Collier Students Reaching for The Sky

In my travels I have always continued to marvel at airplanes and aviation in general. 

In this advanced age it is remarkable to realize that less than 85 years ago the first commercial transatlantic flight took place. Passengers paid $375 for the 22-hour journey between New York and Marseilles in the south of France. And in 1925 Delta was only flying crop dusters. Since that time, we have seen airline travel overtake any other means of travel and with a remarkable overall safety record. The United States offers the least restricted and expensive flight training in the world for a private pilot license. Over these past two years of dealing with Covid there has been an incredible increase in private flights. During the winter months, Naples Airport has aircraft stacked up for landing and takeoff and Marco Island has become almost as busy. Its impressive brand-new terminal and facilities have played a large role in the success, and during the winter holidays, I have counted as many as nineteen parked aircraft in one day, many of them jets. It is here on Marco Island that president, Alan Davis of CFTAR, Career Flight Training and Aircraft Rental, has based his operations.

It was a beautiful morning as newly minted pilot licensees and flight instructors from the Lely High School Aviation Academy at Marco Island Airport prepared to begin another day on the job, or just to experience more time in the sky they have come to accept as such an exciting addition to their daily life on the ground. Dillon Butcher will join them as he expects to get his instructor certificate within the next two weeks. It will be a special day for more than one reason as he will also be the youngest graduate from the academy at eighteen years of age.

In 2008 - 2010 there was a shortage of commercial pilots in our country similar to the present day. The possibilities to promote, educate, and qualify young people to get interested in aviation was discussed at universities all over the country. Former Lely High School Dean of Discipline, Meghan Leiti, was involved in a discussion on the district level here in Collier County and remembered one of Lely’s teachers had a background in aviation. Alan Davis was teaching algebra after a long career with the military as an aviation mechanic, helicopter pilot and three years teaching Personnel Recovery, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. He also had a Commercial Pilot License and was a certified pilot with FAA Instructor Ratings. His over 8,000 flight hours, roughly half of them as an instructor, and his rise from a high school dropout to where he is today, made him the ideal person to deal with, understand and instruct young students who want to learn to fly.

After Alan dropped out of high school and his mother suggested he join the army,

Alan said he preferred the idea of the Marines. But that was aiming too high as he did not have a high school diploma. However, joining the army contributed to his goal to study as he had always been interested in aviation and saw an opportunity there. With the experience of his new military discipline, a high school degree was followed by a Master of Arts degree and an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Science. 

Alan retired after 23 years in the military with firsthand grueling combat experience as a member of Operation Iraq, where he was responsible for 200 men and women. Returning home was not easy when he discovered there were not many job options. Eventually, he became an algebra teacher at Lely High School. His life’s experiences and the way he handled his students on an equal level made him your typical favorite educator always trying new methods to entice students to work to their maximum capacity. That is when Leiti approached him with the novel idea to write a curriculum for an Aviation Academy at Lely as the Collier County School District had monies available to fund such a program.

Davis contacted his alma mater at Embry-Riddle University and was able to create a dual enrollment curriculum for Lely High School with their aviation program that was recognized as one of the best in the nation. The dual enrollment offers eleven hours of college credits and Alan Davis was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the university.  Davis also approached the James C. Ray Foundation, an organization that supplies scholarships for students with a minimum of a 2.5 grade point average. They graduate from the Aviation program with a Drone license and at that stage are allowed to continue to obtain their pilot license. The James C. Ray Foundation steps in with scholarships to pay most of this. Quite a few students also save money by working at the airport, learning airplane mechanics, washing airplanes, and working in the airport offices and reception. In turn this creates a wonderful youthful atmosphere at the Marco Island Executive Airport.

To most of us, learning to fly seems a luxury. However, Collier Students can get a pilot’s license beginning with the Lely program and with help of the widely available scholarships. They can be students at any Collier County high school to enroll in the Lely Aviation Academy if they are willing to put in the time and study.

There have been seventy-five students at the academy and forty-five of them, or 60%, have completed their Pilot License and 93% completed solo flights. Many have completed the course just to enrich their education, like Eva Lobaton, who broke a record by getting her license in 89 hours. She has no interest to continue professionally in aviation as she is now studying at FGCU to become a medical doctor. On the other hand, Steve Bordanaro, who joined the program but went to high school at Barron Collier, is planning to become a commercial airline pilot, as well Dillon Butcher and Chris Langford who love working as instructors for now. And Andi Miller, who graduated last week as an instructor, welcomes many visitors to the airport as a receptionist there and a perfect representative for the facility. After Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and in cooperation with Big Cypress Animal Clinic she flew a solo flight with pet supplies to the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas.  

Alan Davis proudly reports that Lely has so far seen 18 graduates from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, three airline pilots, two aerospace engineers and two Air Force Pilots. This week Davis attended the graduation at Embry-Riddle of five more of his students; Avorie Anderson, Aeronautical Science with a Minor in Aviation Safety; Jasmin Lopez, Aviation Business with a Minor in Air Traffic Control; Betsy Hernandez, Aerospace Engineering and Jacqueline Aparicio, Civil Engineering.

Additionally, his son is an Army Instructor on Blackhawk Helicopters, and his daughter is a 1st Lieutenant Signal Officer in the national Guard. His programs and the curriculums he writes have enabled many students to literally reach the sky. 

Ewout Rijk de Vries and his wife, Jill, brought America Travel Arrangements to Marco Island almost 40 years ago. They specialize on high end small adventure tours and small safari groups for clientele all over the world, but also are experts on high end cruises with the help of longtime assistant and friend, Michelle Wegman. In combination with his writing and photography, Ewout has visited over 90 countries. Please direct your comments or questions to ewout@photodevries.com as he likes to hear from readers.