The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Foundation announced the regional winners of its 2026 Flight Training Experience Awards, recognizing outstanding flight schools and flight instructors across the United States.
The awards are based on feedback received from thousands of student pilots, newly certificated pilots, and pilots completing flight reviews or pursuing advanced certificates or ratings. Many reviewers praised not only the quality of instruction they received, but also the encouragement, support, and sense of community fostered by these flight schools and instructors.
“Learning to fly an airplane or earn additional certificates and ratings is challenging,” said AOPA Foundation Senior Director of Flight Training Education Chris Moser. “We’re proud to not only present awards to flight schools and instructors who do a fantastic job providing this training, but to recognize those who go above and beyond. For example, it’s not uncommon to hear about instructors and schools helping students arrange transportation or housing, and ensuring they have the resources needed to stay on track with their training.”
Six flight schools and six individual flight instructors were selected as regional winners for 2026. From among these regional honorees, one flight school and one flight instructor will be named national winners at Redbird Migration, which will be held at the Aerospace Center for Excellence in Lakeland, Florida, on March 3-4.
Regional Winners
- Flight Schools
- Central Southern | Neu Aviation | Benton, Louisiana
- Eastern | Nova Pilots | Leesburg, Virginia
- Great Lakes | Moore Aviation, Inc. | Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
- Pacific | Mike Smith Aviation International, Inc. | Napa, California
- Southern | Centennial Aviation Academy | Atlanta, Georgia
- Western | Sierra Charlie Aviation | Scottsdale, Arizona
- Flight Instructors
- Central Southern | Ty Ashe (JKA, LLC; KAUO) | Notasulga, Alabama
- Eastern | Grayson Bertaina (FlyHdg360 LLC; KFIT) | Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Great Lakes | Sydney Pilling (Illinois Aviation Academy/Spartan Education Group; KDPA) | Third Lake, Illinois
- Pacific | Austin Smith (ATP Flight School; KCMA) | Newbury Park, California
- Southern | Tiziano Bernard (Savannah Aviation; KLHW) | Pooler, Georgia
- Western | Andrew Hamouda (Leopard Aviation; KFFZ) | Scottsdale, Arizona
See the full list of award winners here.
