Elite Owner, Jason Duncan (middle) with Helicopter Instructors, Ned Hoogland (l) and Cole Payne (r). With aviation pulsing in their veins since
their teenage years, in 2005 Jason and Shawn, who are both FAA Designated Pilot Examiners, started with nothing more than some education, a Cessna 172, and a burn- ing desire to build an aviation business. Since then, Elite has grown its business to more than 15 aircraft and 20 flight instruc- tors by staying true to its business model of providing the newest and safest aircraft, performing impeccable maintenance, main- taining a state-of-the-art training facility, and focusing like a laser beam on customer service. Looking down Elite’s bullet point list of
approvals, I am impressed with how far they have come in just eight years:
• FAA Part 141 Approved (Both Airplane and Helicopter)
• V.A. Approved (Both Airplane and Helicopter)
• S.E.V.P. Approved (Vocational M-1 Student Visa)
• FAA 91.147 Tour Operations • UVU- Utah Valley University Provider
• CSN- College of Southern Nevada Provider
• WSU – Westfield State University Provider
• On-site CATS Testing Center According to their website, Elite Flight
40 June 2013
Training & Management flies more hours per year that any other flight school in Ne- vada. Both Shawn and Jason are accomplished
professional pilots with backgrounds heavy in the fixed-wing world. As such, neither of them had roots in the helicopter industry. However, when you combine their passion for aviation with their propensity to be se- rial entrepreneurs, the helicopter market seemed to be the next logical direction for their business. As they see it, they found the recipe for
success in the fixed-wing training, and ac- cording to Jason, “We spent seven years learning, and building success in our fixed- wing business. If we execute our business plan properly, there is no reason that those same experiences will not translate into success in our helicopter operations.” In addition to their Cessna and Cirrus
fixed-wing fleet, they are also flying the Robinson R44 and R22 as their primary helicopter trainers. Their helicopter train- ing programs include Private Pilot, Com- mercial Pilot, Instrument Rating, Certified Flight Instructor, Certified Flight Instructor Instrument, and Airline Transport Pilot (ATP). In the lean years following the collapse
of the financial markets, I saw many schools come into existence, only to go out of business in short order. One common denominator for successful schools during
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