Flight Training - March/April 2022 - 35

National Best Flight School/Central
Southwest Region Best Flight School
In the Pattern, Denton, Texas
NO REGRETS
In the Pattern fosters an aviation
community
BY IAN J. TWOMBLY
It's all about community. Other schools
may have newer airplanes, a longer
history, or even lower prices, but owner
Sherman Gardner said at In the Pattern,
customers will be joining a group of
people who truly care about them.
In the Pattern started somewhat by
accident in the summer of 2019. Gardner
and his brother began by renting their
personal airplane to a friend. Seeing that
it was helpful to the friend, and provided
some additional income, they decided to
expand, and purchased another airplane.
" People kept coming to us wanting to
learn, " Gardner said. " I fought it because
I didn't want to become a flight school,
but I have no regrets now. "
A scant three years after the business
began, and two years after the school
opened, they have 12 airplanes, seven
instructors, and rave reviews.
Gardner desires to treat ITP's customers
not as sources of revenue, but as
people. It's a philosophy that began with
his ministry work, and it continues to serve
him well in business. " Working in ministry
all those years, all I did was serve people, "
he said. " I work real hard to make sure
there's a good strong relationship experience
with our customers and our team. "
This focus is evident in frequent community
events, impromptu staff gatherings
around a free lunch, yearly planning
sessions with the instructors, and in how
Gardner and the staff treat customers each
day. " We grow the community of acceptance.
When people come in the door we
know their names, we know what they do
for a living, we know about their family.
It's more about the experience for us. " The
school's motto is " Experience Aviation. "
It's a nod to the fact that you can get a
pilot certificate anywhere, but at ITP it will
become a richer experience.
ian.twombly@aopa.org
FLIGHT TRAINING MARCH/APRIL 2022
35
Eastern Region Best Flight School
Air Ventures Flying School,
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
RIGHT
AT HOME
Want sterile? Air Ventures Flying
School isn't about that
BY JILL W. TALLMAN
If you want to learn to fly, thousands of
flight schools can teach you that. But if
you want to learn to be a pilot, consider
training at Air Ventures Flying School in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Air Ventures Flying School, located
at the North Central State Airport (SFZ)
in Smithfield, Rhode Island, isn't going
to sell you your next rating while you're
still working on your first, said owner
and chief flight instructor Doug Auclair.
" My objective is to sell training, but over
a 30-year period instead of a two-year
period, " he said.
Auclair launched Air Ventures in 2010
with $800 in his pocket and an airplane
on leaseback. Today the flight school has
a fleet of four airplanes it owns, a flight
simulator, and eight full-time employees.
Air Ventures offers a warm and welcoming
environment in which customers
are encouraged to hang out, ask questions,
and watch airplanes. The flight
school fosters community through such
events as an annual chili cookoff, a summer
luau, flyouts to Martha's Vineyard,
and a yearly pilgrimage to EAA AirVenture
in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
" We build pilots to be pilots so they
can succeed as a pilot in the long term, "
Auclair said. This means teaching customers
to fuel airplanes, arrange overnight
parking at remote locations, and even
how to hangar or move an airplane by
yourself. " It takes the anxiety away when
you're out in the world, " said Auclair.
jill.tallman@aopa.org
Great Lakes Region
Best Flight School
Blue Skies, Chicago, Illinois
TREATING
CUSTOMERS
RIGHT
Blue Skies Flying Services is all about
the customer
BY DAVID TULIS
Mike Carzoli opened Blue Skies Flying
Services 28 years ago to provide a fun,
family-oriented, and professional flight
training environment at Lake in the Hills
Airport west of Chicago, and the philosophy
has paid off.
" It's really all about the customers
that walk in the door, " Carzoli said. " I
try to bring in people that know how to
treat others right. " Blue Skies traditionally
throws down a welcome mat during
an annual cookout, and the facility also
supports veterans and the EAA Young
Eagles program. " We try to stay involved
as much as we can in the Lake in the
Hills community, " he said.
" We got these little two-person hot
dog tables scattered about and people
just come and sit down and shoot the
breeze, " said Carzoli. " Sometimes it's
old-timers and students, sometimes it's
instructors, or people just visiting the
pilot shop. I mean, unless it's pouring
rain or a blizzard out, there are people
here just hanging out. "
The school employs 16 to 17 fulland
part-time instructors, and Carzoli's
daughter is the office manager. Students
train in six Piper Warriors, two Piper
Archers, a Piper Arrow, and a couple of
Cessna 172 Skyhawks.
" Just this morning, three or four of
us were talking about how different students
were doing and what we needed
to do " to keep them on track, said Chief
Flight Instructor Mike Biewenga (above
right, with Carzoli) " There's a lot of heart
that goes into it [because] we really care
about their progress. "
david.tulis@aopa.org
Flight Training - March/April 2022

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