AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - February 2023 - 112

PILOTS
Art Dykstra
Backcountry flight instructor-and more
BY KEN FIELDING
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
LOGBOOK /
HOURS / More than 12,000,
with over 5,000 hours dual
instruction given
CERTIFICATES AND
RATINGS / Airline transport
pilot, airplane singleand
multiengine land;
commercial, airplane singleengine
sea; rotorcrafthelicopter;
CFII
FAVOR I TE AIRCR AFT /
" Part of why I'm drawn to
the DC-3, the Stearman,
the Beavers, is because you
have to work at it. It's not
FADEC where the computer
figures it out for you. "
112
AOPA PILOT / February 2023
ART DYKSTRA HAS had an amazing career filled
with interesting and generous people, unique
aircraft, and challenging missions. 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,
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. "
ELIAS SNYDERS
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - February 2023

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