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Date: 10/28/2020
WESTFIELD – Fly Lugu, which opened back in February, gives Westfield residents the opportunity to learn how to fly in one of the Pioneer Valley’s two flight schools.
Rika Ballard, Fly Lugu’s founder, said she has been around planes her entire life and she wanted to share that experience with others.
“I’ve been around aviation my whole life and I started flying when I was 16. I came back to flying about four years ago. I used to take people for a flight just to have them experience what the world’s like from the sky. Then I decided to go back to school for aviation and I became a commercial pilot and then a flight instructor,” she said.
Ballard said her goal in establishing the flight school was to bring aviation to the area.
“I would really enjoy just bringing aviation to the Pioneer Valley. I just want to introduce aviation to the community in the area. I think we are meeting a need that wasn’t met here” she said.
Currently the flight school offers several different levels of courses.
“We have private pilot rating, instrument pilot rating, commercial pilot rating, and certified flight instructor rating. We offer a private pilot ground school on Wednesday nights at Barnes for $10 per class and we go through a private pilot syllabus over 13 weeks.
She added that typical instruction is $60 per hour except for the certified flight instructor rating, which is $65 per hour.
Along with offering courses to potential flyers, Ballard said Fly Lugu also works closely with the Westfield Technical Academy.
“They have an AMP program for mechanic jobs at the trade school. So now we are talking with those kids with aviation as a career so like a professional pilot or if they’re planning on a military career,” she said.
One of the top priorities at Fly Lugu is pilot safety.
“Safety is paramount. The planes we fly look good on the inside and the outside, and are maintained every 50 hours. They have up to date avionics, which are radios and things like that. We follow a syllabus so it’s very structured training,” Ballard said.
While Fly Lugu could not host its normal in-person flying lessons during the COVID shutdown, some students were still able to fly.
“Throughout the COVID process, while we couldn’t have the public come in, some students that were renters were still able to fly. With flying it’s all about getting time, so like flight time, flight hours, and flight experience. We were able to achieve that goal event through the COVID process,” Ballard said.
At this time she said there are around 40 students with the flight school, and they are always accepting more on their website, flylugu.com, or by calling 833-359-5848.