Accelerated airline pilot training program takes off

Sling Pilot Academy has launched an Accelerated Airline Pilot Program at Torrance Airport (KTOA) in the Los Angeles area.

The flight school’s training fleet includes Sling light-sport aircraft, which boast Garmin glass cockpits.

Sling Pilot Academy, which has been training pilots since 2012, is the sister company of The Airplane Factory, importer and distributor of the Sling.

“This all started when I was looking for a school in LA with my son, Matt, and we weren’t at all impressed with what we saw,” said Wayne Toddun, a partner in Sling Pilot Academy and architect of the accelerated pilot program. “Most of the aircraft were 30 or 40 years old and used old avionics. I knew the Sling guys and knew they had sexy, modern aircraft with the latest touch screen avionics. I told them I would be happy to put together a business plan, come on as a partner, and that my son would be their first student! And because we are using modern efficient aircraft and we are the distributors, and service agents, our cost is lower, so we pass those savings on to our students.”

“Our goal is to set up our students with a great career and fantastic long-term earnings potential, without having to start out with a mountain of debt,” he continued. “Even without any flying experience students can be paid instructors with a commercial license within nine months for under $63,000. One common misconception is that flying is extremely difficult – most students are surprised that they are doing almost all of the flying after just 10 hours in an aircraft!”

Sling Pilot Academy is offering a $20,000 scholarship. Applications must be received by Aug. 5, 2019.