Out of the Blue Aviation expands flight training, adds pilot services, Young Aviators Week program

Published 1:52 pm Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Cruising the skies is a relatively new passion for Cathy Mighell, who learned to fly only four years ago.

But take her knowledge and enthusiasm of aviation and mix it with her smart business sense, and Mighell has a recipe for success in Out of the Blue Aviation at Arlington Airport.

With a fleet of three Cessna 172s, an Aeronca Champ, and an Evektor SportStar, Out of the Blue Aviation offers pilot training in a variety of programs. The company, recently awarded the status of a Cessna Pilot Center, has a Lasergrade Testing Center for students ready to take their FAA written exam.

Mighell saw the need for a fixed based operator (FBO) at the airport when she decided to start the business in 2006.

“I thought I could make this business fly,” Mighell said, despite the fact that many people told her that most of these kinds of businesses fail. “Most people know aviation but not business,” Mighell said. “I know both.”

Her goal was to serve students with highly qualified instructors and provide a friendly environment incorporating fun and safety. She has accomplished that and more, making her business a community center for people interested in aviation. Her business has more than doubled each year.

To help introduce people to her business and to flying, and to welcome regulars into the fold, Mighell hosts events such as barbeques and poker runs for her guests. In May, for instance, pilots flew to towns around the Puget Sound to pick up playing cards, returning to Arlington for their prize.

Out of the Blue Aviation is also the northwest representative for Light Sport Airplanes West, the largest light sport dealer in the country, with headquarters in Salinas, California. Light sport is a new category of license approved three years ago by the Federal Aviation Administration. Sport aircraft are two-seaters, not night-qualified and have speed limitations of 120 knots.

Goals for Mighell’s company include adding a charter service to fly people around the area or drop them off at their destinations..

Another element to Mighell’s successful business is finding the right people to work with.

“I feel very blessed. I’ve had the best instructors with a love of aviation,” Mighell said. “It’s great for students.

John Pierson is one of those instructors. His love and passion for aviation hasn’t diminished over his 55 years as a pilot. He’s been an instructor for eight years.

“I was a corporate executive who didn’t want to play golf all the time (when I retired),” Pierson said.

The broad spectrum of people that Pierson teaches range from middle school students to doctors. All they need is the desire and willingness to fly twice a week and to spend another couple of hours a week for study.

“I enjoy sharing my passion with others who want to learn or improve their flying,” said Pierson, who also flies competition aerobatic. He said he enjoys working with Mighell so much that he makes commutes from Bellevue several times a week.

“This is not a job. This is play,” Pierson said. “She runs a great organization.”

Out of the Blue Aviation offers a pilot’s shop, a lounge and an espresso and snack bar. Customers and visitors can relax and enjoy the aircraft activity on the nearby runway, as well as summer sunsets..

One of the most exciting times of the year from Mighell is Young Aviators Week when youths, 12 to 18-years-old, arrive for hands-on classes during three separate week long camps that include field trips, a day visit to the Arlington Fly-in and one flight lesson. This program is close to Mighell’s heart, having been a teacher and now being the mother of three teenage boys.

“They come in complaining that their mom’s signed them up,” Mighell said. “By the end of the week they are really into it.”

Mighell’s goal is that anyone flying from Out of the Blue Aviation flies safely. Her dozen staff and instructors agree.

“I’ve had more fun in the last five years than I have ever had in my life,” Mighell said.

Upcoming events at Out of the Blue Aviation include a one-day seminar July 19 to train pilots in the new glass-cockpit avionics technology.

Teens can learn about aviation this summer at Mighell’s Young Aviator program, with three week-long sessions in July and August that include field trips and a flight lesson. Light Sport Airplanes West will bring aircraft to Arlington for a Light Sport Show hosted by Out of the Blue Aviation.

She offers a variety of destination flights in July through August, including a McChord AFB Air Expo, a Concrete Fly-In, a Fly-Out to Copalis Beach, an Eastsound Fly-in in the San Juan Islands, a Prosser Fly-in for a wine and food fair, a Wings Over Republic or a Lynden Airport Fly-In, and the Bremerton Blackberry Festival.

For more information, visit www. outoftheblueaviation.com.