Rodney Rayburn started flying with us in 2016, earning his Private and Instrument ratings in an SR-22 and has continued to commute from Baltimore on a regular basis to fulfill and enjoy his passion for flight.

Justin White and his wife Natalie started flying with Nova Pilots in March of 2021, Justin also earned his Private and Instrument rating, while Natalie took some time off for birth of their son, Cooper.

Two years ago Rodney was able to secure a hanger at KFDK, ordered a new SR22, teamed up with Justin, and they took delivery of their beautiful new Meteorite and Silver Cirrus last Tuesday.

We hope to maintain our wonderful relationship with these "Perfect Partners", and wish them many years of safe and enjoyable flying in their stunning new SR22.

What better way to celebrate your Independence on the 4th of July than to complete your "1st Solo". On Friday morning Justin Witter celebrated his personal independence by piloting our Cirrus SR20, "Green Machine for the 1st time by himself.

The fireworks were bursting from within him as his face and eyes glowed with enthusiasm and a sense of great accomplishment.

Congratulations Justin! This is an event that can only be accomplished "once in a lifetime". Celebrate your success and enjoy the journey.

Bob Garity, CFI

Congratulations to Krish for successfully completing his Commercial Flight Check yesterday with DPE, John Somiak.

Krish found the Commercial rating to be an enjoyable experience since he could look outside and enjoy the scenery (unlike Instrument Training). He has also become a much more proficient "Stick and Rudder" pilot as a result.

He has moved quickly through Private, Instrument, and Commercial, and there's no stopping him now.

He is immediately moving on to his CFI certificate. With his excellent interpersonal skills and congenial nature, there's no doubt that he will be a phenomenal Instructor.

Bob Garity, CFI

We are pleased to announce the addition of a new highly experienced and enthusiastic Flight Instructor to our team at Nova Pilots.

John Dolan has been flying and instructing in General Aviation since he was 18. He loves to mentor and assist those learning to fly, completing Flight Reviews, or just improving their flying proficiency.

He owns an SR22 G6 Perspective and used to run a little flight school in Las Vegas, as Commander the USAF Fighter Weapons School.

He recently renewed his civilian CFI with the FAA and plans to add his CFII soon.

We are excited to have someone with such a wealth of aviation experience and talent on our team and invite you to get on his schedule.

Mother Nature brought us some interesting low clouds and fog on Monday morning, but patience paid off for our master landscaper, Todd Thomasson, who waited for the fog to clear, and then bravely slipped the surly bonds of "Mother Earth" completing his "1st Solo"

in our Cirrus SR20 G6, N902TV.

Please join us in congratulating Todd, for this "once in a lifetime" achievement..



Paul Ayers, CFI

These are three of many words you have heard to describe a new Pilot's 1st Solo. On Wednesday morning Wayne Shiveley completed this big leap forward in our SR20 G6. His plan was for three full stop, Taxi back landings at KJYO With his adrenaline pumping his 2nd landing turned in to a touch and go, and after his 3rd landing, in his excitement, he taxied back for another approach and landing.

A couple of weeks ago, Torge Dennen, also completed his 1st Solo. Waiting patiently all morning for the clouds to clear he took to the pattern in the early afternoon for his memorable "1st Solo".

Congratulations to both of these gentlemen for completing their 1st flight as :Pilot-in-Command".



Paul Ayers, CFI

There's no stopping Mark Johnson. The day after he earned his Private certificate nine months ago, he took his 1st Instrument lesson, and this week our "resident Scotsman" earned the privilege of being able to legally fly through the clouds.

His beautiuful Imperial Red and White SR22 will no longer be grounded by a few clouds over his cabin on the lake in Johnstown, NY.

He and his wife will happily replace their dreaded six hour drive to NY, with a comfortable one hour flight in his Cirrus. Mark would like to thank Probir Goyal and Krish Krithivasan for all their assistance and support along the way.

A celebration toast with his favorite "Scotch" is definitely in order.

Bob Garity, CFII

The Olympics are over but there was one more American Gold Medal that deserves recognition. Ben Aranoff has been preparing for his Olympic event for several months. He has traveled weekly from Martin State, MD.to KJYO to work with his Nova Pilot coach in preparation for his "Big Event".

Last week he reached a Pinnacle of readiness, strapped on his equipment (SR20), and demonstrated to the judge, John Somiak, that he was truly a "Gold Medal" performer.

Please join us in congratulating Ben for earning his Commercial Pilot certificate. His big smile says it all.

Bob Garity, CFI

Select the color that matches your mood for the day.

We are pleased to announce the addition of two brand new SR22 Perspective+ models to the Nova pilots fleet. The break-in period is complete and they are now available to fly.

A checkout and currency in any one of these is good for all three, since the planes are nearly identical. Last year, with only one SR22, availability was an issue. We now have several pilots upgrading to the SR22, so these new aircraft couldn't have arrived at a better time.

All these planes are in hangers, warmed up and ready for you.

Have fun!

Bob Garity

JD Norman had a sales job in college working at Lindsay VW, and would occasionally see a VW rep there named Bob Garity.

Apparently the flying bug was picked up then, as JD decided he wanted to learn to fly. On the cusp of being ready to solo, Mother Nature stepped in with snow... wind, more snow... more wind.

But perseverance won out on Wednesday morning as JD was able to beat the elements and completed his 1st Solo in our SR20, Green Machine.

"Best three landings I've ever made" he said, and were really good ones by all accounts.

Please join us in congratulating JD on his 1st Solo!!

Terry Crochetiere, CFI

The results of the 2021 Annual AOPA Flight Training Experience Awards have been published, and we are delighted to announce that Nova Pilots has been selected as one of 42 flight schools nationally, and one of 7 in the Eastern Region to receive this award.

This award is based on our customer responses to an on-line survey that was conducted by AOPA a couple of months ago.

We would like to sincerely thank those individual pilots who dedicated their time and energy to complete this survey. We would also like to thank our dedicated flight instructor team who provided the outstanding instruction and interaction with their clients, which resulted in this positive and rewarding training experience.

Bob Garity

This journey started in May 2019. Dave's goal was to earn his Instrument rating in order to increase his flying opportunities in his Cirrus SR-22. Covid caused a delay in 2020, and his written exam timed out, but there was "no stopping Dave".

In spite of running his Law Firm and managing a dairy farm, Dave always made time for weekly flight lessons and solo practice.

On Saturday 12-4-21 all Dave's hard work and perseverance paid off as he demonstrated his partial panel skills with the more difficult Avidyne Avionics to DPE, John Somiak. He related the difficulty of this accomplishment to passing the Bar Exam.

Please join us in congratulating Dave on his success!!

Bob Garity, CFII

Faisal earned the honor of being the 7th in a row of successful new Instrument rated pilots over the past two months at Nova Pilots.

On November 10th Faisal demonstrated his mastery of the SR-20 G6 avionics with "one of the best ever" partial panel, hand flown, LNAV-only GPS approaches with DPE, John Somiak.

He wasted no time going from Private to Instrument, and is now stepping up to the SR-22 G6 to enhance his traveling flexibility and speed.

Sultan means "King" and Faisal definitely achieved "Royalty Status" at Nova with this accomplishment.

Congratulations Faisal !!

Bob Garity - CFII

This afternoon Debi Saba took advantage of the spectacular Fall day to escape the traffic and crowds at KJYO and fly her trusty Green Machine into the beautiful sunset to KMRB. The winds were calm, she was the only aircraft in the pattern, and her Tach was reading 777.7.

It was her destiny to complete her 1st Solo on this perfect day. After three beautiful dual landings, Debi found herself "Alone, Unarmed, and Unafraid" as she "Slipped the surly bonds of Earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings".

Congratulation Debi - Today you really rocked!!

Bob Garity, CFI

When it comes to preparing for a check ride, "Show Time", nobody does it better than Vinny. Scoring a 98% on his written makes a good 1st impression on the examiner, and makes the "oral exam" much quicker.

Having all his documents carefully laid out on the table, and all of his reference manuals tabbed, continues to impress the examiner and gives him bonus points.

Finally, in keeping with his Italian heritage, he loaded the table up with food, snacks, and beverages to ensure the examiner was well fed and hydrated. "Show Time"!!

The flight check in our SR-22 G6 was flawless, and during the RNAV 14 partial panel, hand flown approach at KJYO, John Somiak, the DPE, commented that Vinny really had "Mastery" of the Perspective Plus avionics.

Please join us in congratulating Vinny "Showtime" Velotta on his tremendous success.

Bob Garity, CFI

We normally like to recognize every pilot individually when they achieve a new rating. This month has been a whirlwind of activity for Nova pilots earning their Instrument ratings.

On October 2nd, Simone Maraini, an Italian citizen, overcame all paperwork obstacles dealing with the AFSP, to successfully demonstrate his Instrument proficiency to DPE, John Somiak, in our SR20 Green machine and then headed to Europe with a big smile.

Sam Pollard followed up on October 15th nailing the LNAV 14 at KOKV, with hand flying and partial panel on an approach he had never flown before. He is celebrating that successful Instrument Check ride by getting a tattoo of a Localizer on his forearm. That may be a first.

Finally, last Wednesday, 10-20-21, Justin White, successfully completed his Instrument Check with DPE, Mark Lowdermilk, demonstrating hios mastery of the Perspective + in our Cirrus SR22 G6. His checkride was postponed a few day due to the early arrival of a healthy new baby boy, Cooper Bryan White. Very exciting times for Justin and his wife Natalie.

Please join us in congratulating these successful new Instrument Pilots.

Bob Garity, CFII

The biggest, most exciting, and most memorable event in any aspiring new pilot's training is their !st Solo. We are proud to announce that last week TWO of our Private Pilots in training achieved this memorable and exciting step in their new flying adventures.

Gus Tome completed his first solo at KMRB on 9-24 and is anxious to complete his Private training, since he has a brand new Cirrus SR-22 being delivered in December.

Bhawesh Singh experienced the excitement of his 1st PIC flight at KOKV on 9-29. As a renowned math and science teacher, he did it all "by the numbers".

Please join us in congratulating these two new and very excited new PIC"s

Bob Garity and Probir Goyal, CFII's

Curt was fascinated by aviation as a young boy, and always wanted to learn to fly. Last year "the stars aligned" and he made the time to get his Private Pilate certificate. On a roll , he moved right on to Instrument training in January this year

After an action-packed nine months of Instrument training and some interesting Cross Country flights, Curt was awarded his instrument Rating by DPE, John Somiak, on 9-23-21. Fulfilling his dream, Curt became part owner of his very own Cirrus SR22.

You can see the enthusiasm on his face as he proudly displays his newly minted Instrument Certificate. Congratulations Curt ! Now it's time to enjoy some great adventures in your new plane.

Bob Garity - CFII

Can you complete your 1st Solo a second time? You can if you learn to fly a different "aircraft". After being a USAF glider instructor, and earning his FAA Glider license, Jamie decided to generate his own lift. He had to work on new concepts like "power", and the the ability to "go around".

Yesterday, despite extended downwind requests, 360's for spacing, and switching runways for winds, Jamie powered his way thru his first airplane solo!! He still look for "rising air", but doesn't have to depend on it to climb.

Congratulations Jamie!!

Terry Crochetiere, CFI

Tom Geyer is an enthusiastic pilot who enjoys flying his plane to interesting and exotic places with his wife Denise. He has accumulated nearly 500 hours, but never had the time to pursue his Instrument rating due to family and work obligations.

He realized the additional flexibility and safety an instrument ticket would add, and this year he made a resolution to get it done. Once he got started he was like a "kid in a candy store", and wondered why he hadn't done this sooner.

On Saturday Tom demonstrated his newly acquired skills and knowledge to DPE, John Somiak, and proudly added his new rating.

Please join us in congratulation John as he and his wife depart for many new and exciting destinations without having to worry about a few clouds moving in.

Bob Garity, CFII