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Fly Around Arkansas has put three new training airplanes into service at Baxter County Airport and moved them into a hangar built for the school.
The purchase comes as the flight school finishes its second year at the Midway airport, according to an announcement the school issued Aug. 6. Artic Wikle started the business 28 years ago at the municipal airport in Palmer, Alaska, and Don Hammond joined him later. The two opened the Baxter County location in 2024.
Better flying weather in the Twin Lakes area and closer access to students drove the expansion, the school said. Operations have grown steadily since the move.
Hammond, pointing to the company sign outside the school’s offices in the airport terminal building, said the owners are invested in the area.
“We are so pleased to be here in the Mountain Home area,” he said. “We have bought homes and relocated our families to grow our business along with the local economy.”
All three airplanes are Tecnam models, including the Astore and the Sierra. The Italian manufacturer is one of Europe’s largest builders of piston-engine aircraft.
Most trainers flown in the United States are based on designs that are decades old. Tecnam builds its planes with composite materials, modern avionics and an emphasis on fuel efficiency and low operating costs.
The school staffs a group of full-time FAA certified flight instructors and adds part-time CFIs as needed. Each instructor can be assigned directly to a student, which the school says keeps training schedules consistent and shortens the time it takes to earn a rating.
All instructors have at least 400 hours of flight time and keep their recent flight experience requirements current.
The instructor group includes women and men. About 9% of certified flight instructors nationwide are women, and women make up roughly 16% of active student pilots, figures the school cited in announcing the expansion. The school said both numbers are climbing and that the trend shows how open aviation careers have become to anyone willing to train for them.
Fly Around Arkansas offers accelerated instruction at every level, from sport pilot through the ratings a pilot needs to reach an airline transport certificate.
The sport license is the entry point. It requires only a valid driver’s license to meet FAA medical rules, and it limits pilots to simpler aircraft, uncongested airspace and one passenger.
Pilots who want more privileges and who pass the FAA physical exam can train toward a private pilot license, a commercial license and a flight instructor certificate. An instrument rating, which allows flight in clouds, is usually added along the way.
An airline transport pilot certificate sits at the top of that ladder. It requires 1,500 hours of total flight time and completion of a formal airline-level training program.
Students planning a flying career typically buy the school’s full Professional Pilot Program, which runs from private through commercial pilot and costs $69,665.
Add-on training for other FAA ratings costs between $6,250 and $9,350. Those ratings include certified flight instructor, instrument instructor, multi-engine pilot and multi-engine instructor.
The prices cover both aircraft time and instructor time and were current as of July, the school said. They can change with fuel, maintenance, taxes and payroll costs.
Certificated pilots who want to fly the airplanes without enrolling in a program will have to wait. The school plans to offer the aircraft for rental but has not set rates.
The school expects rentals to run about $210 per flight hour. Instructors would be available at $75 an hour for the checkout flight a renter needs before flying an unfamiliar type.
More information is available in the lobby of the Baxter County Airport terminal building at 6462 Highway 126 near Midway, or from Gerald Gaige at 870-656-6005.
