FlyTech sends students to the sky

By Kyle Schmidt

A new training program for those interested in learning to fly based out of Rosecrans Memorial Airport is continuing to grow.

Starting in late March, FlyTech began with just a few students, but with each month, more are joining. Co-founder Lute Atieh said he’s pleased with the number of people signing up.

“It is twice as many interested students as we expected,” Atieh said. “Seems like there was a lot of pent-up demand locally and we have just been really fortunate and lucky. We did not anticipate growing quite this fast but we will take it.”

Some students have traveled from Trenton and Chillicothe. Other pilot students are still in high school.

“July was a big month. We flew 75 training hours in July, which is almost seven days a week,” Atieh said. “We’re looking forward to a second airplane and our plan is to have it here by the first part of the new year.”

For new flyers, the class starts with ground school and video training that can be done on the side for students. He said most students come in one to two days a week to train for an hour and a half to two hours.

“(It starts) with an instructor learning procedures, learning about the airplane, practicing your takeoff and ultimately landing,” Atieh said. “After a period of time when you’re comfortable and your instructor is comfortable, you’ll sign off to solo.”

After 40 hours of flight time, a check ride with an FAA-designated examiner is the last step.

One of the current flight students, Sam Jackson, is an electrician and has taken his leap into the sky.

“This is something I have always been interested in, grew up a ‘Top Gun’ kid,” Jackson said. “This is one of my best ways to enable a little more travel, a little more leisure. It is also a great learning experience.”

One of the aspects of flying that drew Jackson is the challenge.

“There’s a lot to learn here. I am an expert in running electricity, but this is something that is a whole another field of expertise,” he said. “When I first got up there, I had the white-knuckle death grip on things., I’ve learned to relax that a little bit.”

Atieh suggests those who are interested in learning to fly start with a Discovery Flight.

“It’s an hour and a half you get to learn all about the airplane, you get to go up and you get to fly,” he said. “It is the first step and an important step and it is just fun.”

More information about FlyTech can be found at flystj.com.