MY PILOT LIFE
The
story goes that I was only six months old when I took my maiden flight!
Whether it had an effect on me or not, we will never know, but from as
far as I can remember,
I knew I wanted to fly airplanes. When my father moved to West Africa
for work and my family started to shuttle back and forth between Ivory
Coast and France, I made sure to hang out with the pilots
in the cockpits of the DC-10s of the now defunct UTA and Air Afrique.
The sight from the front of the airplane, the instruments and the
acceleration on takeoff were just magic for me.
It took many years before the dream became a reality but after my first demo flight in a Cessna 152 at the Palo Alto airport in 1998, I finally got bitten by the aviation bug. Not only was it a feat to be at the controls of an airplane, but the view from the cockpit was, and still is, amazing. In spite of some initial jitters and wet palms, I got my private pilot certificate in just 11 months. Even though it had started as a hobby, I soon found myself wanting to continue training and in June 2001, I passed my initial instructor certificate and started to teach right away not only flying but my first private pilot ground school.
Now almost ten years later, I have become an FAA Gold Seal flight instructor and have given over 3,500 hrs of dual flight instruction. This is my full-time job. I love teaching and learning in the process and still "get a kick" at seeing my students solo, pass a checkride or just realize their dream.
I am currently teaching at Advantage Aviation at Palo Alto airport. You can also check my club profile page here and visit my linkedIn page.
I am looking forward to flying with you!
It took many years before the dream became a reality but after my first demo flight in a Cessna 152 at the Palo Alto airport in 1998, I finally got bitten by the aviation bug. Not only was it a feat to be at the controls of an airplane, but the view from the cockpit was, and still is, amazing. In spite of some initial jitters and wet palms, I got my private pilot certificate in just 11 months. Even though it had started as a hobby, I soon found myself wanting to continue training and in June 2001, I passed my initial instructor certificate and started to teach right away not only flying but my first private pilot ground school.
Now almost ten years later, I have become an FAA Gold Seal flight instructor and have given over 3,500 hrs of dual flight instruction. This is my full-time job. I love teaching and learning in the process and still "get a kick" at seeing my students solo, pass a checkride or just realize their dream.
I am currently teaching at Advantage Aviation at Palo Alto airport. You can also check my club profile page here and visit my linkedIn page.
I am looking forward to flying with you!