‘Rusty Pilot’ success for a Utah flight school
Pilot Makers Advanced Flight Academy’s home airport is in Heber City, Utah (HCR), located on the back side of the Wasatch Front and distant from most of the state’s population, who live north and south of Salt Lake City. The flight school’s original focus was aerobatic and upset recovery training. Only in the past couple of years has the school evolved into primary, instrument, and commercial single- and multiengine flight training. The school is somewhat remote and a relatively new provider of pilot training in Utah. Pilot Makers is about sharing a passion for aviation and offering events and programs to involve the regional aviation community.
One recent program at Pilot Makers was a Rusty Pilots seminar, based on the program created by AOPA. The seminar was a huge success for three significant reasons. Of course, the prominent objective was to get previously active pilots back in the air again. Of secondary importance was to generate flight training activity for the flight school’s instructional staff, and third was to enhance the public awareness of the flight school brand in the region. The Rusty Pilots seminar exceeded expectations on every leve
With the help of AOPA and Pilot Makers’ own marketing effort, which included an e-newsletter, website, and Facebook promotion, the Rusty Pilot Seminar attracted 26 attendees. Three people traveled more than 70 miles, one traveled 220 miles, and the remaining 23 came from within a 40-mile radius of Heber City. Clearly, rusty pilots were hungry for a refresher course.
The background of the group was interesting: 18 held private pilot certificates, four held commercial pilot certificates, and four were ATPs. The AOPA-provided seminar presenter, Ted Spitzmiller, did an excellent job relating to this pilot group. We were all amazed at the interest and discussions that ensued. Six of the attendees scheduled additional ground or flight time and all will be followed up on.
At the close of the seminar it was obvious that people were impressed with what Pilot Makers had to offer. Pilot Makers developed an acquaintance with pilots that they would not have otherwise met. Two of the attendees asked about flight training for relatives, and after the seminar one pilot scheduled an appointment with an instructor to get a pilot friend current again. The benefits of the AOPA Rusty Pilot seminar will continue for many months to come for both individual pilots and the flight school. It was a great public relations and business-building event.
You can apply to host a Rusty Pilots seminar at your flight school by registering online. You get a custom registration link for participants, free marketing support from AOPA, an AOPA instructor who will give the multi-media presentation and provide handouts and valuable information; and follow-up support to help you connect with attendees. For more information about hosting a Rusty Pilots program, see the website.
Ed Helmick has been a flight instructor since 1988. He formerly managed a flight school in Spanish Fork, Utah, as well as schools in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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