flyADVANCED Welcomes Back Daniel Stegeman as Chief Flight Instructor and Chief Charter Pilot

At 11,000 plus flight hours and experience in over 40 models of planes, Daniel Stegeman isn't your typical Chief Flight Instructor. Flight instructors typically start their teaching career somewhere near the required minimum, around 250 hours, and use their instructional time to build their own air time. They then leave for other aviation jobs and are replaced by others pilots who look to do the same thing.

Stegeman's hiring is flyADVANCED's continued effort to change the flight instruction paradigm and utilize more experienced pilots as instructors for its flight school. Stegeman himself developed the flight department for Bentley Systems in Exton, PA; founded Airshares Fractional Cirrus program for the Philadelphia market; and has served as a Captain for two 135 Charter companies over the last several years.

But why change the flight training model that the industry is accustomed to and deems acceptable? "Commitment to creating better pilots," noted Regis de Ramel, CEO of the companies that make up flyADVANCED. "One of the challenges in the traditional method is that instructors are more limited in their knowledge. Imagine having an instructor that graduated with a Ph.D. in the topic instead of a bachelor's degree. Imagine that person had years of real life experience under a huge variety of conditions. How much more complete would your training be?" 

Stegeman agrees, "Many pilots have experience flying of one or two models of planes. It means that their instruction is very specific to the plane. Pilots with wider experience in both hours flying and models flown teach differently. And that makes it easier when students change plane models. Imagine learning to drive a car but your lessons are geared to just one particular model. When you get in a different car, you can't easily drive the new car. That approach limits you as a driver and as a pilot. We can do better, but it starts with managing the flight training process and the instructors in a different way."

Just 1 percent of the U. S. population holds a pilot's license. The number of ground and flight hours required for students to complete their training varies, as does the total time it takes to complete those training hours. 70% of those seeking a pilot's license do so for recreational purposes. Many have a mix of personal and business goals, including managing multiple location businesses.

"flyADVANCED is taking action to be the leader in training," de Ramel noted. "We want to change the way people think about air travel and Dan will be an integral part of our continued growth in that area."

Flight training is currently conducted at Wings Field Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.