Elite Aviation Saturday Open House and Fly-In Brings Community to New St. Louis Flight School

By Carmelo Turdo

Elite Aviation, the St. Louis area's newest flight school, held the second day of its Grand Opening celebration with a public Open House and Fly-In at their facility on the north apron of Spirit of St. Louis Airport.  The day began early this morning with preparations for the display aircraft and the smell of pancakes and sausage cooking for the breakfast arrivals.  The visiting Cessna 206 Stationair and Elite Aviation's Cessna 172S G1000-equipped Skyhawk were positioned just outside of the hangar on the accessible area of the apron.  The blue skies and unseasonably cool temperatures provided an exceptional backdrop for the day's activities.

One great highlight of today's Open House and Fly-In was the opportunity for Ken and Laura Hizer to take a flight with Certified Flight Instructor Joseph Overman in an Elite Aviation Cessna 172.  Ken Hizer is considering flight lessons, and the hands-on experience received during the introductory flight seemed to confirm his desire to follow up with additional flights.  

As the day progressed, additional aircraft arrived for display.  The airport's Civil Air Patrol squadron provided a corporate Cessna 185, equipped with the latest cockpit avionics and an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) detecting device mounted under the aircraft.  The aircraft is used for search and rescue missions that may involve the tracking of the ELT signal that marks the location of a downed aircraft.  Also arriving during the morning was a Cessna Citation CJ3+ corporate jet that attracted most of the attendees at some point of the day.  Visitors were able to take a peek inside and be part of the jet-set, at least for a few minutes!       

More visitors and aircraft gathered around the Elite Aviation hangar as lunch was served and the pleasant day continued into the afternoon.  Members of the neighboring Monarch Fire Protection District displayed their giant American Flag, and a gorgeous classic Cessna 195 was parked nearby.  More visitors passed through the office lobby, hangar and display aircraft. 

Today's Elite Aviation Open House and Fly-In was a relaxed, fun and pleasant way for members of the community to be around aircraft and for some to experience flying an aircraft themselves.  The Aero Experience thanks  Elite Aviation and all of the participants featured here and in the previous story for their hospitality and for presenting the best of Midwest Aviation.  In the next story in this series, we will explore the vision behind Elite Aviation and the plans for future. 

Elite Aviation Celebrates St. Louis Grand Opening With Open House

By Carmelo Turdo

Elite Aviation, the St. Louis area's newest flight training facility, held an open house welcome party for the Spirit of St. Louis Airport community today in advance of their Grand Opening Fly-In set for Saturday.  The only general aviation flight training school at the airport, Elite Aviation is ready to serve new and continuing flight students at their facility on the north apron of the airport. A steady stream of visitors came through the newly decorated office and onto the apron to see the latest Cessna aircraft available for training and rental, and many stayed for lunch and cake.  It was immediately apparent that this new flight school is already working to raise the standards of performance for the industry, and has the right combination of flight instructors, aircraft and business talent to be successful.

         

Textron Aviation, the parent company of Cessna Aircraft, lent their support for Elite Aviation, a Cessna Pilot Center, by flying in a new Cessna 206 from Wichita, KS for display at Friday's Open House and for the upcoming Fly-In on Saturday.  It is the utility vehicle of general aviation, able to fly six passengers or a useful load of over 1600lbs of cargo with one pilot.  It can operate from unimproved airstrips, and is often used by relief organizations to serve as resupply aircraft or air ambulances in undeveloped areas of the world.  This aircraft looked new, smelled new and no doubt inspired some more experienced pilots to investigate getting one of their own.  The Textron Aviation crew, pilot Mathew Filbert and Dispatcher/Pilot Naomi Manzira, explained the features and missions of the Cessna 206, and will be available again tomorrow during the Fly-In.    

One of Elite Aviation's Cessna 172S Skyhawks, fitted with Garman G1000 avionics and a camera pod used for monitoring crop growth by Mavrx Company, was also on display.  The Elite Aviation fleet will consist of the latest Cessna aircraft models that increase the safety and reliability of the flight training experience.  Additional Cessna 172 and other types will be available in the near future so that multi-engine, instrument and commercial ratings can be obtained.