The Aero Experience Week In Review: St. Louis Aviation Community Supports Flight Training and Aviation Safety

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience looks back on another great week (plus a few days) in the Midwest Aviation community. Over the last ten days, we visited some of our sponsors at St. Louis area airports and worked behind the scenes on some long-term projects. Throughout August, we will be rolling out some stories that have been under development for a while among the current events and features we regularly post. Here we begin with the latest developments first and work back through our most recent coverage.    

Creve Coeur Airport, Maryland Heights, MO

On Saturday, August 6, our latest sponsor, Piston Aviation, held their Grand Opening event. Several hundred guests visited with owners Joe and Meghen Ord at the Piston Aviation hangar and enjoyed a catered lunch, the upstairs game room and the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation's F-4 Phantom jet cockpit while learning about the available flight training packages. Discovery Flights were given all day in the Piper Cherokee and Bristell LSA fleet aircraft. Full coverage of the event is coming soon in a separate feature story.

Gateway Flight Training continues to make progress on some long-term aircraft maintenance projects while training a growing number of students in their Piper Cherokee and Archer fleet. Gateway Flight Training offers a wide range of pilot training services from Private to ATP preparation along with comprehensive aircraft maintenance and avionics upgrade services. We will feature more examples of their offerings in future posts.

Last Thursday, August 4, the Greater St. Louis Flight Instructors Association held an information session led by Matt Conrad, Designated Pilot Examiner, focusing on getting back to basics while preparing for the check ride or flight review. Conrad discussed the DPE's use of objective criteria to evaluate the pilot's aeronautical knowledge and ability to perform required precision maneuvers, aerial navigation and pattern work. Flying skills are gained in a cumulative manner, and they are lost by taking shortcuts or neglecting safety tools such as checklists and standard communication terminology. Those in attendance were eligible for FAASTeam Wings credit. 

STL Aviators, the airport's popular flying club, held their Summer BarBQ on July 30 at one of their hangars. Since its inception in March of 2019, the club has grown to fielding five aircraft and a having a perpetual waiting list for new members. The club aircraft are regularly seen in our monthly General Aviation (and More!) survey posts.

St. Louis Downtown Airport, Cahokia, IL

Big River Aviation continues to provide comprehensive aircraft maintenance services for piston aircraft from Piper Cubs to Cessna 400-series twins to an occasional P-51 Mustang. Owner Paul Voorhees and his experienced crew are known for taking on complex aircraft repair and restoration projects that require an unusually high level of technical skill and project management ability. On a given day, there will be a mix of routine and long-term projects rotating in and out of the West Terminal hangar.

For a review of the other aircraft we saw while making our site visits, check out the latest July General Aviation (and More!) post.