King Schools announces scholarship winner, new video course

The winner of the $5,000 scholarship, Allen Reenders of Longmont, Colorado, joined King Schools co-founders John and Martha King, CEO Barry Knuttila, and NAFI Chairman Robert Meder at the April 16 presentation ceremony. Reenders plans to apply his scholarship toward earning his flight instructor certificate and his certificated flight instructor—instrument rating and become a working instructor. The scholarship award will also provide him with free lifetime access to all King Schools courses, including Flight Instructor Refresher Courses.

In a news release about the award, John King noted his expectation that Reenders “will make a profound and lasting contribution to the aviation community.”

In the announcement, Reenders expanded on his aviation experience, reminiscing about taking his first flight as a youngster with his father, recalling the lifelong passion for flying that ensued, and noting the many opportunities he was offered while growing up in California’s San Joaquin Valley to explore aviation.

“I am so grateful for those people in my life and am excited that as an instructor I will to be able to help aspiring pilots and share my passion for flying,” he said. “Giving back is going to be a blast. Maybe that’s giving an hour or two of free instruction or perhaps it’s an invitation to go fly for lunch somewhere. It could be as simple as a little bit of encouragement. I plan to constantly be aware of my opportunities to promote and encourage pilots.”

Meder added that past winners of the scholarship “continue to have a really positive influence” on aviation. “This is our 5th year of partnering with King Schools, and we have been fortunate to have an incredible list of recipients who all remain dedicated instructors.”

Applications for the 2022 National Association of Flight Instructors and King Schools Scholarship will be available in August, with a submission deadline of January 2, 2022.

Aircraft marshalling course

The free video course, Understanding Aircraft Marshalling, is designed to help pilots quickly learn the signals used by individuals marshalling aircraft on a busy airport ramp. The 20-minute video can be accessed on the King Schools website.

“A pilot may see many different marshalling signals at a busy airport or event, so we cover them all,” John King said. “From start-up and departure to arrival and shut-down, this course has the common signals, as well as specialty and seldom-used signals. Like any other phase of flight, risk management is also a vital part of taxiing and parking safely, so we cover risk management best practices while on the ground too.”

Martha King added that many pilots have taxied in from a long flight to find themselves receiving marshalling instructions they do not remember or understand. “We developed this course to help fill that gap in aviation training,” she said.

Kim Hanson to lead pro pilot effort

King Schools announced the promotion of Kim Hanson to business leader of professional pilot courses. Hanson, a member of the company’s executive team, has run the King Schools Flight Instructor Refresher Course business for the 10 years since its inception. She earned her helicopter private pilot certificate in 2005 and went on to earn an instrument rating, commercial pilot and rotorcraft flight instructor certificates, and an instrument instructor rating, and became a fixed-wing private pilot as well.

“Kim is the perfect person to take our 20-plus professional courses and develop a roadmap to better serve our pro-pilot customers and grow this important aspect of our business,” said Knutilla.

Hanson has worked in technical support, course creation, video production, and sales support at King Schools, and is credited as instrumental in the creation of its successful and highly regarded Garmin G1000 course, the announcement said.

“King is a household name when it comes to preparing pilots for a professional career,” Hanson said. “My goal now is to build our courses for professional and turbine pilots to that same level. I am excited to learn new things and to be challenged, and I am honored to have this opportunity.”