it's been awhile....

First off, I know it has been a long time since my last blog post and it has been really busy here at the school and we have had a lot of things happen over the past few months, especially with the excessive heat the past few months, BBQ's, Tower Tour's and our students passing check rides!

Here is the latest and greatest...


We have had a lot of graduates over the past few months and I wanted to highlight a few...

Tamera earned her wings in 41 hours with our Chief Pilot Bill. Her next goal is to master the art of IFR flying!

Tibbi earned his wings with CFI Steve and is looking forward to flying his family to all those cool destinations he went on during his training.

Welcome back to Fly Corona Spenser! Spenser was a CFI for Fly Corona in the past, he now has his CFII and is back in the rotation with us. Come on by to say hello and fly the skies with him.

Our very own CFI Nick is now CFII NIck! Congrats on knocking out the CFII rating and you did an awesome job doing all the radio calls with the handheld mic. I am sure Andrea was impressed.





We have a lot of new shirts hanging on the rafters of the school... Congrats on the first solos by:

Boo Spence, Bobbie Normandie, Charles Powell, Christian Gonzalez, Fady Kfoury, Adam Kissling,

Last month, we said good bye to our Chief Pilot Matt Caldwell, he was promoted to First Officer of Skywest. He is now flying the Brazilia's. All his students and staff miss him and wish him all the best in his new career.

In other school news, we received our FAA Part 141 Certificate! We are really excited to be an approved school. We will be submitting the additional courses for Instrument Rating and Commercial License this week, once approved we can then apply to accept VA Benefits. We are also hoping to have approval from SEVP so we can start issuing I-20's and kick start our International Pilot Program.
We have a new office manager, come on by and meet Estela. She is working hard to ensure that the office is running smoothly and that everyone is dispatched on time!

August 1, we removed the fuel surcharges from the menu and we have new pricing for all the aircraft. We are still very competitive with the other schools in the area as to pricing, but I am sure that we are the friendliest and have the best flight instruction crew in SoCal!

Be on the lookout for our new website that will be launched very shortly. We will have everything updated and including a new section for career outlook, international pilot program, our new professional program.






Lets do a roll call on the CFI's...

Bill Spence: Chief Pilot: 48 years experience and is currently flying with American Airlines.
Nick Kilkuts: Assistant Chief: now with over 1,000 hours of dual given, ready to fly 6 days a week
Maria LeBlanc: Assistant Chief: She has over 6 years of teaching experience in a Part 141 School.
Asa Cosby: Asa has been flying with us on a part time basis since January and he just loves to fly and teach
Brian Craig: Brian just had is 1 year anniversary of being a CFI, he is a technology guru, just ask him about the GoPro and Cloudahoy app.
Steve Hosterman: Steve is a retired United Airlines Captain and has over 30 years of flying experience.If your goal is fly with an airline, he is your guy!
Spenser Phillips: Spenser has returned to the line up as a CFI and CFII. He is passionate about flying and teaching and he is always willing to take you on his Beach Tour or Hollywood tour!
Kate Darwin: Kate has many years experience teaching the aviation program with Mt SAC. She has a lot of skills and is currently working on her MEI checkride. She loves to teach multi engine and our deaf pilots.
 

Come on by and greet our new friendly lineman Frank. He is busy washing, waxing and detailing the aircraft and I can tell you that they look like new! If you don't believe me, come by and see for yourself. We are so proud that the aircraft are looking new, mechanically sound and the radios are also being upgraded / fixed this month.

Here is the rundown in Maintenanceland......

61Q - is looking nice after spending the day in the detail shop.
241 - will be heading for 100 hour next week. She is fun to fly and can challenge you on your flight skills!
68U - just came out of 100 hour and waiting for cooler weather to prevail
739 - is in the shop having a new engine put in and the prop overhauled. We are expecting her to return to the flight line mid next week
4DT - will have the radio fixed this week
556 - had fun on the check ride with Tamera and DPE Andrea, she was in for 100 hour last week and ready for more
94M - got all cleaned up and ready to roll
8UH - had a minor scratch on the cowling and prop, will be repaired during the next 100 hour. She is a great flyer! Our newest aircraft to the fleet. She sports a 180hp engine, 1015lb useful load, sports a Garmin 430 and 495 with TCAS, electronic Tach, autopilot.
63B - went in today for a mag repair, should be out in a few days and then she will be ready to go!
17J - is flying like there is no tomorrow
182 - had its Com 1 radio fixed and is a joy to fly
0DA - This twin is anxious to fly, the Comanche is like flying a Ferrari, she is fast and sleek!
387 - Is running great, had the left engine cylinders overhauled and all the mags overhauled. She is a workhouse and loves to haul a lot of people around. Do I hear Vegas anyone????

We are all trying to stay cool during this last heat wave of summer? Come on by and grab some sky, it is a little cooler up at altitude. If you do fly in the heat, remember to bring lots of water as you do not want to suffer from dehydration.

Stay cool, fly safe!

Kevin.