I spent a day out in Alabama recently at a storefront flight-training center being operated by Continental Motors as part of an experiment to change up the flight-training game, to find ways to provide training that people can work into their everyday routines more easily. The center makes extensive use of simulators and flight-training devices along with a standardized curriculum in order to help students make the most of their time. Its location not at the airport but close to town at an upscale outdoor mall makes it accessible and fun to visit. To actually go flying, students will venture to an airport. It’s a great idea. Read more about it here.
One of the hoped-for results of the experiment is that the school will get walk-up customers, people who see through the store windows the cool, full-motion flight sims in action and want to know what’s going on. Maybe some of those people will decide to take the plunge. Who knows, maybe they’ve been thinking about flying for some time but never made it out to the airport. Seeing aviation happening right before their eyes might be all that it takes to awaken that long dormant dream.
