![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sling-Pilot-Academy-1024x575.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nOn May 15th, the first training class in the Sling Pilot\nAcademy\u2019s (SPA) innovative new Accelerated Airline Pilot Program took flight\u201c\u2026\nliterally. The Academy, based in Torrance CA, is the brainchild of three\naviation entrepreneurs, Wayne Toddun, Jean d\u2019Assonville, and Matt Liknaitzky. Their\nstories and motivations might be inspiring to some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Toddun, it\u2019s the result of what occurred in his own\nsearch for a proper flight school for his son, and what ensued when he couldn\u2019t\nfind one that met his standards – so, he started one that did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For D\u2019Assonville, an exceptionally experienced pilot, it\u2019s the\nresult of his clear knowledge that only good training can give today\u2019s pilots\nwhat they need in order to persevere in a turbulent industry that is facing a\ncritical pilot shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for Liknaitzky, a new father and a long-time aviation\nentrepreneur, it\u2019s the culmination of a number of aviation efforts and his\npersonal attempt to have a \u2018really positive effect\u2019 on the aviation\ncommunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sling Pilot Academy\u2019s Accelerated Airline Pilot Program\nbreaks a lot of new ground in the debut of a program that is based on many\nyears of owning and operating a conventional LSA and GA flight school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SPA utilizes Next-Generation\u2019 training aircraft with glass\npanels, modern power plants, and the latest training equipment\u201c\u2026 including\ncontemporary, motion-based digital flight simulators which mimic the flight\ntraining environment to a startling degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A diverse instructor staff not only mirrors the world that\ntheir students come from, but boasts a variety of backgrounds from a number of\naviation disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Complete Professional Flight Training programs that may be\nundertaken in under 9 months, from first flight to course completion, are\navailable now for under $63,000. And, while the price of the program is less\nthan many other such courses, the company leaves nothing out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A student working the entire program completes the\ncurriculum with more than a basic Commercial Pilot\u2019s license with an Instrument\nrating, but is properly equipped to go right to work in today\u2019s challenging\naviation industry. They also leave SPA with a multi-engine rating as well as\nthe three Primary Instructor ratings — Certified Flight Instructor\/Airplane,\nCFI\/Instrument-Airplane and CFI\/Multi-Engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initial reception has been rewarding. The next class\ndates are now being scheduled, and expansion of the SPA program from its\nfoundations in Torrance, CA, are already being considered with attention being\ngiven to other potential locales across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A little bit of aviation history was made recently as the combined efforts of three passionate aviation advocates initiated an aggressive new pilot training program, in earnest. On May 15th, the first training class in the Sling Pilot Academy\u2019s (SPA) innovative new Accelerated Airline Pilot Program took flight\u201c\u2026 literally. The Academy, based in Torrance CA, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sling-academy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12886,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12883\/revisions\/12886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}