Darrell and Amberly Dicey Photo by Steve Cornelius
Both Darrell and Amberly Dicey , owners of Dicey Aviation , realized that spirt at an early age .
Darrell started flying before he graduated high school . He is a 12.5-year veteran of the United States Army , where he served as a helicopter pilot . Upon being honorably discharged , he joined the Air Methods team . Amberly ’ s path was more winding . “ I ’ ve wanted to be a pilot since I was a child ,” she said . “ I ended up going to nursing school to be a flight nurse .”
When the two married , Darrell and
Amberly wanted to incorporate aviation into their life together and raise their blended family — six children total — up in the industry .
Thus their flight school was born . But it needed a home , and the Diceys found it in Lake Cumberland Regional Airport — which Amberly calls a “ diamond in the rough ” since it has been historically underused . From what they could tell , there had never been a flight school based from the local airport , nor much instruction of any kind in about 15 years .
Dicey Aviation opened its hangar doors officially in March 2020 . The couple hoped for success but had no idea how ready the community was to support them .
According to Amberly , the initial goal was to purchase their first plane by the end of 2021 but the Diceys were able to accomplished it by the end of 2020 — just nine months into their business venture .
“ We ’ ve already gone past our five-year mark ,” she noted . “ The people of Somerset have been super supportive .”
It ’ s not just individuals signing up for instruction . The Diceys also appreciate the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber
34 • SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky June 2022