A cross-country adventure begins

FLY8MA Founder and Chief CFI Jon Kotwicki has set off on a trip flying a Cessna from Alaska to Florida, and from there to all 48 remaining states. The trip will last two years, and is being documented on the FLY8MA Vlog Channel and Flight Instruction Channel, as well as YouTube.

The purpose of the trip is to attract more interest to GA and promote aviation safety with “real-world” flying experiences that occur on long cross country flights, according to Kotwicki.

In August 2018, Jon left his job as an airline pilot to return to being a CFI and seize this opportunity to promote GA.

“Flying a Cessna was my first love of aviation, it was my starting point in this amazing community, and I want as many people as possible to have that same experience I was lucky enough to have,” he said.

Jon and his girlfriend Stephanie are working as a team flying their airplane from state to state, and chasing the airplane with their camper trailer that serves as a mobile office to manage the logistics of the trip. Additionally, Jon continues creating educational content along the way for Fly8MA.

The key goals of this trip are:

• Provide a free discovery flight in each state to a follower or subscriber who has not yet taken the plunge to pursue training.
• Provide them the easy next steps to pursue aviation.
• Produce vlog style videos documenting the trip, as well as educational and flight safety oriented videos.
• Provide a FAAST Wings safety seminar in every state.
• Help current pilots improve their skills, and highlight GA friendly airports and places to get
  people out there and flying!
• Incorporating real-world experiences into the online ground school at Fly8MA.com

The two year trip will have more than 1,000 hours of flying, visiting more than 500 airports, while creating more than 300 videos and more than 120TB of content, Jon noted.