Meet the Members: Jon Connelly

Jon Connelly – Private Pilot with ~300 hours FWFC Club member for 2 years

I did my initial flight training and earned a private “ticket” in 1998 at Elmdale Airpark, a small airport in Abilene, TX. For the next 3 years, I flew most of my (accumulated) 300 hours around west Texas with multiple cross-country trips; all within Texas. To say the least, the west Texas skies were not too busy. As well, aviating was a lot different since GPS was just being added to the experience.

After moving to Fort Worth, work and “life” took most of my time and I laid off from flying for nearly 18 years. I did fly intermittent flights at Hicks and Spinks – mostly just to keep a little activity going. Now, at the age of 71, I have the time and money to get back into flying and have purchased a nice C172 – in which I am still working at getting checked out. I initially joined another smaller flying club to “get back in the air” and, while I’m not actively flying with them, I do maintain a membership.

I heard about the Fort Worth Flying Club (FWFC) from a CFI I had been flying with and decided to check them out. What I found was – a larger very active club with more opportunity for diversity of aircraft and a good cadre of instructors. From, my attendance at the first monthly meeting with the Fort Worth Flying Club, I learned that this club was a very well organized 501C3 with the obvious goal of providing good aircraft (and more diversity) for members to enjoy both recreationally and for the purpose of training new pilots.

The club welcomes newcomers with interest and enthusiasm as to the individuals’ stated goals for joining the Club. All the members are friendly, and each is interested in the shared goal of being in the air – safely. As for their organization, at each monthly meeting, the Club officers present the Club financial, technical, safety, and mechanical updates to keep the membership well-informed of the status of the Club’s health, the planes’ status, and any relevant flying information that would be helpful to the many pilots.

Fort Worth Flying Club is a good investment and great environment for anyone interested in taking up flying for – either, leisure or to take the first step on a career path in aviation.