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About Us
FlyRenoIFR was formed to foster
aviation in the greater Reno area by expanding the market for
existing flight schools. We hope to attract pilots from around
the country to come to Reno for the unique climate and location (in the
high desert and next to the mountains) which together provide great
flying weather and fantastic recreation opportunities.
Great
weather for primary training.
Sierra
Nevada mountains nearby for both Mountain Flying courses and
hiking.
World
famous skiing destination.
Simulator
facility and multiple flight schools.
Educational Discounts
FlyRenoIFR offers an educational
discount to high school and
college students who are not already taking flying lessons. We
hope to encourage new
student pilots and spur growth in General
Aviation by demonstrating to students and their parents how learning to
fly is a
great way to learn how meteorology, mathematics, geography, and
related subjects are used in
aviation - and have an exciting time while using this knowledge
to pilot an
airplane!
Manager and Instrument Ground Instructor
Ed Rathje, manager of
FlyRenoIFR, conducts Instrument Training for
pilots in the Elite iGATE 501. Ed started his flying
career at Santa
Monica Airport in 1965. He holds Commercial, Instrument, and
Instrument
Ground Instructor ratings. Ed also has a BS in engineering and an MBA
in Quantitative Methods, and spent a year teaching high school science
after 9/11. His technical and teaching background allows him to help
his students understand the principles behind Instrument flying.
Ed also is a regular skier at the many nearby ski resorts. He and his
son Joel, who
lives nearby and
who is a former ski instructor, started the 2004-2005 ski season at Mt.
Rose in December, skied at Squaw Valley in late May, and
Mammoth Mountain in late June. That's a 7 month season if you're
counting.
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Bert Smith was a key factor in establishing FlyRenoIFR. In addition to
his wide experience in aviation, Bert has a nice selection of power
tools used to construct a custom cockpit enclosure. Bert is a
retired American Airlines DC-10 Captain and
former Air Force
fighter pilot (F-84, F-86) and has logged about 8,000 hours on the ski
slopes and
30,000+ in the cockpit. He has
written a dozen technical aviation articles for American Airlines, the
Flight Safety Foundation,
and other publications.
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