Flight Training - August 2013 - 22

PREFLIGHT»

FLIGHT TRAINING EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER

Winning flight school has the right ingredients
Aviation Adventures wins two top awards
WHEN AVIATION ADVENTURES sent
an email to its students and customers asking them to consider nominating
the school for an AOPA Flight Training
Excellence Award, they answered the call.
The school, with locations in Leesburg,
Manassas, and Warrenton, Virginia, is the
winner of the Outstanding Flight School
award and the Student’s Choice award for
the school with the most nominations.
Reading the nominating forms, it’s
obvious why the school is successful. Its
instructors are professional; the airplanes
are top notch; and the students are supported through a wide range of activities
and extra learning opportunities. Owner
Bob Hepp tries to foster student involvement through an atmosphere that he says
feels more like a club than a business. “It’s

more than a school,” he says. “It’s where
your friends are.” They offer sessions to
meet the designated pilot examiners and
courses specifically designed to get pilots
back in the air. There are regular fly-outs
to great destinations such as the Bahamas
and the Hudson River corridor.
Hepp has a group of instructors he
can count on to do the right thing. In a
market that is short on instructors, Hepp
is incredibly picky. His interview process
starts with a phone screen, goes on to a
ground lesson, and ends with a flight lesson. Prior to the ground and flight lesson
applicants are given materials to prepare,
including the school’s standardized teaching procedures. If they teach to those,
Hepp knows they have the ability to work
within a system. Throughout the process,

his focus is on interpersonal skills. As he
says, you can teach someone to fly the
airplane, but you can’t teach interpersonal
skills. And the standard is uncompromising. He’ll go short of instructors before
hiring one who doesn’t fit. To help keep
the staff sharp he closes the doors once
a year and holds a CFI academy, where
he makes sure everyone is on board with
procedures and safety. The feedback
on the seminar has come from the local
Flight Standards District Office, a representative from which told Hepp that it is
evident in all the students who come out
as graduates.
The association is looking for all feedback on your flight training experience for
this year's award. Visit the website (http://
flighttraining.aopa.org/poll).

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24/7 Technical Support: 1-800-345-3828, option #3 or 4
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Flight Training - August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - August 2013
