![A Tecnam aircraft at the Flight Academy of South Texas [Credit: Jorge Whitley]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Hunt-Panam-Jan22-370-1.jpg)
The Flight Academy of South Texas (FAST) has taken delivery of its first Tecnam P-Mentor.
The flight school opened in January and, according to school officials, is experiencing rapid growth, with 20 students enrolled. To meet the growing demand, plans are in place for the academy to acquire five more P-Mentors.
Fernanda Whitley, chief operating officer of FAST, located in Brownsville, highlighted the deeply personal and community-driven mission behind the academy.
“My father founded this school for me, an aspiring aviator, with the goal of inspiring more women to pursue careers in aviation,” Whitley said. “Along the way, he realized we had the opportunity to open doors not just for me, but for young people throughout our community to explore and engage with aviation.”
The flight school is operating out of Hunt PanAm FBO while the FAST facility is being built.
A third-generation pilot, Whitley said her grandfather was a bush pilot and her father, Jorge, is a private pilot. She said it made her father a little nervous when she was taking lessons in airplanes that were more than 40 years old and kept breaking down.
“The plane was constantly in maintenance, and I wasn’t able to fly—once for more than a year because it was in maintenance and often the [flight school] couldn’t schedule me because so many people were flying the airplane when it was available,” she said.
Her father wanted her to fly a new airplane, feeling that it would be safer and less likely to break down.
![Fernanda Whitley at the flight school [Credit: Jorge Whitley]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Fernanda-and-Tecnam.jpg?w=683)
The other challenge, according to Jorge Whitley, was that the flight school Fernanda was training at had a lot of turnover among CFIs.
“She loves flying. She has flown 120 hours in the past two and a half years but couldn’t finish her private pilot certificate because the CFIs kept leaving when they got their 1,500 hours and the airplanes, which were older, were going down for maintenance,” he said.
The Whitleys knew Fernanda wasn’t the only student pilot facing these challenges, and since Jorge had the resources, they decided to start a flight school.
They purchased the P-Mentor, secured space to operate at the airport, hired a ground instructor, chief pilot, and CFI, and acquired virtual reality simulators from True Course Simulations in Prescott, Arizona.
“The sims we use are the same as the ones they use at the Air Force Academy,” Jorge said. “They are a great resource for students if the weather is bad.”
It wasn’t long before the school was attracting clients. When the weather is good, the P-Mentor gets a workout.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with the Flight Academy of South Texas,” said Walter Da Costa, Tecnam’s chief sales officer. “Their mission to empower the next generation, particularly young women, resonates deeply with our core values at Tecnam. The P-Mentor was designed exactly for this purpose: to offer a modern, safe, and highly efficient environment for students to thrive from day one. Seeing our aircraft become the foundation of such an inspiring and fast-growing academy is truly an honor.”
The Whitleys said FAST’s goal is to empower the next generation of aviators by offering top-tier training resources, including advanced flight simulators and personalized instruction, all in a welcoming and supportive environment.
