May 2010

Check out Stari Grad Airport on Hvar island in Croatia (LDSH). Interested in flying out of this and other Croatian airports? Let me know. I am aiming to put together a trip in early September. More pics – click here.

AeroDynamic CFI Dave Chmelir has passed the half way mark in his quest to visit every public use airport in California. Well done David, 135 down, 115 to go!

Congratulations to Tom Jones who flew his wife in the airplane he built himself. Their first flight together took them to Half Moon Bay airport.

A newly fledged pilot takes to the skies! Well done to Pablo Vasquez who soloed in a Citabria. Congratulations Pablo.

As well as the Cessna 172RG (N616SF) we have two more C172P models on line. N968RC is available at Salinas and N98485 at Reid Hillview.

March 2010

There’s no stopping him! Peter Heis has now added a Glider rating to his pilot certificate. Here he is with Examiner Dave Morss. Congratulations!

Another certified pilot! Congratulations to Peter Heis who earned his Private Pilot certificate after flight training with Tristan. Well done Peter and Tristan!

Congratulations to Andy Leeper who flew his first solo flight in Citabria 32G and had his shirttails cut off by his CFI Mark Guerrero. Well done Andy and Mark!

Pau Baltrons has now returned back to Spain after flying all over California and even as far as Las Vegas. We wish him all the best in his aviation career. Check out his Facebook Photo Album

February 2010

Updated Renters Agreement (dated Feb 14, 2010) has been posted to the web site. Note that all rentals are subject to the latest revision of the Agreement.

Spring must be in the air! Another fledgling leaves the nest. Chuck Arnold soloed his own Grumman Yankee. Well done Chuck!

The Flying Nikonchuks continue their flying adventures in snowy Russia. Despite the weather they found ways to fly. Notice it’s a taildragger. Well done! We look forward to seeing them again.

Welcome and congratulations to Peter Heis who came from Austria to earn his airplane Private Pilot license. Peter is already a glider pilot at home, and he very quickly tamed the taildragger. Congratulations to Peter on his first solo!

January 2010

Welcome to three pilots from Spain! Marco Fuente, Arkaitz de Sebastian and Gotzon Joyera are pilots from the Basque region of Spain who came to fly taildgraggers with us.

Congratulations to Mark Ledwith who passed his Sport Pilot flight test in the Evektor Sportstar 811EV and is now a fully certified pilot. Well done Mark.

A warm welcome to Pau Baltrons who came to get his tailwheel endorsement and build tailwheel time. Despite the weather he’s already managed to earn the endorsement. Well done Pau!

Flying Companion / Pinch Hitter course planned. We are planning a Pinch Hitter course for your non pilot flying companions. This is a day (around 6 hrs) of ground school based on the AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s Pinch Hitter course. Assuming we get a good response, the training will take place on Saturday Jan 30th and cost $99 for the day.
The instructor will be Patrik Rosenast, one of our more experienced CFIs, who also holds an ATP, jet type ratings, and Airframe and Powerplant mechanic’s certificate and flies both coprporate jets and small taildraggers and everything in between.
Please email if interested, or call the office on 408 251 4939
Participants will also be entitled to a discount on a course of flight training.

Congratulations to Paul Cianci for scoring 95% on his Instrument Rating knowledge test. Said Paul: “Thanks Erik for a great instrument ground school!”

Well done to André Boulé who checked out in the Evektor SportStar!

Congratulations to Jan Johnson who added a tailwheel endorsement in Citabria 53893!

Two brothers soloed on two successive days! Dmitry Nikonchuk soloed Cessna 61637 and Kirill Nikonchuk soloed Cesna 9668Q. Congratulations to both and to their instructors.

Here’s Dmitry with his CFI Mark Guerrero after his flight:

and below, Kirill having his shirttails cut off by CFI Adam Marsh after his first solo:

From the “Where are they now?” department. David Gilmer is flying a Twin Otter in Chad for Air Serv International.

The distinction of the first pilot license in 2010 goes to Jos Peijnenburg, who successfully passed his Private Pilot checkride after flight training with CFI Kyle Cooper. Congratulations to Jos and Kyle for a job very well done.

We have the first fledgling of 2010! Congratulations to Ron Knapel who soloed Sportstar 811EV. Well done Ron and CFI Jim Grant.

This is what happens to your shirt after you solo!

2009 Q3 News

September 2009

Check out the new AeroDynamic Facebook page!

Congratulations to André Boulé who added a Complex Airplane endorsement to his license. Well done André , and his instructor Tristan Duplan.

Thanks to everyone who came to the BBQ. Great turnout. Now I am motivated to do it again!

AeroDynamic “End of Summer BBQ”! Saturday Sep 26th, starting around 4pm. We’ll have burgers and franks, soft drinks and beer. If you’d like to eat or drink anything else, your contribution would be very welcome.

Another brand new Private Pilot! Congratulations to Pavol Jurkovsky who succesfully passed his Private Pilot checkride after flight training with Sergey Sinyachkin. Well done Pavol!

A warm welcome to Carly Smith who joins us in the front office. Carly is an Aviation Major at San Jose State and Vice President of the SJSU Women in Aviation. Carly will be working Fridays-Sundays. Say hi to her when you are next in the office.

Congratulations to Pastor Chuck! Charles Callis earned his Sport Pilot license after flight training with Jerod Flohr and Jim Grant. Well done Charles – the first flying Pastor we have had.

Well done to our CFI Daniel Most who added a multi-engine rating to his pilot certificate.

Congratulations to AeroDynamic CFI Sergey Sinyachkin who is now qualified not just to fly a balloon but also to teach other to fly balloons!

From the “Whatever happened to them?” department – we are delighted to report Aine Roberts is working for a local air carrier in Bethel, Alaska, providing links to the outside world to some of the most remote communities in Western Alaska. Well done Aine.

Our best wishes go with Jenny Koenig who has joined the staff of Bruce’s Custom Covers. While you won’t see her working the front office, Jenny is still working as a CFI and you can book her for instruction in all our nosewheel airplanes.

Welcome back to Allan Hughes who has returned to us after a stint working at NASA.

August 2009

Congratulations to Sundar Pappu who earned his Private Pilot license in Citabria 1806G from Examiner Sherry Diamond. Well done Sundar and his CFI Grainne Gilvarry.

NEW INSTRUMENT GROUND SCHOOL STARTS SEP 15 at 6pm. Come along, met Erik Schmidt who will be running it, and enroll. See the IFR Ground School page for more details

Another newly certified aviator! Well done to Luca Vezutto for passing his private pilot checkride, and to his CFI Jerod Flohr.

AeroDynamic CFI Tristan Duplan continues on his march to acquire new skills and ratings. Tristan has now added a commercial glider rating to his pilot certificate, after flight training in a Czech Blanik L-13. Well done Tristan.

David Chmelir is now a certified commercial pilot! Congratulations to David and his CFI Dick Chang.

Congratulations on a successful first solo to Kevin Martin! Kevin soloed a Citabria, watched anxiously by his CFI Sergey. Well done Kevin.

A loud “Well done!” to AeroDynamic CFI Patrik Rosenast, who earned his ATP and Astra Jet type rating. Congratulations Patrik, we are all looking forward to the rides 😉

Another checkride success! Congratulations to Brian Turnbull who aced his Private Pilot checkride in Citabria 53893. Well done Brian and his instructor Mark Guerrero.

Well done to Phillips Sweet who earned his Private Pilot certificate in his own Stinson. Congratulations Phillips, and also CFIs Dave Gray and Mark Guerrero.

Congratulations to Katy Smith who soloed Citabria 9091L after flight training with Dave Gray and Jerod Flohr. Well done to Katy and her CFIs!

Tristan Duplan has now added a Commercial Multi Engine Sea rating to his license. Well done Tristan.

We had a greatly successful Trike Day, with a hangar full of attendees for the seminar and two full day of flying intro flights. We have now added the Trike and Pete Marsh to Schedulemaster so anyone can easily book a flight or take a course of lessons. The Antares Ranger has an 80hp Rotax 912, and has a two place ntercom and radio so it can be flown into towered airports. The wing is designed for +6/-2g so it is stronger than many airplanes.

Bonnie Ritchey and AeroDynamic instructor Jerod Flohr brought Bonnie’s new Pitts all the way from Iowa. Well done. Bonnie is now checking out, first to solo the new bird, then to start competing in acrobatic contests.

Congratulations to AeroDynamic pilot Ivan Mozara and his new bride Tanja Bagoje on their wedding in Croatia. We hope this won’t put too much of a crimp on the flying!

July 2009

Another fledgling leaves the nest! Well done to Shannon Higgins who soloed Citabria 990WY. Congratulations to Shannon and his instructor Mark Guerrero.

A new commercial pilot has joined the ranks! Congratulations to Simon Stuart for successfully passing the commercial pilot checkride, and well done also to his CFI Patrick Balagot.

Well done to Melissa Courtney who completed her turbonormalized Bonanza checkout with Zdravko. She’s flying the bird to Oshkosh.

Trike day is coming! On August 1 at 10am we are staging a Trike Day. What is a Trike, you may ask? See Sportpilot.org. Some might say it is a cross between a motorcycle and a hang glider, it is a new category of Light Sport Aircraft and you can earn a Sport Pilot and a Private Pilot license in one. Come listen to experienced CFI Pete Marsh. Take a flight afterwards! Check out Pete’s Web site. Also read “Why Fly Weight Shift?” by Paul Hamilton, from the EAA Sport Pilot magazine.

Welcome and congratulations to Franck Poirot who came from the French West Indies to check out and solo in a Skyhawk. Franck also achieved his goal of a long solo cross country flight. Well done Franck!

2009 Q2 News

June 2009

Congratulations to Bill Furniss who successfully passed his Private Pilot checkride after training with Tristan and Blake. Well done!

The Reid-Hillview Airport Association has organized an Airport Community Day, on Saturday June 27th. Come along, bring friends, tell your neighbors, and help make it a success!

We have a new instrument pilot! Congratulations to Mark Modaffara who earned his instrument rating in N61637 after flight training with Dick Chang. Well done both.

Another first solo flight! Pavol Jurkovsky soloed Citabria 9091L watched anxiously by CFI Sergey Sinyachkin. Well done Pavol.

Citabria 11681 is coming! You may have seen a pretty yellow Citabria around. After a ground up restoration, N11681 has flown again. She is a 1973 Citabria 7KCAB and will come on line soon. Meanwhile here are some pics:

Congratulations to Bonnie Ritchey on becoming the proud owner of a Pitts biplane. Pictures coming!

Welcome to Kyle Cooper and Patrick Balagot who are joining us as flight instructors!

Congratulations to Gunther Hagleitner who placed first and won Gold in Primary in his very first aerobatic competition at Paso Robles. Well done also to Michael Hsing and Rimas Viselga for their good placing in the Sportsman category. Click here for details.

Welcome home to AeroDynamic CFI Mark Guerrero who successfully ferried a Piper J-3 Cub from Ohio to California.

A warm welcome to Armin Zellner and Lucy Irwin who got their high elevation checkout with Zdravko and then flew all over the Southwest.

A new fledgling left the nest! Congratulations to Charles Callis who soloed a Sportstar under Jerod’s supervision. Well done to both.

Congratulations to Sergey Sinyachkin who earned his Multi-Engine CFI rating. Now he can train you not just for your single engine license, tailwheel or aerobatics, he can also get you your multi engine rating. Well done Sergey.

POSTPONED – will be rescheduled for late July. Trike day is coming! On June 6 at 10am we are staging a Trike Day. What is a Trike you may ask? See Sportpilot.org. Some might say it is a cross between a motorcycle and a hang glider, it is a new category of Light Sport Aircraft and you can earn a Sport Pilot and a Private Pilot license in one. Come listen to experienced CFI Pete Marsh. Take a flight afterwards! Check out Pete’s Web site.

A hearty ‘Bienvenido’ to Enrique Guallert Furio who came all the way from Spain to check out in the Arrow and do some flying. Thanks for coming Enrique, have a good journey home and we hope to see you next year.

We have a second SportStar on line! N712MF is similar to N917LA and hopefully will alleviate the congestion that ocasionally inconvenienced our pilots.

May 2009

Double congratulations go to our instructor Tristan Duplan. Not only has he earned his ATP, he also soloed a glider. Well done Tristan!

Congratulations to Paul Cianci who successfully completed his private pilot checkride and earned his Private Pilot Certificate. Well done to Paul and his instructor Erik Schmidt.

Another fledgling! Harrison Caudill soloed Citabria 5032G under Grainne’s watchful gaze. Student and instructor are both fine. Well done Harrison.

Bob Scarbrough escaped the nest! Well done to Bob and his instructor Jerod on Bob’s first solo.

A new CFI! Congratulations to Jenny Koenig for passing her CFI checkride.

Our best wishes for a speedy recovery go to our most senior CFI Dave Gray. Dave broke his wrist and is happy for you to add your comment to his plaster cast.

Congratulations to Simon Stuart for earning his instrument rating. Well done Simon!

Another licensed pilot takes to the skies! Zoltan Gode has successfully earned his Sport Pilot license with examiner Lou Fields. Congratulations to Zoltan and his instructors Daniel and Jerod.

Welcome back to Tristan Duplan, who is back to teaching after his bicycle accident. We are glad to have him back with all his fingers attached.

Congratulations to Paul Cianci for passing his private pilot knowledge test with a score of 92 percent.

Well done to Charles Callis for passing his private pilot knowledge test.

Anyone need a banner towed for their party, wedding, or other occasion? Try Aerial Services. Our own Daniel Most has qualified for single pilot banner-tow operations. Well done Daniel!

April 2009

Cessna 150 Aerobat on line! We now have N6029J on line. She is a Cessna 150 Aerobat just like Amelia used to fly, even painted a similar scheme. The rate is $99 list by tach time, which is at least 10% less than Hobbs time, so the actual cost is less than $90, and another 10% discount is possible through paying through our block arrangement for a cost of around $80 per hour!

Alon Kfir earned his private pilot certificate with examiner Sharry Diamond after flight raining with Rimas. Congratulations to Alon and Rimas!

Our farewells and godspeed to Guillermo Sanchez-Checa who earned his tailwheel endorsement and logged over 70 hours of tailwheel time. Guillermo is off back to Spain to fly taildraggers for a banner towing outfit.

Congratulations to Sergey Sinyachkin for earning his CFII (Instrument Instructor) after being coached by Zdravko. Well done Sergey!

Well done to Zoltan Gode for passing his Sport Pilot knowledge test.

I am pleased to announce that our office has been secured from alien mind probes by liberal application of silver foil everywhere. This experiment will run through today April 1, 2009, and if successful we may also protect our airplanes in the same way 🙂

2009 Q1 News

Older news (2008 and earlier) can be found HERE

March 2009

The last fledgling of March is Tom Sweeney who soloed a Citabria on the last day of March after flight training with Grainne. Here he is getting his shirt cut. Well done to both!

Congratulations to Chris Zimmer for earning his Multi Engine Instructor rating from Examiner Shery Diamond after training in a Beech Duchess with Zdravko.

We are delighted to welcome Guillermo Sanchez Checa who came all the way from Spain to earn his tailwheel endorsement and build flight time with us.

Well done to John Traynor, who earned his Sport Pilot Certificate from Examiner Lou Fields. Congratulations to John and his CFI Daniel.

Paul Cianci left the nest! Paul soloed Citabria 1806G, watched anxiously by his instructor Erik Schmidt. Well done Paul and Erik.

Congratulations to another of Jerod’s students!. Bonnie Ritchey passed her private pilot checkride in Citabria 5032G. Well done Bonnie and Jerod.

Another certified pilot! Jack Liu successfully earned his Private Pilot certificate from examiner Sherry Diamond in Citabria 1806G. Well done Jack and also his instructor Jerod.

Well done Brian Myers for scoring 95% on his Private Pilot knowledge test.

We are delighted to announce that our own maintenance guru, Al Cermak has been awarded the FAA Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award. According to the FAA’s own Advisory Circular AC65-26C the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award is the most prestigious award the FAA issues to persons certificated under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 65. This award is named after Charles Taylor, the first aircraft mechanic, to recognize individuals who have spent over 50 years in the aircraft maintenance profession as Master Mechanics. We could not think of a more deserving guy. Well done Al!

Congratulations to Zoltan Gode who soloed Sportstar 917LA after flight training with Dan Most and Jerod Flohr. Well done Zoltan and of course also Dan and Jerod.

The first fledgling of March is Ed DeBoer who soloed a Citabria after training with Rimas and Jerod. Well done Ed!

Congratulations to Bonnie Ritchey for scoring 90% on her Private Pilot knowledge test.

February 2009

Parik Goes Solo

 

The final fledgling of February (sorry, couldn’t resist the alliteration) is Parik Nadkarni, who soloed Citabria 990WY under Vess’s careful tutelage. No only that, but his wife was watching – no pressure!

Check out the Youtube video too!

January 2009

Matt Jensen Solo

The final fledgling of January is Matt Jensen, who soloed Citabria 1701H under Rimas’s supervision. Well done Matt and Rimas.

There’s a new Sport Pilot CFI in town – actually he’s going to be teaching in Sonoma. Best wishes to Travis Morton who earned his CFI with training from Vess Velikov. Congratulations to both.

Mark Ledwith successfully soloed the Sportstar. Congratulations to Mark and CFI Jim Grant.

Congratulations to Bonnie Ritchey and Jack Liu for soloing Citabrias under careful supervision from their instructor Jerod Flohr. Well done to all three.

The AeroDynamic Acrobatic Team is taking shape. We have 14 members so far. Jenny Koenig set up a Yahoo group / email list. Anyone interested, please follow the AeroDynamic Acrobatic Team link and sign up. You’ll then get any messages we send out about events, technique, and whatever else, and be able to post your own.

The gorgeous weather in the middle of January has had its effect. Two more fledglings are out there flying on their own. Michael Sheehan soloed the Sportstar and Brian Myers flew the Citabria solo. Well done Michael and Brian, and also their instructors Jim Grant and Jerod Flohr.

Terry Barwegen soloed again, this time in his own Taylorcraft! Well done Terry and CFI Jim Grant.

Another fledgling has flown! Congratulations to James Perry who soled a Citabria under Grainne’s watchful eye. Well done James.

Sergey Sinyachkin earned his glider rating to add to his airplane and helicopter ratings. Well done Sergey!

Congratulations to Karl Koehler who successfuly soloed a Citabria after flight training with Mark Guerrero.

An update from Bob Goodwyn who was a CFI with us for many years. He is now flying as first officer on an ERJ-170 with Republic Airways/Chautauqua/Shuttle America. What is an ERJ-170? – Click here. All the best to Bob.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our AeroDynamic Aviators!

Older news (2008 and earlier) can be found HERE