Wright Flyers Academy, San Antonio, Texas - The Wright Flyer Newsletter

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Last updated 06/29/09

Happy Independence Day

Wright Flyers will close on Saturday, July 4th, to allow our customers and staff to spend time with family and friends. We will reopen at 8:00 Sunday morning. We wish everyone a safe and happy 4th!

Redbird Full Motion AATD Lands at Wright Flyers

Wright Flyers will add the flight school industry's latest flight simulation trainer to its fleet in July. The Redbird FMX (http://www.redbirdflightsimulations.com/rbfmx.asp) is a high-quality, feature-rich motion AATD with standard features that are anything but standard. With wrap-around visuals, a fully enclosed cockpit, reconfigurable construction, and of course a motion platform, the FMX serves up a level of realism that is simply unavailable in other training devices on the market.

Wright Flyers Academy and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Announce Partnership

The demand for new pilots allows many beginning students to go from zero time to the right seat of a regional jet in a couple of years. But any pilot with designs on flying for a major airline will need a four-year degree, and to make that easier, Wright Flyers Academy and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University have formed a partnership to give students who earn their ratings at Wright Flyers 36 credit hours toward a degree. In essence, that could take about a year off a four-year degree program at ERAU, not to mention a sizeable savings in tuition.

For more than 25 years, Wright Flyers Academy has trained future airline pilots at the San Antonio International Airport, and in 2007 earned the Cessna Aircraft Company’s prestigious Platinum Award. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace. For 8 consecutive years ERAU has earned the top spot in the annual “America’s Best Colleges” guide published by U.S. News & World Report magazine in the category of “Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering” programs. For more information, please call Marc Silva, Wright Flyers’ Manager of Pilot Services at 210-820-3800, or send him an email.

Cessna 162 Skycatchers Coming to Wright Flyers

The Skycatcher will feature a Garmin G300 avionics system. Information is presented in a single, split-screen primary flight display (PFD) and multi-function display (MFD), or as two full-screen displays with an optional second screen. The aircraft will be capable of day and night, visual flight rules (VFR) operations. Preliminary design parameters for the SkyCatcher include a maximum gross weight of 1,320 pounds, a service ceiling of 15,500 feet, a useful load of 490 pounds and a usable fuel capacity of 24 gallons. It has a cabin width at shoulder height of more than 44 inches, equaling that of the much-larger, 6-place Cessna 206 Stationair. It features two top-hinged cabin entry doors and forward pivoting seats giving access to a 12.5 cubic-foot baggage compartment. The aircraft will have tricycle landing gear with a castering nose wheel and standard dual toe-actuated disc brakes.

Welcome to San Antonio

Our latest class of Chinese students has begun our CAAC approved Airline Pilot Training Program. Please visit our Chinese webpage for more information about our CAAC pilot training programs.

To see a 2 1/2 minute streaming video produced by the San Antonio Express-News, click here.

These students will join future airline pilots from the United States, and more than twenty other countries, who have selected Wright Flyers Academy for their professional training.

Wright Flyers Wins Cessna's 2007 Platinum Award

Wright Flyers Aviation, Inc. received the 2007 Platinum Award for exceptional performance in the Cessna Pilot Center (CPC) network from the Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company. The award was presented by CPC Regional Manager Roger Sharp to Wright Flyers Aviation President Rand Goldstein. Cessna considers a number of factors in evaluating CPC performance including facilities, training equipment and general operations.

Cessna's extensive network of approximately 300 CPCs around the world was established more than 35 years ago. The average time for students to obtain their private pilot's certificate while using Cessna's computer-based instruction training course is only 54.5 hours, almost 30 percent less than the national average, resulting in less expense for the student and a more efficient learning process.

Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. Since the company was originally established in 1927, more than 189,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered to nearly every country in the world.

Join Us!

Wright Flyers instructors are being hired by the airlines! And that's creating openings for CFIs (CFII preferred) with a passion for aviation and strong customer service skills.

Our 25 year history, respected career training programs and large fleet of more than 20 training aircraft and FAA-certified FTDs assure our instructors will stay busy. We offer competitive pay and benefits. And San Antonio, known for its low cost of living, is also one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Please send your resume with cover letter/page to Rick Rawlinson, Chief Flight Instructor: rick@wrightflyers.com, or fax to 210-820-0184.

AOPA Reports Glass Panels Enhance Safety

It's one of those things that's been intuitively accepted -- glass cockpit technology improves situational awareness, thereby enhancing safety. Now a study published this week by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF) confirms that technologically advanced aircraft (TAA) are involved in fewer accidents when compared with the overall general aviation fleet. The analysis shows that advanced aircraft account for 2.8 percent of the GA fleet, but were involved in only 1.5 percent of the accidents. Most notable was the difference in accidents related to fuel. TAA have fuel-monitoring and warning systems, and there was not a single fuel-related accident reported in the ASF study. In other GA aircraft, fuel-management accidents occur at a rate of almost three per week. [AOPA-August 1, 2007]

Got "Glass"?

Come fly San Antonio's first Garmin 1000 equipped training and rental aircraft - N23758 is a 2006 "Glass Cockpit" Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

The G1000 integrates all primary flight, engine and sensor data to provide intuitive, at-a-glance situational awareness. Real-time, flight-critical information is presented on two big, colorful 10.4-inch active-matrix LCD displays - bringing new levels of safety and confidence to the Skyhawk. The addition of the G1000 combines the future of flight with the world's most-embraced, most-flown aircraft.

When it Rains...

Please be sure to call your Instructor before cancelling a flight or lesson due to weather. Consider a simulator session to keep your training on track.

After very heavy rains, water can temporarily close Old Bitters and NE Entrance Roads. Call the M7 Automated Weather Line at 210-804-7793 to find out if both roads are closed. When both routes are barricaded, please use the alternate entrance to Wright Flyers: take Nakoma to Skyplace Blvd (about 200 meters east of US281). After turning on to Skyplace Boulevard, drive past the Airport Fire Station, Cessna Citation and Sino-Swearingen through the M7 Aerospace back gate. Follow the marked lanes through the M7 property until you see Wright Flyers, on your right. If you get lost, just give us a call at 210-820-3800.

We Get Letters

"From the start, Wright Flyers was nothing but a positive experience. Everyone in this organization makes me feel welcome."- comment card from USAF 2nd Lt.

"I recently had the pleasure of undergoing a checkout in your new Cessna 172s as part of a 'Wings' Program phase. I am burdened by the need to write and express my appreciation for the services your excellent flight school provides. Having lived in several locations nationwide and overseas during my Air Force career, and thus having flown from and instructed for a number of schools, I can say without reservation that yours is the most professional, best run and competent I've experienced." - letter to our Chief Flight Instructor

"The way we did things was perfect. I didn't have problems with anything." - comment card from USAF 2nd Lt.

"I trained at Wright Flyers to earn my private pilot's license. As a professional airline pilot, my dad wanted to make sure I got the best possible training. I'm convinced we made the right choice". - email from former student

" I [want to] take this opportunity to commend your organization for the superb service and training. As a student transfer from ........... , I definitely have seen the contrast in terms of the facilities and equipment reliability between the schools." - email from former student

"I recently received a Commercial Pilot Certificate. The training for this certificate began and was completed at Wright Flyers. I wanted to say thanks to you and your staff for a most enjoyable experience. All of the people I dealt with were always helpful and professional. The facilities were very accommodating and the instruction was superb. You should be very pleased with the service you provide, to both the customers and the general aviation industry." - letter from San Antonio commercial contractor

"Thank you to you and your mechanics, for taking such good care of us last Friday afternoon. I will be sure to pass the word about [Wright Flyers], and hope that I can have the opportunity to visit you again." - letter from Cessna T-210 pilot enroute to Arizona

"Leaving Wright Flyers is without doubt the hardest thing I have ever done. You and everyone, including our customers, will forever be in my heart." - note from former Wright Flyers employee

Schedule Online, Anytime

Make your reservations, and check your schedule online 24/7 using the industry's leading Internet-based reservations system, Schedule Pointe. Email Les to request a username and password. To sign on, just click on the RESERVATIONS button at the top of any page on our website.