Folks learning to fly have long followed John and Martha King on screen as guides to just about every pilot certificate and rating. A new era begins as King Schools co-owner and CEO Barry Knuttila takes center stage in a new course focused on the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) knowledge exam.
“The goal of this new course is to simply make the materials easier to understand,” Knuttila said. “I am an active flight instructor. As part of a course creation team, we had to work hard to make this four-hour course take the academic-sounding language of educational theory and personalize it to show practical situations and experiences that people will see in real-life flight instruction. We wanted to bring some humor to the videos and help people connect with the materials in an easier way than reading the FAA’s Aviation Instructor’s Handbook.”
The FOI course distills down the FAA’s 130-page syllabus into manageable segments, each followed by a short multiple-choice quiz. It includes offline access, integration into the company’s flash card app, and tools to assess the user’s readiness to take the test.
The King Schools Fundamentals of Instruction Knowledge Test Prep course costs $199 for lifetime access.
Concierge Service For Flight Schools
The road to Part 141 approval for a flight school is arduous enough, but maintaining the accreditation also takes effort and hides pitfalls for those achieving it for the first time.
To help assist flight schools with this effort—and securing funding for their clients through student loans and Veterans Administration programs—King Schools has also launched a free concierge service for those schools using its curriculum.
“If your school is looking to gain or expand Part 141 approval, we can help with free personalized assistance provided by one of our training experts,” said King Schools senior vice president of sales and business development Brian Hough. “Our courses and syllabi have been reviewed by the FAA and meet the requirements of Part 141. An FAA letter coupled with our expertise can have you up and running in little time.”
The company’s syllabi and tracking software provide the operational reports that can be used for satisfying requirements via their POI, reducing the administrative burden.
“The new concierge service aims to help schools quickly take advantage of our complete ‘zero to hero’ Part 141 approvable solution that includes training programs from Private through Flight Instructor,” Knuttila said. “Brian Hough has tremendous passion and long experience running flight schools and university programs while developing new FAA approved curricula. His team will provide an invaluable service to flight schools that want to expand their business by offering new profitable training solutions.”
NAFI Scholarship Winners
Each year since 2017, John and Martha King have joined with the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) to recognize an up-and-coming flight instructor with a scholarship that rewards their efforts and is tuned to propel them forward.
For 2022, the Kings and NAFI announced that Leah Murphy has secured the award, totaling $5,000 toward flight training and free, lifetime access to all King Schools courses, including lifetime Flight Instructor Refresher Courses (FIRCs). The estimated value of the scholarship is more than $18,000.
“While working on my CFI-Helicopter certificate and in my final semester of my undergraduate degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I was involved in a car accident that halted my flight training and completely changed the trajectory of my life,” Murphy said. “While my classmates were beginning their careers in the aviation community, I was recovering in a hospital bed. Instead of practicing autorotations, I was practicing walking up stairs.
“Fortunately, I was able to renew my medical and went on to earn my helicopter CFI/CFII in less than a year from undergoing a spinal fusion.” she said. “I am inspired by the diversity of Martha and John’s aeronautical certificates, and I am now looking to add to my flight experience as I pursue my fixed-wing ratings, including airplane CFI. I am incredibly grateful for the support system and opportunities the aviation community has provided me and hope to give back by means of instructing.”
