About Flight Level
Aviation, Inc. Advanced Instrument Training
In a nutshell, Flight Level Aviation,
Inc. provides custom, initial and advanced instrument training for
single-engine and multi-engine piston airplane pilots. Training can be provided in any
combination of a student’s airplane, Flight Level Aviation’s
Cessna P210, and/or Flight Level Aviation’s full-motion advanced
avionics simulator. Custom recurrent training programs are
available
for any single-engine or multi-engine piston IFR pilot. Flight Level Aviation’s training
programs are approved by most insurance underwriters as equivalent to
recurrent training from the larger simulator-based training companies; however,
Flight Level Aviation has a unique mission/philosophy which includes:
- Custom Training
– All training programs include a combination of ground instruction,
simulator instruction, and flight time in any combination per the
needs of a particular student. Rather than adhering to a rigid
classroom/simulator schedule, our instructors are glad to adjust the
training schedule to take advantage of weather opportunities or
particular student interests.
- Actual IMC Training –
Weather-permitting our instructors encourage training flights in actual IMC weather to gain practical experience in the system.
Flight Level Aviation's location in Southwest Pennsylvania is ideal
for instrument training since training can be provided in all 4
seasons and also in terrain varying from the flatlands of Southern
Ohio to the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Training
is available in a student’s airplane or in Flight Level
Aviation’s well-equipped Cessna P210.
- Combined Simulator and Aircraft
Training – Flight Level Aviation uses a full-motion advanced
avionics simulator to complement flight training. The simulator is
also available for solo proficiency practice at the completion of
training or for future instrument currency practice. The
combination of in-flight and simulator training provides the
“best of both worlds” advantage to safely practice and/or
simulate as many emergency scenarios as possible.
- Significant hands-on flight practice -- Whereas
other, major simulator schools may offer only 2-3 hours of simulator
or flight instruction per day plus pre-programmed videos or
lectures, our instructors set up a custom training scenario up to 10
hours per day made up of of a student's choice of flight time,
simulator time, and/or ground time. Ground time is always
spent personally with Richard or our instructors on topics relevant to your
experience level and aviation missions.
About
Richard Kaplan CFII/MCFI/AME/ASC
 Flight
Level Aviation, Inc. was founded by Richard S. Kaplan, an
FAA-certificated pilot for over 12 years who is also an instrument
flight instructor and FAA Aviation Safety Counselor.
Richard retains a very active role in managing all operations of
Flight Level Aviation, and he personally instructs Flight Level
Aviation's advanced single-engine IFR students and
P210/T210/210-specific training. In addition to extensive
experience in the Cessna 210/T210/P210 series, Richard has experience
flying the Mooney M20C, various Bonanza models, and most Cessna and
Piper single-engine aircraft. Richard also holds a B.S. Degree
in Engineering Science.
Richard frequently flies Flight Level
Aviation’s Cessna P210 on practical cross-country flight, like many
single-engine instrument pilots. You will have the ability to learn
about single-pilot single-engine piston instrument flight first-hand
from an experienced peer who regularly flies practical missions in
this aircraft type. Richard has a history of over a decade of
accident-free practical cross-country instrument flight with his
family. This makes Richard particularly qualified to offer
Cessna 210/T210/P210-specific training and single-engine recurrent IFR
training so that single-engine IFR pilots can learn from an instructor
who regularly flies mission profiles similar to theirs.
Richard is also an aviation medical
examiner and conducts flight physicals as part of his medical practice
(Uniontown Medical Rehab PC); his extensive experience in both
aviation and medicine is particularly helpful in teaching pressurized
Cessna P210 pilots about the medical and aviation factors related to
single-engine pressurized aircraft operation.
More than anything else, you will no
doubt recognize Richard’s high level of enthusiasm for single-engine
general aviation IFR flight and
the energy with which he approaches flight instruction. Many of
Richard’s students have become long-term friends and email pen-pals (see
Student Feedback) – If you email an aviation question to Richard
at night, you might even get a reply back the same night at 1AM!
As of August 2003, Richard is proud to have been designated as a
Master CFI
by the National Association of Flight Instructors.
About Paul
Dawson CFII
Paul Dawson CFII is a Bonanza owner
and CFII and a retired engineer. He holds a BS Degree in
aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has
a particular interest in aerodynamics and airfoil design. This
makes him ideally suited to teaching our upset recovery and
introductory aerobatics course in our simulator, as well as providing
IFR recurrent training and intitial IFR rating training in a wide
variety of single-engine aircraft.
About John
Lovingood ATP/CFII/MEII
John Lovingood is a 25,000+ hour
retired airline pilot and CFII/MEI who has an extensive background
flying or instruting in a variety of single-engine and multi-engine
aircraft. John's flight experience includes time in the
DC-9, MD-80, B-757, and B-767 as well as a wide variety of piston
general aviation airplanes. He is even a gyrocopter instructor!
His broad experience thus qualifies John to offer both single-engine
and multi-engine recurrent training, as well as 10-day instrument
rating instruction.
About Joe
Zieglar CFII/MEII
Joe Zieglar is an amiable and
experienced CFII/MEII with experience in a variety of piston aircraft
from Bonanzas to the J-3 Cub. He is a first officer on an
Embraer Regional Jet and is excellent at applying this experience to
simulator instruction.
About Cessna
P210N N102KY
Flight Level Aviation’s Cessna P210
(N102KY) is impeccably maintained and is well-equipped with redundant
equipment for safety as follows:
- Bendix-King RDR 160 Radar
- TKS Known-Icing from Flight Ice (www.flightice.com)
- Backup Electric Attitude Indicator
- Backup Electric Directional
Gyroscope
- Dual Alternators
- Strikefinder Thunderstorm
Detection System
- King Digital VOR/DME/ILS with RNAV
- Northstar M1 Loran
- Digital Engine Monitor
- Digital Fuel Totalizer
- Garmin 430 IFR GPS crossfed to
Garmin 296 handheld GPS
- Avidyne EX500 multi-function
display equipped with:
- XM Weather Datalink
- Terrain Database
- RDR 160 Radar Indicator
- CMAX Electronic Charts
N102KY
is based at Waynesburg, PA airport (KWAY) between Pittsburgh, PA and
Morgantown, WV; instruction can also be provided
from any other nearby Pittsburgh or West Virginia airport, although
the full-motion flight simulator is located only at KWAY.
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