Meet the Members: Jason Meadows

Jason Meadows – FWFC Board Member, Flying Member/Club Instructor – Commercial ASEL, ATP AMEL, CFI, AGI, IGI

My path in aviation started at an early age, while still strapped to a car seat my dad and Grandfather would hold me up to the sky anytime a plane passed overhead. My grandfather would often take me to the airport to “help” him with aircraft maintenance and inspections. These trips to the airport would usually end up with a short flight, me seated on a stack of phone books barely being able to see out the side windows… yes, times have changed… don’t try that today.

From there, I went on to discover the hobby of RC airplanes which I still enjoy to this day. While in high school I completed my first solo flight, and soon after I completed my Private Pilot certificate and Instrument rating at Oklahoma State University. Sometime in those four years, I was introduced to the Hinshaw flying club, which later became the Fort Worth Flying Club. While out on break during the school year, my good friend and fellow FWFC member, James Smith and I would fly the clubs Cessna 150. We enjoyed taking it to just about every airport in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to include Dallas-Love, Addison, and even Carswell (KNFW) when they used to allow touch and goes. We also did all the usual fly-ins, and cross-country flights you would expect from a flying club.

In 2016 I graduated from OSU with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Administration and operations. In the years after graduating, I used an airplane to propose to my now wife of 7 years, I earned my commercial single engine and multi engine, Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI), and even used the Fort Worth Flying Club to earn my Certified Flight Instructor certificate.  I spent 3 years instructing through FWFC, while also serving as a club officer in the position of Secretary. It was a great experience and lead to a lot of friendships being formed.

I left instructing as so many other instructors do and followed the path to the regional airlines, where I earned an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate. After a year serving as First Officer onboard the CRJ-900, I decided that instructing was what I had a passion for. I left the Airlines and started Pathway Aviation, where I serve as an independent flight instructor through FWFC, helping others find their path in the aviation industry.

Getting involved with the club again, I found myself named the 2024 FWFC President… Though it was a lot of work, I worked along a great team of people and was again serving the flying club that helped me along my own path in aviation. The members are great, with such as variety of people and backgrounds and Meacham Airport is resourceful, with its large runways, awesome tower controllers, and multiple FBOs with plenty of ramp space and people to help out. It’s been amazing to see where the club started and how it has grown into the large flying organization it is today.

Of the many experiences I’ve had while with the club, my favorite has been taking my daughter and wife flying each year to view Christmas lights from above. My daughter, much like me has in a way been forced into the world of aviation but only time will tell, if she decides to pursue the path as I did.

I now serve the club from a seat on the Board of Directors for the Fort Worth Flying Club. I do plan to return to the world of the airlines in the near future, but plan to remain active in the General Aviation community through my membership in the Fort Worth Flying Club.