California flying
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First Solo Flight – Eric Jones
Feb 11 2017Solo Date: February 5, 2017
Aircraft: Citabria 7ECA
Instructor: Batelle, Jason, Grainne & Jen
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
Traveling all the way from Arizona, Eric Jones made a commitment to himself that his first solo flight would be in a taildragger…and he did it! Using his first vacation in years, student pilot and aircraft fueler from Phoenix flew with quite a few of AeroDynamic’s tailwheel instructors and was able to solo just before departing for home. We are so honored he made the trip here to fly with us and accomplished what he set out to do – tailwheel endorsement and first solo flight. Way to be awesome, Eric! We wish you lots of luck with finishing your pilot’s license and hope you come back someday soon to do some more taildragging with us.
New Private Pilot – Harsh Parandekar
Feb 03 2017Date: January 30, 2017
Instructor: David Waksberg
Certification: Private Pilot
A big congrats to Harsh and his instructor David for passing a checkride on the first attempt, which is quite a feat these days! Despite the weather delays we’ve seen in California this time of year, with heavy rains and storms, Harsh and David were able to finish up the training and found a beautiful day to complete the checkride. Way to go. Whoot whoot!
“I took up flying not just because it’s truly fascinating but also because I want to encourage my son to join the US Airforce and go on to becoming an astronaut. If he does walk on Mars one day, we will fondly remember this past year at Aerodynamic that got the ball rolling 🙂 Truly appreciate the support from the school. You have a really dedicated and helpful team. And special thanks to David who made the learning fun!” ~ Harsh
Examiner: Yuzo Wakita
Aircraft: Cessna N737ZD
Checkride Location:
San Jose, CA (KRHV)
New Multi-Engine Pilot – John Drozdowsky
Jan 31 2017Date: January 26, 2017
Instructor: David Waksberg
Certification: Multi-engine Commercial Pilot
John came to us from Anchorage, Alaska, to earn his multi-engine commercial pilot certificate. Instructor David worked long days with John to complete the ground and flight portions of the transition to multi-engine. After a few weather delays, John passed his checkride with examiner Yuzo and flew back to Alaska the same afternoon. Congrats to them both on all the hard work!
Examiner: Yuzo Wakita
Aircraft: Twin Comanche N40DA
Checkride Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
New Private Pilot – Mary McEnroe
Jan 27 2017Date: January 13, 2016
Instructor: Batelle Rachmian
Certification: Private Pilot License
Way to go! Mary McEnroe soloed with us on April Fool’s Day and recently passed her Private Pilot checkride on Friday the 13th. Apparently those are good luck days for her, as she passed on the first attempt with Examiner Yuzo! Despite weather delays and globetrotting for her job, Mary made time to work diligently at earning her license to fly. Her goal right now is to fly for fun. Today she took her first passenger, her mom, for whale watching around the Monterey and Santa Cruz coast. We love to see success stories like Mary and wish her the best in her flying adventures. Congrats to her and Batelle for all their hard work and patience.
Examiner: Yuzo Wakita
Aircraft: Cessna N12234
Checkride Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
First Solo Flight – Josh Bellinger
Dec 22 2016
Solo Date: December 12, 2016
Aircraft: Cessna 172
Instructor: Jamie Redding
Location: Monterey, CA (KMRY)
Congrats to Josh on his first solo flight! Instructor Jamie watched from below as Josh flew full-stop takeoffs and landings at Monterey’s class C airport.
“I grew up in Monterey and studied civil engineering at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. I worked as a structural engineer after graduation from college, got my engineering license, and eventually became a project manager for a local general contractor. My interest in flying began in 2014, just for fun, and then eventually, I got hooked! My plan is to continue training for my private pilots license. If all goes well, I would like continue my training further. Originally, I wanted to fly so that I could visit family. Now, I just love to fly because it is so much fun. Everyone in the flying community has been very supportive, and I am so very grateful to everyone at Aerodynamic Aviation whom has helped me on my journey into aviation.” ~ Josh
First Solo Flight – Terry Xing
Dec 14 2016Solo Date: December 12, 2016
Aircraft: Cessna 172
Instructor: Eric Curtis
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
Way to go! Terry soloed Cessna 915L around the patch at Reid-Hillview airport with instructor Eric watching from the sidelines.
“I have a lot of hobbies, like scuba diving, golfing, snowboarding, and fishing, but I found flying is different from all of them in that it enables you to feel the world in a totally new angle. Flying is the most challenging, but enjoyable, thing I have ever done before. I have been frustrated since I started learning fly since it is hard for me to get everything coordinated up in the air. But once you become proficient and pick up the confidence gradually, you will enjoy flying so much. You won’t be able to feel better when you can grab an airplane and fly to wherever you want as a pilot. I think flying an airplane is the coolest thing people can do on earth. I am planning to take my family and friends on a bay tour right after I get my PPL (Private Pilot License).” ~ Terry
New Private Pilot – Fred Schulze
Nov 11 2016Date: November 5, 2016
Instructor: Jen Delp-Mallet
Certification: Private Pilot License
Fred came to AeroDynamic Aviation to finish his Private Pilot training. He not only earned his license on the first attempt with Eric Cook, he passed with flying colors! He plans to continue on with our Mountain Flying Course, Complex Aircraft Checkout, and eventually move on to Instrument Rating. His Instructor Jen could not be more proud of all his hard work and determination to follow his dreams. Way to go, Fred!
Examiner: Eric Cook
Aircraft: Cessna N98485
Checkride Location: San Martin, CA (E16)
Happy 70th Birthday – Champ N2791E
Nov 10 2016AeroDynamic prides itself on training in historic taildraggers. Sadly, it’s rare for a flight school to have tailwheel aircraft anymore, let alone one built in 1946 that still requires handpropping (no electrical system :-o). We are honored to preserve the legacy left by Amelia Reid and later carried on by one of her instructors, Zdravko Podoliski. After 56 years in business and training many aviators and aviatrix, Josh & Jen, two of Zdravko’s pupils, hope to keep the history alive and flying for years to come. Thanks to all of you who support us!
Happy 70th birthday, Champ Two-Seven-Niner-One-Echo. May you teach many more students, give many more first solo flights and keep the dirty side down (most of the time).
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- Ready for the next passenger
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- Cheers to you!
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- I hope I look this good at 70!
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- In the runup with taildraggers
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- Downwind at KRHV
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- Hauling rides
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- Awesome cake by Eric’s wife
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- Jen & Logan up for CFI training
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- Let’s get this party started
First Solo Flight – Christian Goetz
Nov 09 2016Solo Date: November 4, 2016
Aircraft: Citabria 7ECA
Instructor: Tom Morley
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
Christian joined an elite club of aviators who take that first solo flight in a taildragger (conventional-gear aircraft). He began his flight training with Instructors Jason and Batelle, and recently took to the skies alone with Instructor Tom watching from the ground at Reid-Hillview Airport. He’s picking up steam in his training and should enjoy the next phase of cross-country flying as he gets to explore the beautiful fall landscape of California in the fall. Have fun!!
New Private Pilot – Yi Shi
Nov 09 2016Date: October 31, 2016
Instructor: Eric Curtis
Certification: Private Pilot License
AeroDynamic Aviation offers a huge congratulations to Yi for successfully passing his Private Pilot checkride with examiner Eric Cook!
In his own words, “I am Yi Shi, a student of AeroDynamic school, who has just finished 4-month training class and got my license last week. Before entering this school, I had some hours of flying experience, but the success and final outcome of my achieving required lots of guidance and assistance from many people from this school whom I am extremely fortunate to fl with all along the completion of my flying work.
A special thank of mine would go to Eric and Jim, who have provided nice nonstop support to me and helped me most in the whole process. They are experienced pilots who are always willing to share and exchange interesting aviation stories with me. For a young person, their pragmatic advice and authentic guidance are really precious. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to all the staff in AeroDynamic for their necessary information and prompt assistance within such a well-developed flight system. I hope more and more people will benefit from AeroDynamic and good luck to all of you!”