AOPA Foundation Announces National Winners of Top Flight School, Instructor Awards

Students and pilots submitted more than 4,200 reviews, sharing their thoughts on instructors and flight schools across the country. In January, the AOPA Foundation announced the six regional winners in each category, and dozens more were recognized as “distinguished” in each category.

The national winners of the 2026 AOPA Foundation Flight Training Experience Awards are:

• Best Instructor: Tiziano Bernard (Savannah Aviation), Savannah, Georgia
• Best Flight School: Nova Pilots, Leesburg, Virginia

This is the second consecutive year that Bernard, who goes by Tizi, has been awarded the national Best Instructor award.

“Flying is something humans are not built for, so when you have a student that actually ends up flying on their own for the first time and then they come back and tell you how that was, it really is extremely rewarding,” Bernard said in a 2025 interview with AOPA.

“With thousands of students and pilots nominating hundreds of flight schools and instructors, our team works hard to figure out who rises to the top,” said AOPA Foundation Senior Director of Flight Training Education Chris Moser. “We’re proud to honor this year’s national winners—in addition to regional winners and distinguished schools and instructors nationwide—to shine a spotlight on the dedicated professionals who are growing the next generation of pilots.”

The You Can Fly program and the AOPA Air Safety Institute are funded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. To be a part of general aviation's future, visit www.aopafoundation.org/donate.