2017 Ground School Graduation - 10May2017

The students of the 2017 Majors Flying Club (MFC) Private Pilot Ground School class have successfully completed the course and proclaimed in unison, "...let them eat cake!" As is the tradition the conclusion of the ground school is celebrated with a guest speaker, the grading of the End Of Course exam, the handing out their completion certificates, and the cutting of the special cake.

The class this started year started on February 8th with twenty-one (21) registered students and as usual went for fourteen (14) weeks and was completed on May 10th with thirteen (13) students completing the course. The attrition is not unusual as work, family, and other life events typically impacts a small percentage of the students. Quite often however those affected students are able to complete the class the following year. This year, for the first time in the history of conducting these classes, we were not able to hold the classes on the same night of the week every week which added a level of scheduling difficulty for both the students and the instructors. Thankfully our President, Mr. Dennis Mathis, has resolved this issue for 2018. The resolution will allow all fourteen (14) sessions to once again occur on the same day of the week.

This class was similar to other classes in that there was a wide variety of reasons for taking the class, a wide range of aviation experience, and that they were all subjected to a wide range of bad jokes. Some students take the course to learn a bit about airplanes to help them in their job, some take the course for the knowledge, some take the course with the intention of learning to fly, some are already working on their private pilot certificate, some of them already have an airplane, but none of them took the class for the jokes.

In addition to being taught by several very experienced instructors over the course of the fourteen weeks, the MFC offers a short orientation flight to all interested members of the class as part of the package price. One member of the 2017 class has already been out for a pseudo flying lesson and at least one member has already passed the written FAA Ground School exam in preparation for starting flying lessons. Additionally in the last week of June 2017, two former ground school students (2015 & 2016) who are taking flying lessons through the MFC completed their first solo flights! It is never too late to get started learning how to fly.

The classes for 2018 will start in February. Stay tuned to the website for details regarding the 2018 Private Pilot Ground School class.