New flight school opens at KRAW

A new flight school, Icarus Aviation, has opened at Warsaw Municipal Airport (KRAW) in Missouri.

“The initial focus of Icarus will be helicopter flight training, but we plan to become an aviation academy with fixed wing training, in-house maintenance, and an FAA Part 141 certificate,” says owner Charles Beesley.

The initial primary training platform will be the Guimbal Cabri G2, he adds.

Charles got his first taste of the flying when he joined the United States Marine Corps. Once he got out of the military, he went to the closest helicopter flight school to his hometown, a four-hour drive away, three to five times a week to get his flight training completed.

During his time at what was then Midwest Helicopters, the company began their transition from the R22 to the Cabri G2. From the beginning, Beesley was attracted to the G2 and elected to do his training in it, eventually becoming a CFI and following the common path of instructing, survey work, and charters, while building time.

The inspiration for Icarus Aviation sprung from Beesley’s own journey and the traveling he had to do to convert his dream to reality. Until now, there was no convenient location for helicopter training on this side of Missouri, which is a problem Icarus Aviation aims to fix.

Icarus is already working towards its Part 141 certificate and hopes to partner with a college to develop a program to help other midwest kids like Charles make their aviation dreams a reality. Icarus also has plans to work with local high schools and develop programs to help get a younger generation involved in the industry.

“Mom and Pop flight schools have long been a staple in this industry, a place where future aviators get a chance to not only learn the ins and out of flying, but where they grow up and develop their aviation family, a family that will impact the course of their career and often follow them in their journey,” says Sarah Brazel, manager for Guimbal sales and support for Precision Support Services of McMinnville, Oregon, the sole distributor of the Guimbal aircraft in the United States.