In-airplane instruction
Flight reviews, instrument proficiency, tailwheel flying, advanced aircraft handling, and focused work on the skills that have become rusty or uncertain.
Nebraska and by arrangementFlight instruction built on understanding
Learn the airplane.
Not just the maneuver.
Local flight instruction in Nebraska and remote instruction for pilots anywhere—focused on the physical models, judgment, and disciplined habits that continue working after the lesson ends.
ATPCFI · CFII · MEI · CFI-G6,000+ flight hours
Good instruction should leave you with more than a correct performance.
It should give you a mental model you can use in an airplane, under pressure, without the instructor beside you.
Instruction
Work on the flying that matters to you.
Every session begins with the pilot, the airplane, and the actual objective—not a canned syllabus.
Remote instruction
One-on-one sessions for aerodynamics, aircraft systems, energy management, instructional technique, or a problem that deserves more than a stock answer.
Video call · pilots and instructorsInstructor development
Build clearer explanations, stronger lesson structure, and better ways to observe what a learner is actually doing before intervening.
CFI mentoring · practical teaching
FlyThinkTeach
About David
Engineer, professional pilot, and career flight instructor.
I’m an aerospace engineer and ATP who has spent thousands of hours teaching in airplanes ranging from basic trainers and tailwheel aircraft to multiengine airplanes. I also fly professionally in turbine aircraft and work in Part 135 training and checking.
Those worlds shape my instruction: physics should be useful, procedures should support judgment, and a pilot should understand why an airplane behaves as it does—not simply memorize the approved phrase for it.
Tell me what you’re working on →Ideas in public
Watch, read, and think along.
Flight instruction, aircraft handling, aerodynamics, systems, and the craft of teaching pilots.
YouTube▶
Flight instruction you can see
In-airplane demonstrations and careful explanations of what is really happening.
LinkedInArticles and working ideas
Longer-form thinking about flying, training, safety, and professional aviation.
The Old Soul CFI archive
Thirty-two essays, brought forward.
Aerodynamics, flight instruction, Luscombe travel, tailwheel flying, and the ideas that began this work.
Explore the writing archive →
Student milestones
Meet the pilots →First solos and checkrides, remembered.
Twenty-five achievements from the Old Soul CFI archive—and a place for the next one.
Request instruction
What would you like to understand—or fly—better?
Send a little context. I’ll reply personally to discuss whether I’m the right instructor and what a useful session could look like.
No open calendar to manage.We’ll arrange timing after we decide the instruction makes sense.