Art Dykstra

But first and foremost, he is a flight instructor. His aviation career began with a bad flight training experience. His first instructor had “one foot out the door,” on his way to the airlines. Dykstra vowed to be better: “To be the instructor I wish I’d had.”

After obtaining his initial ratings in the Los Angeles area, Dykstra moved his family to western Montana where he grew up. An FBO at Missoula had a flight school that was in the doldrums. Dykstra convinced the owner he could revive it. “If you can fit into a Cessna 152, you’ve got the job,” he was told. At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, he made it work.

He set about building a client base through primary instruction and flight reviews. His friendly, “let’s have some fun with this” style, dedication, and professionalism created an excellent reputation in the aviation community.

“I learned that instructing was a gateway; those relationships that I developed led to fantastic opportunities.”

After completing a flight review in a Cessna 210 with Dykstra, the client mentioned the need to get current in his taildragger. “I can help you with that,” Dykstra said. The aircraft was a classic Stearman biplane, a type he had flown before in LA. Over time he became the go-to guy for training with radial engines and tailwheels.

Once, a local businessman came in for a flight review, liked the way things went, and asked if Dykstra would like to teach his son to fly. The son was a good student. The company is Bretz RV & Marine, with father Frank Bretz, and son Mark. Bretz and Dykstra developed a long-term relationship that started with the training in a Cessna 172, progressed through several piston twins, and ultimately to Cessna Citation jets and turbine helicopters.

While instructing has been Dykstra’s core focus, part-time work for multiple operators as a contract pilot has led to unique opportunities. A Missoula company that provides aircraft and pilots to the U.S. Forest Service for firefighting asked him to teach a ground school. That led to one of his favorite flying jobs: backcountry flights dropping smoke jumpers from a de Havilland DHC–6 Twin Otter.

Perhaps the crown jewel of his career happened in June 2019. Dykstra was co-captain on Miss Montana, the DC–3 that flew across the Atlantic with a crew that included four of his former students. The airplane was part of the Daks Over Normandy flight commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the D-Day invasion of France. That adventure is best described by Bryan Douglass in his book Every Reason to Fail.

“How do you get to fly all this cool stuff?” a young CFI asked him.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe how easy it is,” Dykstra said. “You work for six or seven years, six days a week with Wednesdays off, and when the phone rings you say yes! That’s the formula.”