Flight School Spotlight: Racine Flyers

The owner of Racine Sport Flyers in Racine, Wisconsin, Downs started his flight school almost out of necessity. After retiring as a firefighter in 2010, he went to work to fulfill a long-held dream of learning to fly. The problem was finding people to teach him.

“There were schools around, but they didn’t answer their phones,” Downs said. He spent months trying to find a way to get on someone’s schedule and train in earnest. Finally, he purchased his own Flight Design CTLS and found an instructor willing to teach in a light sport aircraft.

“Like a typical firefighter, I had businesses on the side,” he said. He turned that experience into a small aircraft rental operation, loaning out his CTLS to other students. A few other instructors came forward wanting to teach in it, and he’s since added a Piper Cub and an ELA 10 gyroplane. “I’ve created a monster,” he said.

Downs focuses on LSA training because he believes in its ability to affordably bring people into aviation. He said many pilots learn to fly in Cessna 172s, only to then fly primarily by themselves. So why spend the time and money to start with a private pilot certificate when you’re not using all the privileges of the certificate?

Through exhaustive and detailed contacts with potential customers Downs shares this philosophy. “I want people to make the right decision, so I give them the full information,” he said. That means dispelling misconceptions about the training process, being honest about how long it will take, how much it will cost, and what sort of practical things you can do with a certificate. In other words, he sells the virtues of LSA training, which requires less time and money, and offers most of the same privileges that many new private pilots typically use.

That willingness to help people, be transparent, and spend time bringing them into the community has paid off. With only two true training and rental airplanes (the gyro can only be used for training toward a certificate, and it’s not often flown), Racine Sport Flyers is on track to do 2,400 hours this year. Downs thinks there’s demand for more. Historically his challenge in meeting that demand was instructors who were willing to provide initial training in an LSA. “They thought they were above it,” he said. Recently he’s had more luck attracting young and hungry instructors who want to fly a lot and move to the airlines. It’s an arrangement all seem to be happy with at the moment. “Flying is flying. People need to forget their old notions. We’re trying to give people an easy road into aviation that’s cost-effective and safe.”

One thing you won’t see Racine Sport Flyers do is add new Cessnas and Pipers to the flight line. “If it doesn’t have a Rotax I’m not interested,” Downs said. Part of that rationale is the reliable nature of the engines, and part of it is an acknowledgement that airplane prices for late-model four-seat trainers are simply out of reach for most owners of small schools.

And Racine Sport Flyers is small. It’s Downs and a few independent instructors. He handles the business, but he is savvy about instructing. Downs credits two simple mantras that have made Racine Sport Flyers a success: Answer the phone and try to give the customers what they want. That may not sound complicated, but it takes countless hours evenings and on weekends to ensure his little airplane rental business continues its climb to well-respected flight school.