AOPA Project Pilot gives experienced pilots a way to share their love of flight by mentoring student pilots. Backed by the resources of AOPA, mentors help guarantee the best possible introduction to flying, from first flight to checkride.
Success Story
On a Sunday afternoon in November 2003, I took J. W. "Jay" Bryant on a long-overdue flight from Winston-Salem to nearby Asheboro, North Carolina, where we visited the North Carolina Aviation Museum. I let Jay have the controls for a few minutes on the flight back. On Monday morning, Jay was standing in line at our local flight school where he signed up for flying lessons!
I've mentored Jay over the past year as he has worked his way through frustrations with his first flight instructor, a four-month delay, restarting with instructor Andy Dale, and further delays, and finally the magic day when it all came together.
Jay was absolutely elated when he got his private certificate. "It's always something I've thought about doing, and now at age 60, I'm finally a full-fledged pilot. Everything went wrong during my training process, and I even gave up for a short while, but now it's behind me," says Jay. His next step is to buy an airplane and follow up with his instrument ticket.
I've certainly enjoyed mentoring Jay Bryant. He is the third pilot I've mentored. Not enough can be said about Andy Dale's skill and instruction technique. He and Jay truly connected to complete Jay's pilot training.
The three of us are based at Winston-Salem's Smith Reynolds Airport, although much of Jay's training was done at Martinsville, Virginia, where Andy coordinates flight training for Blue Ridge Airport. — Bob Oglesby, AOPA 1237437, Kernersville, North Carolina
Are you a pilot who was a Project Pilot student? We want to know what mentored student pilots have gone on to do since their introduction to flight. E-mail us at [email protected] with your success story and we may print it here.
An expanded version of "Project Pilot Update" is available online. Visit the Web site ( www.aopa.org/info/pp/) and click on the link Project Pilot Update.
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