Veteran FBO and flight school operator Lou Mancuso has opened a new flight academy at Sebring, Florida, that he says will provide fast-track training for pilots planning professional flight careers. In this exclusive podcast recorded at the Sport Aviation Expo 2019 show in Sebring, Mancuso said the school will rely on light sport aircraft, specifically the Bristell.
“We want to produce a pilot who has 1500 hours and an ATP so he can get a corporate or an airline job in the shortest time for the least amount of money,” Mancuso said. Sebring is the good hub for this, Mancuso says, because overhead is low, the weather is favorable and the airport has good facilities.
While the school will have a single Cessna 172, Mancuso predicts the school will phase it out. “Everybody loves the Bristell. I doubt we’ll have the 172 for more than a year,” Mancuso said. Mancuso said the program will be two years long and will cost $19,700 for the initial segment totaling about 150 hours. After that, pilots can hire on as light sport instructors to build time.
