0000ZUTC

About us

Fifteen years in the making

What we've always wanted to do for pilots, technology now lets us do for every one of them.

Our story

What we proved by hand, we can now deliver at scale

It started in 2011, when Rich Stowell moderated the curricula panel at SAFE's Pilot Training Reform Symposium. The question on the table: why does flight training look the way it did decades ago? A year later, Rich and Billy helped deliver the Pilot Proficiency Project at EAA AirVenture, where 716 pilots learned on the ground and practiced in a simulator before they flew.

Billy began leading proficiency programs in 2014 and founded Community Aviation in 2015. We built simulator scenarios for EAA's Pilot Proficiency Center, then led its training program, growing it from one volunteer instructor to 78. When AirVenture was canceled in 2020, we took the training online. Along the way we built a network of hundreds of accomplished instructors and a community of 5,500 pilots.

The method worked. What we couldn't do was reach every pilot, every day, with an expert who knew their history. By hand, it was one instructor, one pilot, one event at a time.

Technology changed that. An expert-built Knowledge Library, a record that stays with the pilot, and AI that works alongside instructors now let us deliver what we always wanted: training that builds on everything a pilot has learned, for a lifetime of flying.

  1. 2011SAFE Pilot Training Reform Symposium
  2. 2012Pilot Proficiency Project at AirVenture, 716 pilots
  3. 2014Proficiency programs begin
  4. 2015Community Aviation founded
  5. 2020Proficiency training delivered remotely
  6. 2021Learn to Turn, with Avemco and Hartzell
  7. 2022The Nine Principles of Light Airplane Flying published
  8. 2024Experiment in Optimal Learning, 166 participants
  9. 2026Learn-Do-Fly Training Standard formalized

Team

Pilots, instructors and builders, with roots in general aviation and technology.

Billy Winburn

Billy Winburn in

Founder & CEO

Instrument-rated private pilot with about 1,200 hours. Start-up builder with deep relationships across general aviation. Has led proficiency programs since 2014, including the EAA Pilot Proficiency Center at AirVenture, which he grew from one volunteer instructor to 78.

Rich Stowell

Rich Stowell in

Co-founder & Chief Learning Officer

8× Master CFI-Aerobatics, 2006 National Flight Instructor of the Year, 2014 FAASTeam Rep of the Year, SAFE Charter and Life Member. Author of the Learn-Do-Fly Training Standard. Flying since 1982, full-time instructor since 1987, specializing in spin, emergency maneuver, and aerobatic training. 10,200 hours flown, 9,100 hours of instruction given, 34,700 spins, 25,700 landings.

Tim Delhaes

Tim Delhaes in

Co-founder & Head of Product Development and Technology

Serial tech entrepreneur and operator in SaaS and crypto, and a programmer since the Commodore 64. Leads system architecture and engineering, and runs product development day to day.

Martijn van Hoek

Martijn van Hoek

Sales

Entrepreneurial background in technology, media, and growth strategy, having built and scaled companies internationally. Focuses on partnerships, positioning, and turning innovative ideas into sustainable aviation businesses.

Jason Archer

Jason Archer

Curriculum, Master CFI (part-time)

Director of the Glastonbury Planetarium and Chief Flight Instructor for Berkshire Aviation. Over 5,000 flight hours and nearly 4,000 hours of dual instruction given, across more than 30 aircraft models. Holds CFI-I, MEI, G, SES, AGI, and IGI certificates.

Also on the team: Leonardo, Joe, Egor and Gilberto.

Supported by

Avemco Insurance Company

Avemco sponsors our work and offers pilots up to 10% off their premiums for completing our training.

Blackstar Flight Simulation

Blackstar Flight Simulation builds flight training devices designed as a complete training ecosystem.

Built by fellow pilots

Want to fly with us? Get early access →