DPE and ASA author Jason Blair joins Tim Jedrek to cut through the MOSAIC noise and explain what it means for your flight school.
Jason covers the 59 knot clean stall speed rule that puts your existing 172s, Cherokees, Archers, and Warriors into sport pilot training, why stall speed is judged as originally certificated, and why the model year of a Cardinal can decide whether it qualifies.
He also walks through the sport pilot only CFI limits that most operators are getting wrong. A CFI-S cannot provide the 61.129 dual cross country training your commercial applicants need, and a flight review from one restricts that pilot to sport pilot privileges. If your instructors are advertising services they cannot legally deliver, your examiner will catch it in the logbook.
Then the part Jason thinks matters most: aircraft. Manufacturers launched multi-engine and IFR approved MOSAIC compliant airplanes within days of Oshkosh, at price points near $200,000 to $250,000 against $600,000 plus legacy trainers, with clean sheet three seat designs aimed squarely at flight training and parts supply chains built for fast delivery.
The episode closes on check rides. Volume went from roughly 67,000 a year in 2012 to 156,000 last year, and about a third get sent home for broken airplanes, short cross countries, and missing endorsements. Jason explains how prepared schools earn preferential scheduling and what he tells every nervous applicant.
Jason Blair: jasonblair.net
Right Rudder Marketing: rightruddermarketing.com
Be a guest: 314-804-1200

Most flight school owners ask how many airplanes they need. AJ Dorizas says that's the wrong question.

AJ runs Huckleberry Aeroworks, where he brokers aircraft leases for flight schools. Before that he ran operations inside a school and worked for a MOSAIC-eligible manufacturer. He sat on the ASTM F37 committee while the light sport rules took shape.

In this episode he walks Tim Jedrek through the numbers most owners never see. Lease-to-own ratios at top schools. Hourly versus fixed monthly structures. What a new 172 actually costs per month. When to own instead of lease. And why your aircraft type quietly shapes your brand.

If you're planning your fleet for the next five years, start here.

🎯 CONNECT WITH AJ DORIZASHuckleberry Aeroworks: https://www.huckleberryaero.com

✈️ GROW YOUR FLIGHT SCHOOLRight Rudder Marketing is the only full-service digital marketing agency built exclusively for flight schools. Book a free consultation and we'll walk you through our flight school marketing system.

Website: https://rightruddermarketing.comCall: 314-804-1200Email: info@rightruddermarketing.com

🎙️ BE ON THE PODCAST OR SPONSOR ITReach out at info@rightruddermarketing.com or call 314-804-1200.

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He almost hit a deer on a 3.5 hour drive. That's the real reason FlyTech Pilot Academy exists today.Lute Atieh was just trying to stop making that drive to Jefferson City, Missouri for monthly meetings. A slick road and a close call with a deer sent him looking into flying himself instead, and that decision eventually turned into a flight school.Today Lute is the Managing Partner of FlyTech Pilot Academy at Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, Missouri. He joins host Dan Gill on The Aviation Business Podcast to walk through how one training aircraft turned into a flight school running close to a full schedule, and how that school is now growing into a second market.If you run a flight school or you are thinking about starting one, this conversation is full of numbers and decisions you can use: what it actually costs to run a training aircraft, how much to spend on marketing and where to spend it first, how to bring on partners without losing control of your business, and why Lute believes right now is one of the best windows in decades to buy, partner into, or start an aviation business.In this episode:✅ Why Lute almost went off the road avoiding a deer, and how that led him to flying✅ The five year path to his private pilot certificate, and why he tells students not to rush✅ Why St. Joseph had no flight school, and the decision to build one✅ Betting on a modern, glass cockpit trainer instead of an older aircraft✅ Growing from one plane to a full schedule on two aircraft✅ Expanding FlyTech into a second market✅ Why students train in two different aircraft types on purpose✅ What a healthy, fully utilized training aircraft actually looks like✅ A real marketing budget: where to start and where to scale✅ Why Lute brought in partners instead of running it alone✅ Ground school nights, hangar hangouts, and building free local media coverage✅ The generational handoff happening across aviation right now, and what it means if you want inConnect with FlyTech Pilot Academy:Email: lute@flystj.comWebsite: flystj.comAbout The Aviation Business Podcast:The Aviation Business Podcast is produced by Right Rudder Marketing, the digital marketing agency built exclusively for flight schools. FlyTech is one of RRM's clients. Want help growing your flight school? Book a free strategy call at rightruddermarketing.com or call 314-804-1200.