Bed & Breakfast . . . Bed & Breakfast . . . - Greg Koontz Aviation!

Bonnie Kratz 

Bed & Breakfast . . . 

“ Learning to manipulate an aircraft beyond the 

familiarity of level flight is the same no matter 

where your goals will take you. ” 

and 

By Greg Koontz 

When I was 7 years old 

my father, a corporate 

pilot, did something 

rare. He rented a private airplane 

an d f l e w m e t o G a d s d e n , 

Alabama, for an air show. It was a 

huge event for me. Bill Sweet Airshows 

was putting on an extravaganza fitting for 

the 1960s. Bevo Howard, Hal Krier, and Dick 

Schram headlined the show. On the flight home I told 

my dad that I was going to be an air show pilot. 

At age 19 I bought a Cub from Ernie Moser in St. 

Augustine, Florida. He wanted to use it for his flying 

circus, so I struck a deal—I got to do the comedy act for 

$100, and he got to use the Cub for his other acts. Now 

I was an air show pilot, and I soon joined the group 

full time and started instructing. Back then, if you 

could successfully loop a Citabria, you were assigned 

the role of aerobatic instructor. I muddled through 

students and, after teaching who knows what to my 

first victims, learned the trade. Of course, like many of 

us, I owe many thanks to Duane Cole and those classic 

books he wrote so long ago. For more than 30 years I 

have learned from my peers and my students. Today I 

find no side of aerobatics more important than safetyoriented 

training. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) takes a 

very cautious approach to aerobatics. It defines aerobatics 

as only a limit to bank and roll, or an excursion 

from normal flight. They tell us how high to do maneuvers, 

and where to do them, and add the requirement 

of parachutes if a passenger is involved. What they so 

carefully avoid is telling us specifically what a loop 

or roll is! And can we blame them? I can’t find two 

instructors who teach an aileron roll the same or agree 

on the logical course of an aerobatic curriculum. While 

aerobatic instruction has plenty of room for individual 

style, there are right and wrong ways to teach. 

16 • MAY 2007 SPORT AEROBATICS • 17

Greg Koontz opened his Sky Country Lodge in Ashville, Alabama, 

to provide grass strip, grass roots aerobatic training in a bed and 

breakfast environment. 

Choosing a good instructor is very basic. I admit that 

I learned as I went, stumbling through students while 

learning by my mistakes. I asked for advice and was fortunate 

to be surrounded by talented pilots. Today training 

has become more formal and sophisticated (although 

basic principles remain the same) and there are some fine 

schools out there. The tough part for the aspiring aerobatic 

pilot is identifying a quality program. Here is a basic 

checklist that will help students find a safe way along 

what can be a very confusing path. 

Look for experience in the school’s instructors. 

Not everyone gets to compete, so we shouldn’t limit 

any search to that one criteria. We should be looking for 

someone who has had professional instruction and is 

involved with organized aerobatics through associations 

such as the International Aerobatic Club (IAC). Avoid the 

pilot who became an aerobatic instructor based solely on 

the fact that he or she just bought a Citabria! 

Consider credentials. Our sport has benefited a great 

deal from the introduction of the Master Instructor program. 

The National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) 

is a progressive organization that is dedicated to professionalism 

in flight instruction. It is a good source for research. 

The FAA has recently started looking into a new flight 

instructor program designed around the concept of pilot 

qualifications. The yet-to-be-named program is intended 

to replace or build upon the old Gold Seal Instructor and 

the more recent Master Instructor by encouraging actual 

advanced training and accountability of skills rather than a 

previous record of some level of success. The idea is to offer 

instructors a way of showing their credentials by a certificate 

notation saying they have received specific training in 

how to teach basic aerobatics, aircraft upset situations, 

Courtesy Greg Koontz 

Just being a pilot takes a 

commitment to maintain 

proficiency, but being an 

aerobatic pilot is a step more 

intense. A training program 

needs consistency so you are 

building on a fresh foundation. 

spins, and conventional-gear aircraft. This would give the 

student something specific to look for when searching for 

that elusive aerobatic instructor. Hopefully it will also serve 

to discourage the “fly-by-night” operators. Stay tuned. 

Understand the commitment. A few years ago I 

bought a little bass boat and took up fishing. I don’t have 

much time for it, but now and then I dust off the boat and 

go out on the lake and take up the hobby right where I 

left off. What’s that got to do with aerobatics? Nothing, 

and that’s my point. Just being a pilot takes a commitment 

to maintain proficiency, but being an aerobatic 

pilot is a step more intense. A training program needs 

consistency so you are building on a fresh foundation. 

I ask my students to come stay at my school until they 

complete the basic aerobatic course in one visit. This gives 

me a chance to critique each flight and build on the next 

while everything is fresh. Instructing is like painting a 

picture in a person’s mind. Every time I go to add to the 

picture, I need the previous work to still be there. This 

holds true for the hours of practice that follow. Practice 

and critique need to be a steady program to achieve positive 

results. This sport takes time and money, and both 

need to be available at the same time. 

Review the curriculum and look for a strong foundation. 

In 2002 I took an early retirement from a corporate 

flying job to put my aerobatic school into full-time 

status. I’m flying more than a hundred students each year 

at my fly-in bed-and-breakfast. They come to learn upset 

training, spins, tailwheel flying, and basic aerobatics. 

They are doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, and professional 

pilots. Some have bought an American Champion 

product (my sponsor) and want a checkout. Some want 

to prepare for entering a contest. Others want to learn a 

sport, and most simply want to improve what they love, 

which is flying. Regardless of the motivation, it all boils 

down to starting with the basics. My upset training course 

looks just exactly like my basic aerobatic course. It has 

to. The physics are the same. Learning to manipulate an 

aircraft beyond the familiarity of level flight is the same 

no matter where your goals will take you. So my training 

curriculum starts with reviewing the principles of flight 

and then showing how they apply to aerobatics. The next 

layer is a few maneuvers designed to build the kind of 

orientation skills required for aerobatics, and then finally 

I start a layer of aerobatic maneuvers. I prefer doing the 

four fundamental maneuvers in the order of rolls, loops, 

hammerheads, then spins. This allows me to have the roll 

skills started early so I can mold and improve on them 

during each subsequent flight. I wait until the last lesson 

plan to introduce spins so my student has time to acclimate 

to all these crazy gyrations! Each instructor will have 

his or her own style and preference, but in the end we all 

should be achieving the same foundation. 

Invest in the basics. As a rule, most pilots want to 

learn too quickly. Bigger is better, faster is greater. There 

is no rest until we get to that super-duper airplane, be it a 

Lear or an Edge 540. But every pilot starts somewhere, and 

that somewhere must be rooted in the basics if it is going 

to help them reach their ultimate flying goal. 

Hey, we instructors are prone to grandiosity, too. Who 

wants to be a lowly basic acro instructor when the excitement 

and recognition is in that high-performance mount? 

They are super fun to fly and can do mighty feats! As 

instructors we have to be careful that we are not trying to 

move Primary pilots along too quickly. It is not doing our 

sport a favor. What we really need is a push to emphasize 

Primary and Sportsman aerobatics. Boy, do we need the 

boost. Our sport is the most exciting sport to participate in 

and the most confusing to start. There are so many affordable 

and fun-to-fly aircraft that would do well in the beginning 

categories, and we tend to pass over them as we put so 

much attention to the upper categories. All of my contest 

experience comes from Sportsman, and if you have not 

been there lately, or at all, I’m here to tell you it’s a blast! 

Set clear goals. When my students arrive for a couple 

of days of personal instruction, the first thing I do is strike 

up a conversation about their goals. Those with a goal in 

sport aerobatics start the same as anyone, but their intent 

to continue in the sport leads us eventually down another 

route. The start, much to everyone’s surprise, is a lesson in 

stick and rudder. Most of us can fly our regular aircraft just 

fine, but many of us have stored the technical parts of our 

control movements in the deep wrinkles of our brains. I 

first drag that stuff back to the surface where I begin the 

first layer of the foundation. Then, after steep turns, slow 

flight, and stalls, finally come the rolls. Not a slow roll, 

but the fundamental aileron roll. Let’s put the foundation 

down in simple and strong layers. Loops and hammerheads 

follow in later lessons, and the program ends with 

a good cleaning of all those spin bugaboos. 

So what happens next? Rolling 360s? Outside loops? 

Maybe a good gyroscopic sequence? Nope. We focus 

As an aerobatic competency evaluator, Greg evaluates the 

competency of air show pilots that wish to perform low level 

aerobatics. 

on mastering the basics—shoring up that foundation. 

Once a student is ready to solo the four basic maneuvers 

(rolls, loops, hammerheads, and spins) I send them out 

to practice. But practice is not productive if not critiqued 

regularly. My advice to my students is to latch up immediately 

with an IAC chapter, go to the meetings, go to the 

practice days, and, before he burns up much fuel, pick a 

mentor. That’s right; I give my students away after a basic 

course and ask them to find a local expert. Then, with 

great faith, I depend on this mentor to carefully monitor 

their progress. When the time comes to add on, a good 

mentor will send my student back to me or to any one of 

many experienced instructors so his or her program will 

continue to build in a logical order. 

18 • MAY 2007 SPORT AEROBATICS • 19 

Courtesy Greg Koontz

Safety first. Now comes safety, and nothing is more 

basic. I am very proud of our record at IAC contests. Not 

too long ago a student of mine reported that the safety 

check at his first contest was “picky.” He even had to open 

up the back inspection plate of his Acro Sport to please 

the inspector. That’s great! We set a great example at the 

contests. But what happens in everyday flying when the 

safety inspector is not looking over your shoulder? I know 

of some pilots who actually believe preflight planning 

and inspection make them appear to be inexperienced. 

In the corporate world I almost never saw the high-time 

captains working a full weight and balance. It seemed 

they were just kicking the tires and lighting the fires! Of 

course, they did have advanced experience and intuitive 

judgment, something learned by computing many a takeoff 

and endless weight-and-balance sheets. But why take a 

chance? Let beginners and spectators witness your safety 

habits so there is no misunderstanding. 

Pick the right airplane. Obviously safety comes with 

the right equipment. A good airworthy aircraft selected 

correctly for its task is imperative. A well-chosen parachute 

can make a big difference. Comfort is essential to 

your happiness in that little cockpit, but also be sure your 

rigging is correct for the way you need to sit, and your 

path clear to the exit. Parachutes are very personal and 

should fit your needs, including your aircraft speed, your 

weight, and your experience as a jumper. 

Thinking beyond equipment drives me right back to 

the basics. I do aerobatic competency evaluations, where 

experienced pilots come to demonstrate their abilities 

and acquire a low-level air show aerobatic waiver. I often 

have the privilege of watching some really beautiful aerial 

demonstrations that are destined to entertain thousands. 

On rare occasions I watch someone who struggles. That 

person is usually delinquent in his or her practice, and I 

see the flaws caused by a poor foundation. I have asked 

for the required inverted spins, only to be told that he 

or she has never flown them…yet the practical test standards 

clearly demand them. I just cannot imagine doing 

aggressive low aerobatics and avoiding such an important 

safety factor. We have friends who are avoiding certain 

parts of their flying. As we guide pilots through the maze 

of beginning aerobatics, we must be committed to mak- 

20 • MAY 2007 

Bonnie Kratz 

Building a safe aerobatic foundation often starts with a review of 

basic stick and rudder technique. 

ing sure everyone has good basic instruction and current 

practice on those maneuvers they need for safe recoveries, 

even though they do not intend to use them in their 

flights. 

My methods of teaching the basics of aerobatics 

are surely unique and will differ from an equally solid 

program taught by any number of qualified aerobatic 

instructors. What all of those solid programs have in 

common is that they are based on mastering the basics 

and understanding what works. Being unique is what 

every instructor has to offer. Years ago I taught at a 

school so busy that all I had was a back-to-back schedule 

of hour-and-a-half slots to teach everything from private 

pilots to aerobatics to multiengine courses and so on. It 

was hard work, paid poorly, and left little time for quality. 

Today I have developed an entirely new concept. My 

humble little school is located on a private grass strip 

far away from any congestion. The aerobatic box is right 

over the strip. You can sit on the porch and critique! I 

made my house into a bed-and-breakfast so my students 

can stay right on the runway. This creates a relaxed and 

friendly atmosphere where students can immerse themselves 

into the program. Unless otherwise requested, I 

limit my students to two people at a time so when a 

person comes here to train, it is more like staying with 

a personal trainer for a couple of days. We get up in the 

morning for a good breakfast (hey, we said it was a B&B) 

followed by ground school, and then we fly as the day 

progresses. Most students can fly two aerobatic lessons a 

day, so with two students we fly a total of four flights a 

day around the extensive ground sessions. Then comes 

time to light up the grill and have a relaxed evening. As 

you can tell, it is very fortunate that I like to cook almost 

as much as I love to fly! 

The important thing is to know that there are different 

styles of teaching, different personalities, and different 

aerobatic goals. Helping students find the place 

where they will be the most successful is our shared 

interest. I happen to prefer serving up aerobatics with a 

side of bacon. It works for my students, and that’s what 

it is all about. 

Greg Koontz has held a 

flight instructor certificate 

since 1972. Of his 22,000 

flight hours 7,000 have 

been as a flight instructor. 

He has flown most 

aerobatic types as well as 

165 total types of aircraft. 

Greg spent 20 years as a 

corporate pilot and retired 

in 2002 to expand his 

aerobatic business into a 

full-time operation. He 

performs in about 16 air 

shows each year, and his 

major sponsor is American 

Champion Aircraft. Greg operates Sky Country Lodge as 

his home base and aerobatic flying school. You can learn more 

about his school at www.GKairshows.com or contact him at 

Greg@gkairshows.com.

Bed & Breakfast . . . Bed & Breakfast . . . - Greg Koontz Aviation!

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