Angel City Flyers, Inc.

Congratulations to Stuart Ogg on his initial solo! Stuart is working on his Private Pilot certificate in a Diamond Star DA40 and has been flying mornings, braving traffic and stress before heading to the office. The weather was not cooperating by blanketing the field in early morning advection fog but the sun was shining when Stuart launched into the traffic pattern. Three trips around and Stuart returned blissful at having achieved the first of his flying milestones. His observations? It was not what he envisioned and he loved every moment of it. Great flying, Stuart! Now on to the cross country phase.

Congratulations to Mikolaj Nejkauf for earning his Instrument Rating in the DA42 Twin Star. Readers will remember Mik from earlier posts and it has been great helping with his progression. Next on Mik’s to-do list is time building in the DA40 so he’s off to explore exotic destinations then back to the books for his commercial rating.
Great flying, Mik!

Congratulations to Ronald Ramos who earned his Private Pilot Multi Engine Land rating! Ronald has been working towards his Instrument Rating and wanted to earn Pilot in Command time so opted to earn the MEL rating to finish his training in the DA42. We’ll be seeing more of Ronald in the weeks to come as he’s transitioned from visual to instrument and it won’t be too long before his next checkride. Nice flying, Ronald! See you soon!

An unidentified flying aircraft (UFA) recently caused quite a stir at an otherwise sleepy Caribbean island. It was unusual enough that the local Air Force was alerted (he was asleep on the beach at the time) but it was soon discovered that all appropriate paperwork was in order. As it turns out, the ruckus was caused by Mark Fitzgerald and his mom who were on vacation flying N469WW. Their arrival into St Barts was the first ever arrival of a DA42 Twin Star!

They snapped some great pics (thank you for those!) and had a wonderful time. The best part was, unlike some unfortunate or untalented pilots, the aircraft avoided the topless beach at the end of the runway. What a great adventure for the Fitzgeralds!

It was a big day for Bea Brandhoff who took to the skies in a Diamond Star DA40 on her first solo! Bea is visiting from Germany, and making a big push to earn her Private Pilot Certificate. She was full of anticipation and excitement leading up to the moment and flew beautifully. Well done, Bea – enjoy the cross country phase coming up next!

Congratulations to Carlos Salta who earned two ratings in two weeks! Carlos was visiting from the United Kingdom to earn his Commercial Airplane Multi-Engine Land then the Instrument Airplane ratings. It was a bit of a challenge as there were a number of hours needed to qualify for the CAMEL which meant an ambitious schedule but Carlos was up to the task. As soon as the Commercial was complete, it was back in the DA42 for the instrument rating. Well done, Carlos! See you soon!

Congratulations to Robert Drblik on earning his CAMEL! Prized only slightly less than a type rating or Airline Transport Pilot certificate, the Commercial Airplane Multi-Engine Land with instrument privileges is the apex of training for many pilots. Robert will be returning to his native land of Germany where he’ll use his rating flying a DA42 NG around Europe. To practice, Robert has had several adventures including flying to Denver then Telluride, Colorado for a weekend of skiing with the Angel City Flyers Fly Out group. Congratulations, Robert – you’ll be missed! Maybe we can get him back for a Citation Mustang type rating….

Congratulations to Rebecca Smith on earning the Multi-Engine rating! Rebecca is working on the Professional Pilot course and earned her Multi Engine rating to log PIC time during the Instrument Rating phase. She made quick work on adding the multi onto her Private Pilot certificate, flying like a Commercial Pilot during her test. Congratulations, Rebecca! Now on to the Instrument…

We had a big day at Angel City Flyers recently: not just one solo but two! The day started with Jack Meng reaching a milestone by flying solo in the pattern at KLGB in a Diamond Star DA40. Jack is visiting from Shanghai, taking time out of his professional life to accomplish a lifelong dream. The flight went well and Jack returned happy as, well, a student pilot who just returned from a solo flight!

No sooner had Jack returned than Stephen Miranda was off for a flight on his own as well. Stephen has a mission for his wings: to fly for the U.S. Air Force! The Air Force uses DA20s for initial training at the Air Force Academy so Stephen can jump a step by earning his Private Pilot Certificate before going to flight school. Stephen flew like a pro so he’ll be flying jets in no time.

Congratulations Jack and Congratulations Stephen! Well done, both of you!

Congratulations to Kelly Craig for earning his Private Pilot Certificate! Kelly has been flying with us on weekends and after work – taking his time and enjoying the process. The time came, though, for him to make a push for the finish line and he accomplished his goal. Now that his training’s done Kelly plans on exploring the state by air. Congratulations, Kelly! See you soon!