Recognizing excellence in aviation
AOPA's national best CFI and flight school turn students into family
Years of experience, the ability to build student confidence, and going above and beyond for students and employees were just some of the characteristics that the top instructor and flight school in the 2024 AOPA Flight Training Experience Awards shared this year.
Having a family-like dynamic, however, proved to be the most predominant trait of all. AOPA announced the national winners of best flight school and CFI at this year’s Redbird Migration held at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas, on March 5 and 6.
National best CFI/Pacific region: Margaret Watt
“Did you have fun today?…” is written on the back of CFI Margaret Watt’s business card and is the all-important question she asks of all her students after each flight—and she really means it.
Unbeknownst to her parents, Watt started her flight training at 16 years old and paid her own way through all her ratings by working as an arcade mechanic at her family’s flea market in the California Bay Area.
Following her first solo and arriving home late, Watt’s parents pressed her for answers about her whereabouts to which she replied that she had just performed her first solo flight. Her parents responded with concern about the dangers of flying but “all of sudden my dad said, ‘Let’s just let her do it, it’s a phase she’s going through…’ and here we are today.”
Now a retired corporate and airline pilot, Watt has been flight instructing since 1985. Based out of her hangar at the Hollister Municipal Airport in California, Watt offers flight training in her Cessna 152 and Piper Archer. She takes a somewhat traditional approach to flight instructing by following a syllabus, but also pushes her students out of their comfort zones with flights to some of the California Bay Area’s busiest towered airports and even requires spin training for all her primary students, which is an unusual practice for primary students.
“Because I allow my students to go practice stalls on their own and minimum controllable airspeed, the slow flight and all that, I think it’s very important that they learn how to recognize that they are getting close to that spin and how to successfully recover from that,” Watt said.
“It is that shock and awe”
The 2024 Flight Training Experience Awards CFI said her favorite part of flight instructing is the first flight. “I love that first flight.…It is that shock and awe on their face that is priceless no matter the age.”
Confidence is key
Watt’s students all seem to share the same sentiment: She’s a great instructor who makes them feel safe and confident in their abilities. Not only that, but Watt’s students also enjoy a sense of belonging and camaraderie with one another and their local aviation community thanks to social events hosted by Watt at her hangar.
Set up for success
When looking for a CFI, Watt explained that it’s important to fly with an instructor at least three times to develop a rapport with that person, “if you’re not learning and not having fun, find someone else.”
For new CFIs, Watt suggests putting into practice the best parts of their own flight training experiences as well as getting advice from other instructors in their network. “I take all of the bad training that I’ve had, and I make it better here,” Watt said. Today, Watt has almost 8,800 hours of dual instruction given and 29,000 hours total time, and every so often still reaches out to her first flight instructor and others for advice.
“I practice what I preach, I’m all about safety. I want you to have fun when you’re learning to fly, I want you learn something each time, and I want you to be safe.”
National best flight school/pacific region: Mike Smith Aviation
“It’s like a second family”
The moment you step into the lobby of Mike Smith Aviation a feeling of welcome takes over. From the smiling faces at the front desk to the energetic greeting from Gipsy the flight school dog, the vibe of this flight school feels a lot like coming home. Located at the Napa County Airport in the heart of the beautiful California wine country, Mike Smith and his wife Kimberly Sanders Smith have been taking students from primary to airline transport pilot at their Napa location since 2019. The couple moved their operations to Napa from Rancho Murieta at the invitation of the local FBO and county.
Five years later, the flight school now boasts more than 50 full- and part-time flight students, a retention rate of about 80 percent, and sees nearly 15 checkrides per month with a first-time pass rate of 95 percent. In addition to Mike and Kimberly, the school employs four full-time and five part-time CFIs.
Mike and Kimberly, both experienced and passionate aviators and CFIs, were introduced by none other than John and Martha King of Kings Schools. The couple share a palpable passion for teaching and a wealth of experience that is passed down to their CFIs and students.
Not a one-size-fits-all school
Mike Smith Aviation prides itself on treating each student as an individual; taking the time to understand each person’s needs, learning style, and aspirations; and then making sure the learner has everything they need to meet those needs and expectations, giving them an enjoyable and rich learning experience.
Mike, Kimberly, and their instructors go above and beyond to make the learning environment comfortable, fun, and safe.
“It’s like a second family,” said private pilot and student Jessica Arciero. “These people have grown into my closest friends, and I look forward to coming here every single day.” Arciero comes from a flying family but was nervous to begin her flight training. After a few flights at the school, the Smiths noticed that Arciero was cancelling her lessons, “I was kind of having a tough time and I was feeling a little stagnant in my training,” Arciero said. “Kim called me and said don’t worry about your training, we’re just going to go have fun.” Mike Smith took her on a flight for ice cream in Half Moon Bay. The flight reinvigorated her love for flying. “It was such a touching thing for them to do,” Arciero said.
‘We’re not here to get you started, we’re here to get you to checkride’
“We looked at what people didn’t like about flight schools, and we tried to address that when we established our business, so we thought we were good,” Smith said of being recognized in the 2024 Flight Training Experience Awards. “We’ve had different accolades over the years, but this is especially meaningful because it’s our students rating us….Our whole philosophy is about making it a great experience for our students so that they want to come here, they have an environment that easy to learn in, and that they can get through without any disruption to their training.” Smith also prides themselves in the high percentage of woman pilots that come through school; 30 percent of the schools sign-offs are women.
Full service
Mike Smith also pointed out that his school is financially successful and rewarding for himself because it’s not just a flight school, it’s also a business of renting their own aircraft and doing their own aircraft maintenance; Mike is also an experienced A&P IA. “That’s how I can pay my rent, pay my instructors, pay myself, and do all wonderful things we do for our students,” Smith said. The school is a Cessna Pilot Center and provides most of its training in the flight-school-owned Cessna 172s. The school also has a Cessna 150 for time building, a Cessna 162 Skycatcher, and Beechcraft Duchesses for multiengine training.
The You Can Fly program is funded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. To be a part of the solution, visit www.aopafoundation.org/donate.
