New Blood Returns in 1st Aviation School Lower Columbia has Seen in Years

Astoria Aviation has opened up shop in their namesake Astoria, Oregon, operating a trusty '73 Cherokee 140 and a '65 Cessna 150E.

It's a fine combination to start off with, offering students a super-affordable VFR day bird for primary, and a more stable, tractable IFR trainer for those who advance onwards and upwards. Astoria Aviation is breathing new life into the area, having been without a new flight school in the area for years. The local paper took note of the starting trio, including Dave West, Phil Rohr, and the faintly flamboyantly-named Thaddeus Fickel. They are the President, VP, and Secretary-Treasurer for the fledgling firm, and have been a fixture at the field for years working with the local EAA chapter, Life Flight Network, and instruction. Now, seeing a burning need for fresh faces on flight decks around the country, they build a school to offer consistent services. All the usual flight school offerings are in play here, with ground school, flight instruction, rentals, and checkouts included.

Pricing isn't too shabby, for the aircraft on offer. Their flagship is "Oscar", a 1973 Piper Cherokee 140 equipped with a G175 navigator, twin AV-30 PFDs, and a G335 ADS-B. On the more affordable end of the scale, a spry little 1965 Cessna 150E, painted orange and black with all 6 steam gauges as Clyde once intended.

“The whole idea of this business is to promote aviation, get people involved and get the younger generation involved and make them realize it’s not impossible to get a good career in it,” Rohr said. “You don’t have to go to college for it; you can do it all here. We would like to be a one-stop flight school … There’s a lot of possibilities.”

FMI: www.flyastoria.com