Courtesy Hewison Aviation
By Susan Elise Campbell
Through Hewison Aviation, Christopher and Maura Hewison extend their passion for flight to help people of all ages become pilots in a safe, professional, and pleasant atmosphere.
Chris founded Hewison Aviation 11 years ago, originally as a Part 61 flight school instructing in private pilot, instrument, commercial, and certified flight instructor (CFI) designations, as well CFII for teaching instrument reading to other students, said Maura Hewison, the company’s chief operating officer.
Their flight instructors currently teach out of five airports, the closest in South Albany until the newly renovated Saratoga County Airport welcomed them a year ago. The timing coincided with FAA approval for Hewison’s Part 141 school, she said.
In October, with staff and members of Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, a representative of Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh’s office, and others, the Hewisons hosted a grand opening ribbon cutting and accepted a citation from a representative of Senator James Tedisco’s office. They also received congratulations from the Chamber and sponsor Arrow Bank.
“It was cool to hold those big scissors,” Maura Hewison said.
Where Part 61 is more flexible, the more regimented Part 141 classes are for students who want to get into professional flight, commercial airlines, or charter services. In addition to training on the ground, this designation requires more time in the air than when qualifying to fly recreationally, Hewison said.
“I’ve been surprised at the number of our students looking to make a career change and fly professionally,” she said.
“You need 1,500 hours in the air to get into the airlines and a mandatory two flights a week for our school, so that can easily run $1,000 a week,” she said.
“It can be risky to leave your career to start at the bottom and put in three to four years or more,” she said. “But the payoff at the end is, when you get to the airlines, you don’t see any pilots with sad faces.”
“Some students are people who want to buy a plane and fly themselves around, but I always recommend they get their instrument rating,” she said. “It will make them a safer pilot.”
At this milestone in their business, there are two full-time flight instructors. Hewison Aviation has its own hangar as of February. Their administrative space in the old FBO, or fixed base operations area, now includes classrooms, office space, a lounge, and soon will take over another space in order to move in a flight simulator.
“Students are going to be able to do 10 hours of instrument training on the simulator as opposed to air time, so that will be a big cost savings of about $4,000,” she said.
Students earn a private pilot’s license and then levels of ratings can be added onto it, such as instrument rated or commercial rated. After the commercial rating, one can get a certified flight instructor license and then work for a flight school to earn money while training new students, she said.
Hewison said that as pleased as they are with their growth, she and Chris “want to grow organically, smartly, and not too fast,” as clients find them through word-of-mouth and the website hewisonaviation.com.
Management at the airport, Mary Price, “is an angel,” said Hewison. “The maintenance shop guys are wonderful, too.”
Forty were wait-listed for hangar space in the brand new build resulting from the recent $35 million dollar federal, state, and locally funded renovation project. As soon as Hewison got the call from Price, she accepted immediately. The county airport has had a helicopter school for some time and now fills a need for airplane flight instruction, she said.
The Hewisons have long seen a diversity of people coming through their doors to learn to fly. Some are as young as age 12, but they can’t fly solo until age 16. The oldest new student is 66, and there is a flow of more seasoned students getting recurrent in an FAA endorsement or applying for a certification. The Hewisons have added a new Piper Arrow to their fleet of Piper Cherokees, Aeronca Champion, and Seneca 3 multi-engine aircraft.
Discovery Flights are a way for people who want to take to the skies for an hour with an experienced aviator to see if they are candidates for pursuing further flight training.
“It’s a memorable experience for those curious about aviation or considering it as a hobby or career,” Hewison said.
Boys and girls in high school can fast-track careers in aviation by taking courses now. Hewison’s youngest student in Saratoga is such a 17-year-old girl who wants to go to an aviation college, she said.
In the next year or two, Hewison said she would like to partner with BOSCES to provide the financial portion of a program for young students to pursue careers as pilots.
“There is already a program, but I would like to duplicate it at all of our locations,” she said. “When I go to career days, kids are shocked that they can become a pilot, and that shocks me.”
Learn more at hewisonaviation.com.