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TRAINING & SAFETY

2021-2022 Flight Training Experience Award Winners

Many thanks to our survey respondents for investing time to provide their feedback through the annual Flight Training Experience Survey.

The survey encourages anyone who has taken flight training in the past 12 months to candidly share their training experiences. Survey participants included pilots of all experience levels, from new students to those earning advanced ratings or taking a flight review. 

The overall performance of the survey respondents’ flight training providers is measured through their responses and also highlights areas where they are successful and where they have opportunities to improve. 

Best Flight Instructor by Region

Central Southwest
Steve Fairbanks
Wills Point, Texas

Eastern
David Strassburg
Northampton, Massachusetts

Great Lakes
Ambyr Peterson
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Northwest Mtns
Jess Padden
Bozeman, Montana

Southern
Matt Eichel
Goldsboro, North Carolina

Western Pacific
Sergio Ramirez
Temecula, California

Best Flight School by Region

Central Southwest
In the Pattern
Denton, Texas

Eastern
Air Ventures Flying School
Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Great Lakes
Blue Skies
Chicago, Illinois

Northwest
Mtns Ridgeline Aviation
Bozeman, Montana

Southern
Aviator Zone Academy
Miami, Florida

Western Pacific
Sierra Charlie Aviation
Scottsdale, Arizona

Distinguished Flight Schools by Region

Central Southwest

Code 1 Flight Training
Wills Point, TX

Flex Air
Manhattan, KS

Aviator Air, LLC
Grand Prairie, TX

Mike's Flying Service
Terrell, TX

Texas Flight Aviation
Houston, TX

Eastern

NoVA Pilots
Leesburg, VA

Smoketown Helicopters
Smoketown, PA

Chesapeake Sport Pilot
Stevensville, MD

Aviation Adventures
Leesburg, VA

Air Fleet Training Systems
Caldwell, NJ

Take Flight Aviation, LLC
Montgomery, NY

Bravo Flight Training
Frederick, MD

Frederick Flight Center, Inc.
Frederick, MD

Great Lakes

Eagle Aircraft
Valparaiso, IN

Illinois Aviation Academy, Inc.
Chicago/West Chicago, IL

Giving Wings Aviation, LLC
Traverse City, MI

Northwest Mtns

Aeromania
Cheyenne, WY

Summit Aviation
Bozeman, MT

Southern

Flywell Aviation
Bowling Green, KY

MIL2ATP
Goldsboro, NC

Paragon Flight Training
Fort Myers, FL

Pilot Training Center – Homestead
Homestead, FL

KingSky Flight Academy
Lakeland, FL

Dragonfly Aviation
Winder, GA

Greenville Aviation Flight School
Greenville, SC

Centennial Aviation Academy
Atlanta, GA

Western Pacific

M.I.Air Aviation Education
Chino, CA

Bush Air Cal
Nev Ari, NV

Mike Smith Aviation
Napa, CA

San Carlos Flight Center
San Carlos, CA

Distinguished Flight Instructors by Region

Central Southwest

Charles Copeland
Manhattan, KS

Bryan Gutraj
Dubuque, IA

Jason Date
Manhattan, KS

Holly Latcham
Houston, TX

Todd Shellnutt
Arlington, TX

Zachary Green
Houston, TX

Jade Cross
Weatherford, TX

Jon Pounds
Weatherford, TX

Norm Rathje
Wills Point, TX

Jason Charrier
Weatherford, TX

Bill Allan
Paris, TX

Ericka Heaton
New Braunfels, TX

Taylor Rawley
Austin, TX

Michael Nasser
Houston, TX

Amanda Smolik
Denton, TX

Rally Stull
Manhattan, KS

Eastern

Doug Auclair
Pawtucket, RI

Christopher Freeze
Leesburg, VA

Mark Witte
Manassas, VA

Paul Beaulieu
Beverly, MA

Brenda Tibbs
Frederick, MD

Elias Kontanis
Manassas, VA

Keith West
Frederick, MD

Raymond DeHaan
Leesburg, VA

Katie Spillane
Frederick, MD

Nathaniel Hahn
Leesburg, VA

Robert Hepp
Manassas, VA

Jason Archer
Great Barrington, MA

Carolyn Hunker
Manassas, VA

Charles (Bob) Garity
Leesburg, VA

Kevin Nyzio
Hartford, CT

Kevin Norby
Southbridge, MA

Saskia Bollen
Leesburg, VA

Matthew Barnes
Leesburg, VA

Cyrill Timothy Poysti
Montgomery, NY

Ken Ring
Warrenton, VA

William Wobbe
Leesburg, VA

Ziad Abdallah
Pawtucket, RI

Great Lakes

Ernest Boys
Chicago/Lake In The Hills, IL

Mandy Roggow
Ann Arbor, MI

Elaine Kauh
Madison, WI

Peg Ballou
Bucyrus, OH

Natalie Janelli
Chicago/Lake In The Hills, IL

Thomas Summers
Jeffersonville, IN

Casey McIntyre
Pontiac, MI

Daisy Saenz
St Paul, MN

Austin Adams
Brighton, MI

Mike Biewenga
Chicago/Lake In The Hills, IL

Joe Standley
Chicago/Lake In The Hills, IL

Kyle Nelson
Austin, MN

Randy Schoephoerster
South St Paul, MN

Northwest Mtns

Logan Trapp
Bozeman, MT

Pearce Town
Aurora, OR

Joe Kuberka
Polson, MT

Luke Verbus
Denver, CO

Jonathan Kotwicki
Seldovia, AK

Austin Walter
Fort Collins/Loveland, CO

Melissa Harlow
Bozeman, MT

Moin Malik
Denver, CO

Ishmael Cremer
Anchorage, AK

Bradley Barker
Grand Junction, CO

William Dubois
Denver, CO

Southern

Brandon Gardner
Orlando, FL

Sara Landrum
Orlando, FL

Jay Nabors
Sanford, NC

Jackie Anderson
Jacksonville, FL

Justin Tidwell
Bowling Green, KY

David Banwell-Clode
Atlanta, GA

Ismail Dakrouri
Greensboro, NC

Ian Rodriguez
Smyrna, TN

Dustin Rose
Apopka, FL

Kurt Belsten
Melbourne, FL

Carlos Fernandez
Orlando, FL

Western Pacific

Evan Paraskevopoulos
Hayward, CA

Peter Kim
Chino, CA

Tyler Bennett
Mesa, AZ

Tom Guthrie
Murrieta/Temecula, CA

Devon Stillwell
San Diego, CA

Hyunchul Lee
Chino, CA

Hanna Fowler
San Diego, CA

Herb Patten
San Carlos, CA

Hailey Truax
Rancho Murieta, CA

Christine Oksas
Concord, CA

Thomas Deyoung
Scottsdale, AZ

Thomas Peterson
Bakersfield, CA

CC Milne Pocock
Cal Nev Ari, NV

Coltin Motley
Scottsdale, AZ

Lyndsey Hudson
San Jose, CA