The Aero Experience Week In Review: Our Midwest Aviation Partners Work Through Winter Projects, Get Back in the Air After Winter Storm

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience has had a busy week visiting our Midwest Aviation Community partners to gather media for future stories and videos. Our relatively mild winter was interrupted recently when the first major storm of the season left about ten inches of snow on the ground. As usual, though, a warm spell followed, and the snow has nearly disappeared. In this post, we look at the renewed aviation activity following the snowfall, including routine operations and a preview of things to come at three airports.

Creve Coeur Airport, Maryland Heights, MO

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation continues to develop their aviation education programs, and this winter the V/R Simulation Lab is expanding with four additional stations. The lab will be used for summer STEM program activities as well as Private Pilot ground school instruction. Helicopter and fighter pilot stations are also available. The Foundation is planning to participate in STEM programs and aviation events throughout the year, including the Second Annual Youth Aviation Day at the airport on June 4.

Gateway Aviation has been busy through the winter as well, serving the local and regional aviation communities through their service network of companies. Here we feature a student training flight from Gateway Flight Training and aircraft maintenance projects at Gateway Flight Solutions. Gateway Aviation also offers flight training in complex and multi-engine aircraft and supports industrial applications of unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Spirit of St. Louis Airport, Chesterfield, MO

Elite Aviation is the Cessna Pilot Center flight school and aircraft maintenance service provider at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. Elite Aviation offers Private, Instrument, Commercial and CFI flight training using a fleet of seven modern C172S Skyhawks and a Redbird MCX full-motion simulator from Alpha Flight Simulation. They are also an FAA approved written exam testing station. The aircraft are also available for rental, and Elite's maintenance staff service their fleet as well as Civil Air Patrol aircraft and those of other customers from around the region. During our visit, one of the student pilots, Vassili Georges, was given the green light for his first solo by CFI Josh Moore.

  

St. Louis-Lambert International Airport

Big River Aviation is currently conducting off-site maintenance on a Piper Mirage at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport. The aircraft is shown receiving a new engine, and later the new propeller and nose gear will be installed as part of a repair and inspection project. Big River Aviation provides comprehensive aviation maintenance services for individual and fleet customers at their St. Louis Downtown Airport and Sullivan, MO Regional Airport locations.

We thank Gateway Aviation, Elite Aviation and Big River Aviation for supporting the work of The Aero Experience as we continue into our second decade of promoting Midwest Aviation. We will feature our other Midwest Aviation partners in upcoming Week In Review posts along with our regular feature stories posted here and on The Aero Experience YouTube Channel.