Q : What would you say your favorite thing about being a pilot is ?
A : The peacefulness of up in the air . I don ’ t have to deal with anyone other than myself up there . Of course , if you have a student , you have to worry about them , but that ’ s just fine . It ’ s nice , peaceful . You get everywhere in one-tenth of the time . I don ’ t have to deal with traffic . I don ’ t have to deal with the hustle and bustle , anything . Everything just seems slower . On the surface , especially when you ’ re running around all the time and driving , you ’ re on the phone , answering emails , texting back-and-forth . Once you ’ re up in the air , you don ’ t have any cell service . You don ’ t . No one can get a hold of you . And it ’ s just nice and quiet .
Q :
And now you ’ re an instructor . So what ’ s your favorite part of the teaching aspect ?
Seeing students succeed . That ’ s by far my favorite part
A : is when someone ’ s learning something , and you see that light bulb just click . It makes you feel good as an instructor , like , man , I just finally made that click for that person . Before becoming a flight instructor … I was into commercial work . I did a high school program where I taught elementary school kids . And then I got involved in teaching , so teaching has been my thing for 12 years . I ’ ve always enjoyed teaching and getting people to see the insight of how things click .
Q :
You had your experience with college and it ’ s safe to say it ’ s not for every student out there . What could you say to students who may find themselves in your shoes ?
A :
College is spending tons and tons of money — over 100 grand a majority of the time — if you want to become a doctor , or if you just want to go through and get your bachelor ’ s degree … things like that you ’ re spending oodles of money . Through a trade school , you ’ re spending typically about half that , at least through most flight schools , you ’ re spending $ 50-60,000 . By the time that you actually have a career and you can become a flight instructor , you earn that money back in the first year that you actually start . You go to college , and now you a piece of paper , and nothing ’ s guaranteed yet . You ’ re still flipping burgers at McDonald ’ s or something , right ? So that ’ s my typical push for people to try those trade schools . Aviation has always been thought of as for the rich , and that ’ s not always true . It ’ s a lot per hour , and you have to work hard to get to it . But if you break it down , cost per cost , college versus flying — flying is actually cheaper than going to a normal college . You typically get your certificate , your degree in a year and a half or two years .
Q :
If somebody were to come to you and say , I want to join your flight school , what could they expect out of your curriculum ?
Out of our curriculum , we want to train our students from the ground
A : up — from coming in with zero idea in aviation , to getting their private pilot licenses , their first license . Then we go through what we call an instrument rating and then a commercial rating . And then to become a certified flight instructor ( CFI ). At that point in time , we want to hire our own flight instructors to teach our next coming students . We want a growing flow of students and pilots for the aviation industry , not just for flight instruction , but for airlines for corporate , for anything and everything that people want to do . We have a continuous flow of what we ’ re trying to accomplish . DM
5B AVIATION HEAD FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR RICHARD MARTIN DIRECTS A LANDING PLANE ON THE DUNCAN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT RUNWAY DURING OKLAHOMA AVIATION DAY CELEBRATIONS .
DUNCAN MAGAZINE | FALL 2022 25