handiwork behind what it takes to maintain, build, and comprehend the system of mechanics which make an aircraft fly. During my nine days in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, I lived, breathed, and ate aviation, and I loved it! It is the best representation of aviation there is, and I highly recommend you all go to EAA AirVenture, and if you are an EAA member contact your local chapter or apply online for the EAA Advanced Air Academy scholarship. I also highly recommend our wonderful FMA community take a look at what EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) has to offer. This is one of the many great opportunities they have (i.e. flight scholarships, weekly/monthly chapter meetings and Free flights and fly-ins with delicious food and wonderful like-minded people!).
Below are some videos shot during EAA Oshkosh. Enjoy a C-5 Galaxy rocketing out of Oshkosh, and a helicopter flight over the airfield after EAA Oshkosh concluded! Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving, amazing members of Flying Musicians Association! I am extremely thankful for this wonderful community of musical aviators. As we approach the holidays, I can’t help but reflect on 2023.
2023 was a unique year for me. For starters, I was extremely lucky to receive the FMA Solo Scholarship, plus I began my college career at Santa Clara University, I worked as a ramp agent for Delta Air Lines ( at San Jose International Airport), and I was honored to receive an EAA Advanced Air Academy Scholarship through EAA and VAA (Vintage Aircraft Association) squadron 393 and 29 respectively ( I will do an article on that wonderful experience shortly), and so much more.
Given these amazing experiences, I want to focus this article on the amazing and rewarding opportunity I had as a Delta Air Lines Ramp Agent (through Unifi Aviation LLC).
At the time having just graduated high school, I knew I wanted to work around aircraft but had no idea if the airport would hire a freshly minted driver and high school graduate at just 18 years old. It seemed like an impossible stretch, and so I was not expecting any job offers. Regardless, I met the requirements and so, I applied to every airline ramp agent position there was at San Jose International Airport (my local airport) along with every flight school in my area at my local commercial and general aviation airport. Though I didn’t receive any job offers from my local general aviation airport (Reid Hillview Airport where I am flight training) I got the call back from two different airlines/third party companies at San Jose International Airport. I was beyond thrilled, and so I weighed my options happily and prepared myself to give the airport my all!
The one company that stood out to me was Delta Global Services, and therefore I accepted the job offer and began training. Training in the airline world can be arduous at times, it can be very time consuming, and things move very slow. But there’s a good reason for this. As a ramp agent you are entrusted with high value-sometimes irreplaceable aircraft and the livelihood of its passengers and their belongings (sometimes their livelihoods and pets), thus you are required to meet an extremely high standard of systematic perfection similar to the way pilots operate in the cockpit. So, expect lots of training modules, classroom, and on the job training, because it’s only right you are trained in every aspect to the highest standard. Heck for the first month of paid regular work you’re on “probation” as a trainee. Also expect the background check, drug testing, and airport badging process to move slowly. It’s a government process that has to go through many layers, in high volume.
But as an aspiring commercial airline pilot, this was all extremely, extremely worth it! I was entrusted in loading and unloading thousands of bags a day, servicing aircraft to the likes of the A320-200, 737-800, 737-900ER, EMB 175, A220-300, and A220-100, all of which I gained a tremendous amount of technical knowledge on as we were required to train for each aircraft prior to servicing them.
The best part is your working in an environment surrounded by things you love, planes, and so time passes by very fast. I even took on overtime, working 13-hour shifts into the early morning until the last flight of the day landed, because I loved what I was doing! You also aren’t doing the same repetitive tasks every shift. As a ramp agent you are trained to wing walk, marshal, connect and disconnect all sorts of wires, tubes, and units, drive the ground service equipment, clean the cabin, service the lavatories, operate the luggage carousels, load baggage carts, and so much more. Perhaps One of my favorite roles was to be the right-side wing-walker.
To me, being the right-side wing walker was one of the most interesting roles. For starters we wing walked the aircraft as it pushed back and spooled up its majestic engines, but the right-side wing walker also has a special responsibility no one else has: they are the disconnect/connect person. This meant that I got to do the most avgeek thing ever and show the fight crew the steering pin before waving goodbye, I got to disconnect and connect tow bars from the nose gear, detach the headset, and so much more. Each aircraft had different towbars and systems for towing too, so you learn a lot about all types of aircraft. For example, on the A320 and 737 family we were to insert a steering pin to give us (on the ground) steering control of the nose landing gear, while on the A220 family the flight crew had a switch in the cockpit they could manually hand control to/from us. With the E175 family, there was a switch we manually flipped on the left side of the fuselage just below the cockpit. There was so much unique variety and hands on learning experience I received as a ramp agent.
As an aspiring commercial airline pilot and for all the avgeeks out there, it’s our dream to be around aircraft, to work with them, to service them like they are ours. We have a personal connection to every aircraft no one else has. We have our rituals of geeking over planes, and we have our shared sense of sheer excitement and happiness when we are put around these aircraft. So, to be able to work as a Delta Air Lines ramp agent has been a dream come true for me, and it is one very fond and important step in my journey to the airline cockpit. My advice for getting such a special job is to go for it. Find your local airport, and apply to every job there, airline, charter, or flight school; commercial airport, general aviation, or business airport alike. Apply to literally everything. Search it up on google just type your airport followed by the word jobs, and search on a recruitment site like JSfirm, Google Jobs, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and more and check every airline and ground handling companies like Unifi Aviation, GAT Alliance Ground, Fenix Logistics, Airport Terminal Services, Alliance Ground International, Swissport, and more. Don’t take the job requirements at face value; if you can apply to them. It doesn’t hurt. Broaden your scope, if you can’t be a ramp agent you can be a ticket counter worker, a receptionist at a flight school, a fueler, and more. I got a job I never thought I would, so try, it’s your passion, your dream, nothing is a stretch.
Below is a myriad of cool videos I was lucky to capture out on the ever exciting, ever beautiful, San Jose International Airport-Delta Air Lines Ramp! I hope you all enjoy!
Sitting on the ledge of the forward cargo bin of an A220 watching a FedEx Boeing 767-300F takeoff from Runway 30R. The plane parked next to us at Gate 15 is a British Airways Boeing 787-8 from London Heathrow getting serviced for its flight back.View from the jet bridge stairs of a Spirit A320 NEO and a Alaska Boeing 737-9MAX taxingAttaching the tow bar, steering pin, and tow bar pin to a Boeing 737-900ER which came in from AtlantaPushing Back an A220-100 from gate 11 ( a challenging gate because of its proximity to a taxiway intersection with the ramp), on its way to Salt Lake City International Airport (KSLC/SLC), I was riding along for this one and not wing walking toe right side like i usually did, thus I am filming ( at our ramp only supervisors were allowed to drive the pushback tug)Sitting on the Belt Loader Awaiting Gate Checks for this E175 Delta Connection (SkyWest Airlines) flight to Los Angeles (KLAX/LAX)
Picture on the right: My picture taken of an A220-300 parked at the KSJC/SJC Delta Ramp
Hello again Flying Musicians Association! I hope you are all doing well. As we begin August I have some exciting news to share! I am currently working as a ramp agent for Delta Airlines at San Jose International Airport, so if you ever fly through KSJC/SJC, I may be the one wing walking, loading your bags, or marshalling your flight! If you would like to get an airport job, feel free to contact me at my Flying Musicians Email Address. Also, I have found an amazing flight instructor at AeroDynamic Aviation, Mr. Frank DeGroen. I will complete my written test by mid-late August and begin flight training immediately after.
As the process to select a flight instructor for me was unexpectedly difficult, I would like to share what I learned from this process. In searching for a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), I would categorize but not limit my search to three main categories: price, instructor availability, and instructor compatibility. Take everything with a grain of salt, since these are purely my observations.
Price: Price is paramount. Sometimes the longer tenured schools that have older aircraft but rich roots at the airport and affordable prices are the best flight schools. For example, AeroDynamic Aviation has some of the oldest planes at Reid Hillview Airport, but they also have the cheapest rates by 20-30/hr for the plane and the same margin for instructors (40-60/hr more in total).Not to mention AeroDynamic Aviation has also been in service of my community for 100 plus years. You also do not need to pay premium price for a newer airframe or an aircraft that is equipped with the G1000, so don’t get hung up on that. A 1967 cessna 150 will perform just as well in your private pilot training as a 2020 Cessna 172. Later on if you need to familiarize yourself with more advanced instruments like the G1000, you can do so by renting an aircraft for a few hours with an instructor.
Instructor Availability: In my search for a flight instructor I tended to steer away from part-time instructors, as I wanted an instructor that could meet my scheduling needs as opposed to the other way around. The less frequent you and your instructor fly, the more the cost of your Private Pilot’s License will be, because you will progress much slower. That being said, also ensure that your prospective CFI does not have an overwhelming amount of students so much that your flight training can’t be a personalized experience (I noticed there tended to be a tradeoff between availability and student load, the more they instructed the more students they had). Also keep in mind that you are paying for a service and thus should anything go wrong you can always switch instructors.
Instructor Compatibility: Choosing an instructor you pair well with is essential. During my selection process I interviewed each instructor that I put on my list. Don’t be afraid to ask your flight school of choice for their contact information. They will more than likely provide it to you as this is standard practice. You can ask your instructor anything you want but some general questions would be, what is your aviation story, do you have a syllabus, what do you expect from your students, and how do you approach flight training.
I would like to end my article with a perfect quote from Frank. It is the attitude with which I aim to approach life and flight training with. “Aviation is a whole different set of challenges that most people think they can not overcome. I am living proof that you can. As long as you maintain the dream & have fun while learning, success is emanate.”
Hello Flying Musicians Association! As this is my first post after being named the 2023 FMA Solo Scholarship recipient and ambassador I would like to thank all involved with the Flying Musicians Association from President Mr. Zapp to all of you wonderful nominees, who I encourage to stay involved as many more opportunities are on the horizon! I would also like to thank Mr. Zapp again, Gleim Aviation, MyGoFlight, AOPA, Hartzell,Concorde, Sporty’s Flight Gear, and more for the wonderful flight training materials provided to me (depicted in the picture). From my experiences as a member of Civil Air Patrol Squadron 36, EAA Chapter 62, and now Flying Musicians Association, I can say that if aviation or music is your dream, the more involved you make yourself in the aviation or music community, the more opportunities you will receive. As the 2023 FMA Solo nominee and as an ambassador to FMA, I promise I will raise awareness for our community, and share every aviation and music related opportunity I receive to do my small part in helping everyone achieve their dreams.
As I begin my journey towards the first milestone in my dream of being a commercial airline pilot, obtaining my private pilot’s license, I decided to share my plans for flight training. I will begin flight training at AeroDynamic Aviation, a flight school based out of San Jose, CA’s Reid Hillview Airport (RHV/KRHV). AeroDynamic Aviation was founded in 1960 as “Amelia Reid Aviation” by Amelia Reid (pictured above), a former NASA (then NACA) Programming Mathematician and flight instructors hall of fame inductee. Her students include legendary air show pilot Sean Tucker (the aviator who flies the red Team Oracle Challenger III biplane, pictured above), and aviation writer Rod Machado. AeroDynamic Aviation is San Jose’s primeri flight school and it offers the cheapest rates! Not to mention, they emphasize stick and rudder skills!
However, I am still in search of an instructor having narrowed it down to Mr. Kenny Behlen and Mr. Ezekiel Jamison. Once I determine my instructor, I will be able to settle on renting an aircraft (some instructors do not teach on certain aircraft types). To assist me in my search for a CFI, I would like to ask our wonderful community, what are some qualities you value/look for in a CFI or any mentor in life? Also, feel free to reply with any questions or comments you may have. The more the better!
Thank you all very much, and I can’t wait to update you all again on my journey!
