Instructors

Instructors are your gateway into the sport. One of your first moves should be to go purchase a demo lesson. Find out if that kind of flying is for you. Expect to pay for the demo flight.

Disclaimer: Flying Club 1 has no connection with any of these instructors. We list the nearby instructors here but make no endorsement.

Foot-launched Powered Paragliders (PPGs) PPGs fly under Part 103 rules, so a license from the FAA is not required. The USPPA (the U.S. Powered Paragliding Association) has a series of ratings — PPG1, PPG2… — that serve the same purpose. To fly at most gatherings you'll need to have a PPG2 rating.
Brian Goff Phone: 703-963-7389 Email: spin2329@gmail.com Website: www.paraflightnc.com/ Facebook: Brian Goff Instructor Brian Goff teaches out of both the Flying Circus in Bealeton, Virginia, and Shoestring Airport south of York, Pennsylvania. He has a tandem rig and can give demonstration flights. He has his own business to promote PPGs: ParaFlight, LLC.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in his gear? No Can you solo in his gear? No	Brian Goff
Aviator PPG in Florida Website: AviatorPPG.com/ For full-service PPG trike training, spend two weeks at AviatorPPG.com in Lake Wales, FL. They run one of the most professional schools in the business. They also have affiliates who teach their way. 14 days required. 18-month waiting list Very thorough training U.S. Powered Paragliding Association PPG1 & PPG2 syllabus Both foot-launch and trike All gear rental included $3,640. Food, housing, and travel not included 250lb weight maximum	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in their gear? Yes Can you solo in their gear? Yes	Aviator PPG
Powered Paraglider (PPG) with Trike
Mark Barron Phone: 703-629-9606 Email: mhbjeep@gmail.com Mark is just starting as a PPG instructor. So far, he's qualified to give demonstration flights in his 2-seat trike. That will give you a good introduction to the sport. Request a tandem flight by filling in this form:	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? No Can you train in his gear? n/a Can you solo in his gear? n/a	Mark Barron
Aviator PPG A full-service PPG training school in Florida. See details in the section above.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in their gear? Yes Can you solo in their gear? Yes
Trikes
Lori Keech St. Mary's, PA Phone: 814-389-2896 Email: highflight7@yahoo.com Website: None Lori and Bob Keech teach at the St. Marys Airport (OYM) in northwest Pennsylvania, about 4½ hours from us. They operate under the name Cloud 9 Aerosports. A local newscaster produced this video of flying with Lori.	Give demonstration flights? Yes Give instruction? Yes Can you train in their trike? Yes Can you solo in their trike? No	Lori Keech and her Northwing Apache trike
Evolution Trikes in Florida Zephyrhills, FL Phone: 813-810-9262 Email: EvolutionTrikes@yahoo.com Website: evolutiontrikes.com/flight-school As the number of trike instructors around the country shrinks, training has concentrated in the remaining operations such as Evolution Trikes in Florida. Besides building a market-leading line of trikes, Evolution has five instructors teaching out of the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport	Give demonstration flights? Yes Give instruction? Yes Can you train in their trike? Yes Can you solo in their trike? No	Larry Mednick of Evolution Trikes
Gyroplanes
Frank Noe Phone: 443-253-7681 Email: frankcanfly@yahoo.com Website: www.gyromojo.com Frank teaches out of the Frederick, MD, airport.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in his gyro? Yes Can you solo in his gyro? No	Frank Noe and his AutoGyro MTO gyro
Ultralight Airplanes These small airplanes definitely behave differently than the Cessna or Piper you may be familiar with. They are much lighter and draggier and they typically require more rudder inputs than larger airplanes. GET TRAINING. Do not think that because you know how to fly a Cessna that you're good to go in an Aerolite 103 or a Quicksilver. Unfortunately, there is no nearby place to get trained in ultralight airplanes. Your best bet is to get trained in a Light Sport Airplane, such as at Chesapeake Sport Pilot below. Then get brief transition training in a 2-place Quicksilver. The club can help you with that.
Andy Alldredge in Indiana Tri-State Kites, Mt. Vernon, Indiana Phone: 812-781-9882 Email: andy@trikite.com Website: Trikite.com In Mt. Vernon, IN, Tri-State Kites builds and services Quicksilver ultralights. They also train in them.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in his plane? Yes Can you solo in his plane? Yes	Tri-State Kites - Aircraft
Michigan Ultralight Flying Club in Michigan Call Rob Edmunds 248-408-2510 or John von Linsowe 810-730-4807 Email: johnvonlinsowe@gmail.com Website: www.michiganultralight.org/ The Michigan Ultralight Flying Club operates out of Alkay Airport (51G), a grass field north of Flint, Michigan. The club is mainly set up for local pilots, but they will train out-of-towners. The club owns two aircraft — an M-Squared Breese 2-seat and a Quicksilver MX ultralight. Because the M-Squared is an SLSA, it can be used for instruction. When you join the club, you become a part owner of the two aircraft. Once you're trained to the satisfaction of the club's instructors, you can fly the ultralight. However, you must carry liability insurance for non-owned aircraft (~$300/year) and you are responsible for repairing any damage to the plane.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in his plane? Yes Can you solo in his plane? Yes	M-Squared Breese airplane
Russ Miley in Florida Phone: 231-620-0083 Email: russellmiley@gmail.com Website: Gleim CFI directory In Port Charlotte, FL, Russ Miley instructs in his Eurofox taildragger. The people at both Kolb and Aerolite recommend him. In January, 2020, he said: Most of his "clients" are new to aviation. Most are over 50. Most have just bought a Kolb Firefly or an Aerolite or some such. Russ has a package deal: $2,590 for one week of training in his Eurofox LSA. He says that's a 2-seat LSA (an LSA is required for instruction) that's as near to an ultralight as he can get. It's an outgrowth of the KitFox. During the week, he'll fly with you mornings and evenings, about 4 hrs/day, with ground school in the middle of the days. By day 3 or 4 in the Eurofox most people are able to take off and land OK. If you brought your own ultralight, he'll take you through soloing in your aircraft. After the Eurofox training, he'll take you through an hour of taxiing and then around the pattern under his radio guidance. So at the end of the week, you'll have the basic stick-and-rudder skills, plus some navigation, airspace, weather, and aeromedical training. Plus, he'll go over the basics of maintaining your engine. (He has a Rotax 2-cycle credential.) He's looking (January, 2020) to buy a used Kolb Firefly to solo his students in (a single-seat Part 103 airplane). He says you can't rent them out for training so he'll set up an LLC flying club and sell you a membership share so that you'll be flying your own Firefly. He has more customers than he can handle.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in his plane? Yes Can you solo in his plane? No	Eurofox - (manufacturer's photo - not Russ' plane)
Light Sport Airplanes
Helen Woods Chesapeake Sport Pilot, Stevensville, MD Phone: 410-604-1717 Email: info@chesapeakesportpilot.com Website: chesapeakesportpilot.com Helen is the owner and manager of Chesapeake Sport Pilot. As you will see on their website, this is an active organization with many instructors and aircraft. They focus on the sport end of aviation, which makes them a good fit for out kind of flying. They're located just outside the Washington security zone, at Bay Bridge Airport at the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in her plane? Yes Can you solo in her plane? Yes	Helen Woods
Powered Parachutes (PPCs)
Frank Noe Phone: 443-253-7681 Email: frankcanfly@yahoo.com Website: www.gyromojo.com Based in Frederick, MD, Frank is mainly a gyroplane instructor. But he loves PPCs, has one, and will add PPC instruction to his ticket if someone wants instruction.	Gives demonstration flights? Yes Gives instruction? Yes Can you train in his gear? Yes Can you solo in his gear? No	Frank Noe and his PPC at Green Landings in West Virginia.