My Private Pilot Training

I started training with A.F.I.T. in Lincoln, CA under the instruction of Mike on January 18th, 2020. Having completed my ground school provided by A.F.I.T. through Kings Schools online, I showed up feeling well prepared to take on the adventure. As I closed in on the airport that morning, the nerves hit me like a ton of bricks, and I felt like all the info I had studied online had rushed out of my head. Mike being the extremely observational instructor that he is, saw the nerves and made me feel extremely comfortable within the first hour. His ability to take technical instructions, break them down and explain them was unbelievably helpful. It made it 10X more fun for me and all I wanted to do throughout the course was ask more questions because I love learning and loved the way he explained things. Mike drilled into my head the importance of staying in front of the airplane and to anticipate its response which helped in slowing things down for me in flight. Being behind the plane makes everything feel like it is happening much faster and you are always playing catch up.

I had about 10-15 hours when I was 16, 21 years ago and attempted training again back in 2018 and the search for an instructor I meshed with and felt confident in was a struggle to the point that I never went back up in a plane in 2018. Through A.F.I.T., Mike taught me to fly and pass my check ride with just under 43 hours of flight time. I will 100% be returning to train with AFIT as my new career path progresses.

Thanks for everything.

Michael Votaw
Gold River, CA 95670