Taking flight at Elon aviation
The latest addition to the Triad’s aircraft industry, Elon Aviation, looks to get more would-be pilots into the air and capitalize on growing local demand. After longtime FAA-certified flight instructor Chris Whittle struck out on his own to launch the business last December, the startup has already expanded in hiring another instructor and is considering adding two more planes to its current couple-sized fleet. Calling his biggest challenge “the fear of stepping out into the unknown,” Whittle has sold about a half-dozen students on his personal flying philosophy, which requires singular focus, then drilling and drilling until a maneuver is mastered. One of them, Raleigh resident Joe Clarke, pegged the cost of obtaining his FAA-certified private pilot’s license at $8,000 — $1,000 more than Whittle estimated for an average price tag of $8,000.
