AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2020 - 112

PILOTS CIRRUS INSTRUCTOR AND AUTHOR

Max Trescott
'It's all enjoyable'
B Y I A N J. T W O M B LY

112 | AOPA PILOT December 2020

LOGBOOK
WHO | Max Trescott, Cirrus Standardized

Instructor Pilot Platinum instructor,
author, and podcaster
CERTIFICATES AND RATINGS | ATP in
airplane single engine land and sea, and
multiengine land and sea; SF50 type
rating; CFI, CFII, MEI
HOURS | 10,000; around 9,000 as an
instructor
EXTRA | Trescott jokes that he can say
"more right rudder" in 12 languages.

books have proven a way to softly market
his instructional skills, although he primarily writes them because he's interested
in the subject and believes he has something to offer.
It's the same reason he spends around
two days a week producing each episode
of Aviation News Talk, one of the most
popular aviation podcasts on Apple. It's
Trescott's way of giving back to a community that has given him so much joy. He
said other careers may pay better, but "I'm
down low watching the world go by. To me,
it's all enjoyable."
EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org

STEVE BABULJAK

MAX TRESCOTT IS VERY HAPPY right where
he is, thank you very much. As a professional ﬂight instructor he has shunned the
world of corporate and airline flying for
something a little slower, lower, and a lot
more fun.
His secret to making a good living as a
ﬂight instructor-a job long considered a
necessary evil on the road to bigger and better things-is to focus on one area or type of
aircraft. "I'm a strong believer in specialization," said Trescott, the author of two books
on the operation of Garmin avionics, with a
third on the way. He also hosts the popular
Aviation News Talk podcast. But his primary
job is ﬂight instruction in the Cirrus SR22
and SF50 Vision Jet.
By focusing ﬁrst on Garmin avionics, and
then speciﬁcally the Cirrus line, Trescott
limited his client base-but the demand for
his services increased. He was able to raise
his rates and maintain more control over
his schedule. When one of his clients took
delivery of an SF50, Trescott footed the bill
for his own type rating-an expense that
quickly paid off.
After a career that required extensive
travel in sales and marketing for a tech
company, Trescott wasn't interested in the
lifestyle that professional flying offered.
And he couldn't be happier with his choice.
"I love helping other people achieve their
goals," he said. "Years ago, I thought I
enjoyed ﬂying for the sake of ﬂying, and
now I know I enjoy ﬂying more with other
people. It's better to share it with others."
Trescott's ﬁrst book focused on ﬂying
with GPS and WAAS on a variety of platforms, and his second was on operating
the Garmin G1000. His forthcoming third
book is about ﬂying the Garmin G3000: "I
have a lot of admiration for the designers
of the G3000." Trescott calls it an order
of magnitude better than the G1000. The

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2020