San Jose
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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 – Edan Ben-Moshe
Jan 31 2017Date: January 28, 2017
Instructor: Jen Delp-Mallet
Certification: Private Pilot
After soloing a taildragger with us at 16 years old, Edan earned his Private Pilot License in a Citabria at 17! Talk about bragging rights. Shortly after holding up his temporary airmen certificate, Edan took to the skies with his first passenger, his dad, a Private Pilot who earned his instrument rating with AeroDynamic’s chief instructor Jen. We hope to see the family traditions continue. Edan plans to attend aviation college after graduating high school this summer and continue on with a professional pilot career. We are so honored to have been part of his journey and can’t wait to see all he will accomplish. The biggest hurdle may be getting his dad to be a tailwheel pilot, too…
Examiner: Scott Rohlfing
Aircraft: Citabria N1806G
Checkride Location:
San Jose, CA (KRHV)
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
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!”
Examiner: Eric Cook
Aircraft: Cessna N61637
Checkride Location: San Martin, CA (E16)
First Solo Flight – Chuang Wang
Nov 07 2016Solo Date: October 29, 2016
Aircraft: Cessna 172
Instructor: David Waksberg
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
It’s not every day one solos an aircraft, and even fewer get to enjoy the moment on a fair California Saturday afternoon the way Chuang did. After beginning his training in July, Chuang has a progressed quickly to solo at our San Jose location, tackling his first flight alone on a busy Saturday at Reid-Hillview airport. He comes from China originally and plans to travel and fly just for the pure fun of it. Instructor David is moving him toward Private Pilot certification so he can achieve this goal. Keep up the good work!
New Commercial Multi-Engine Pilot – Ghyrn Loveness
Nov 07 2016Date: October 20, 2016
Instructor: David Waksberg
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
Certification: Multi-Engine Rating, Commercial Pilot
Ghyrn comes from a family of flyers and chose AeroDynamic Aviation to pursue a multi-engine rating add-on to his Commercial Pilot Certificate. His Instructor David did an amazing job, finishing the training in just 8 flights! It helps that Ghyrn flies regularly and has accrued over 1,000 hours 🙂 Still, they both worked hard and Ghyrn passed his checkride first attempt with Examiner Yuzo Wakita. Ghyrn has already been spotted taking friends out flying in the Twin Comanche, affectionately called “Twinkie.” Well done!
New Private Pilot – Dustin Liu
Nov 03 2016Date: October 24, 2016
Instructor: Eric Curtis
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
Certification: Private Pilot License
Dustin begin his training with Instructor Lynzie Hudson. When she went on leave, he transitioned to Eric Curtis. The whole AeroDynamic team pitched in to help Dustin complete his goal of becoming a pilot. Special thanks to Jim Grant, Jen Delp-Mallet, David Waksberg, Jason Brown, and the other instructors who made this possible for him. Congrats, Dustin!!
“I started my training since Feb. 1, 2014 and had my first solo flight Sep. 13, 2015. I always wanted to fly but did not have the chance until I made several visits to ADA. I like the people here and I finally convinced myself and my family that this is something I need to do. My wife has been always supportive and she was my first passenger after I got my PPL. I got a lot help from ADA staff and instructors. I really appreciate it. I look forward to my life as a private pilot.” ~ Dustin
New Classroom at Reid-Hillview
Oct 27 2016
After years of tireless dedication, not just to aviation but to the many students he’s taught over the years, Larry Reed finally has the classroom of his dreams. We are honored to have such an accomplished ground instructor. Thanks for all your hard work, Larry.
A bit about the man…
Larry is a CFI, CFII, MEI, AGI, IGI, and has a BS in Professional Aeronautics from Embry Riddle. Wow! Larry had his first airplane ride at six, and he has loved airplanes and flying since including building and flying model airplanes, being an aircrew man in the US Navy, flying in radar-equipped Super Constellations (EC121K) and P3A Orion antisubmarine aircraft. 
In parallel with Larry’s 50 year career in Electronics and Aerospace he obtained his Pilot and Instructor certificates and ratings beginning in 1964 as a student pilot, at the Navy Memphis flying club, soloed at Reid Hillview Airport in 1966, became a Certified Flight Instructor in 1977, also at Reid Hillview. Larry learned aerobatics in 1978, taught in taildraggers and tricycle-geared airplanes at AeroDynamic Aviation (formerly Amelia Reid Aviation) and other flight schools since 1977. Larry began teaching ground school to his flight students in his garage thirty-five years ago. Twenty five years ago, he started a ground school for EAA Chapter 62 and has been teaching the Private Pilot Ground School almost continuously, to the present. He has been teaching at Amelia Reid/AeroDynamic Aviation for about twelve years. Larry teaches quality aviation classes that prepare students to safely pilot an airplane, and to pass the knowledge exam. He has taught hundreds of students in the past thirty five years.
First Solo – Hajime Sammoto
Oct 13 2016Solo Date: October 7, 2016
Aircraft: Citabria 7ECA
Instructor: Batelle Rachmian
Location: San Jose, CA (KRHV)
As a historic flight school, we love our traditions, especially when they involve tailwheel aircraft! Flight Instructor Batelle cuts the tails off her tailwheel student’s shirt after his first solo flight in a Citabria. Hajime hails from Japan and has been training with us since late August for his Private Pilot Certificate. Jumping the hurdles of becoming proficient in English and Aviation languages, he progressed quickly and now moves on to the cross-country and checkride prep phase of training. Congrats to Hajime for taming the taildragger and Batelle for all her hard work!
“In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot’s shirt tail is a sign of the instructor’s new confidence in his student after successful completion of the first solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot’s shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor (“instructor-less” flight). Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the (often) proud instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.” – Rod Machado (who also trained with us!)