More than Just a Flight School, XL Aviation is a Community
XL Aviation offers ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) training. Experience ACM in the world’s most maneuverable aircraft while putting your aerobatic skills to the test. The training program combines everything on their flight training menu. It’ll expand and improve your situational awareness and response skills. Instructors tailor XL’s ACM sorties for all levels of pilot expertise by military combat trained CFI’s. Come experience aerobatic flight! (Photo courtesy XL Aviation)
Ops Manager Anna Zavrazhnova in the XL Hangar. XL Aviation offers ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) training. Experience ACM in the world’s most maneuver- able aircraft while putting your aerobatic skills to the test. The training program combines everything on their flight training menu. It’ll expand and improve your situational awareness and response skills. Instructors tailor XL’s ACM sorties for all levels of pilot expertise by military combat trained CFI’s. Come experience aerobatic flight! (Courtesy Annamarie Buonocore)
In Flight USA recently had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Zavrazhnova, the ops manager at XL Aviation in Livermore, Calif. Anna is a very accomplished pilot, especially since she started her training under difficult circumstances in Russia. She came to the U.S. and completed her training, while learning English, and now sees XL Aviation as her second home. XL’s mission is to train pilots to be better and safer in the air and on the ground. Their fleet of aircraft and expert flight instructors provide exactly what you need, and meet you where you are in your training, even if you started your training in another country and are learning English, like Anna. They offer flight training in aerobatics, onset upset recovery, and air combat maneuvering. Also, they offer solo aircraft rentals and aircraft type certifications at all levels.
IFUSA: The first question I have for you today is tell me a little bit about yourself and why you wanted to come here to the USA to learn to fly?
Anna: I’m originally from Russia and I started to fly in Russia but it was very complicated. It is very corrupt. I had to work three jobs to be able to fly just 20 minutes per week. I couldn’t get my license there. In Russia, you have to be in a school that is approved, like an FAA-approved school here, but there are less then 10 in the entire country and you have to pay a lot of money to get the license. It just so complicated and there wasn’t a school I could go to so I was in a club, not any kind of regulatory approved school, but just a flight club where I couldn’t get a license legally. I came here with my husband. If it wasn’t for flying, I would have never thought of leaving Russia. I have my family and my friends there but when my husband said we should think about coming to the U.S., I thought about flying and I agreed. When I came to say bye to my Russian instructor Georgij Kaminski, the honored coach of the Russian aerobatic team, who won multiple World and European aerobatic championships, he said I’m doing the right thing because everything is only getting worse in Russia.
IFUSA: Does your husband also fly
Anna: No, he’s an IT guy. He came here because the Silicon Valley is a good place for him to be.
IFUSA: What made you chose XL Aviation in Livermore as your flight school?
Anna: I started with another school but I didn’t really like it. It was also kind of expensive. Then I found a Facebook page, “Russian pilots of Bay area,” and I asked some questions there about flight training. Someone introduced me to an instructor that works here at XL and he’s a very good instructor. I got my license with him.
Our first introductory lesson with him was in a Decathlon. I really like aerobatics and I always wanted to fly aerobatics. We went up in the Decathlon and I enjoyed flying with him. Then I did my training in a Cessna and got my license in about a year. I was working on my instrument rating but quit for a little while to do some aerobatics and I went to my first competition in Coalinga (central Calif.) and placed second. And then I started my instrument training again. So now I’m doing both, instrument and aerobatics.
IFUSA: That’s what is so great about this school. They do a lot of aerobatic training and they have access to those kinds of planes. Is aerobatics your favorite kind of flying?
Anna: Oh yes, this is my favorite kind of flying. My favorite plane is Pitts. They are fun to fly and hard to land and it was hard for me to get checked out in it. The Decathlon is pretty easy to land but hard to fly aerobatics with huge wings and little ailerons. You have to be pretty good to fly them well. Pitts is more sporty, more sensitive.
IFUSA: Does your instructor still work here at XL
Anna: Yes, he still works here. He works here full-time and he’s very busy. I brought all my Russian friends here. They all fly with him. He also has the TSA “Permission to Initiate Training,” regulations papers. When you’re a foreign student, you have to get the TSA permission for flight training. If you’re an instructor you have to apply for this and he has the formal knowledge and ability to train foreign students. We actually have a lot of people from all over the world here at XL, Russian students, students from India and many other countries.
IFUSA: Do you want to make aviation your full-time occupation and career?
Anna: I always wanted to fly. It was my dream from my childhood. My great-grandpa was a World War II pilot. I want to get my commercial license and maybe instruct here as a CFI. I never wanted to fly for the airlines but I enjoy recreational flying, especially aerobatics.
IFUSA: You mentioned you were already in a competition last year. Tell me more about that.
Anna: Yes, I was in Coalinga last year and got second place and then I was in Tracy (Northern Calif.) this year and I moved up to Sportsman (category) and I placed ninth. I didn’t train well or as much as I wanted before this competition. I’m hoping to be training more and to get better results. I’m planning to go to Redlands for another competition. I hope to do better. We have a lot of planes here so we can train and compete in those.
IFUSA: What advice would you give to aspiring pilots and people who want to learn how to fly?
Anna: I want to say don’t give up. It was very hard for me. When I started to fly, I didn’t have much time and money. I was working immigrant jobs, like babysitting, and I didn’t speak English very well. When I first started, I didn’t understand a single word my instructor was saying to me. My instructor would say, “you’re not understanding anything, you can’t get a license.” But I did start to understand and I did learn and I got my license in a year… not too bad! And during that time, I had to take some breaks because of the fires in California. So don’t give up. You can do it!
IFUSA: Why would you recommend XL, what sets it apart?
Anna: Its special. The atmosphere is different here. I was in other schools and they were about business, you get your papers and you go to the hangar. You never see a mechanic. But here, we’re all in one place. You see the owners and you see mechanics. The receptionist is here in the hangar. There was a student who came here because he failed his oral exam. He was asked about engines and so he was frustrated because he never met a mechanic at his old school. He felt he needed to know more about engines. Here, I was standing right there with the mechanic and he was changing oil and so I just asked him about it. He could explain everything.
This atmosphere here is like in a community and a family. In a big flight school, pilots just don’t get to know each other. Everybody knows everybody here. John (Degennaro) is the Chief Pilot and he has flown in international aerobatic competitions and airshows with Sean Tucker. He loves to fly a Pitts and now he’s an airline captain and teaches aerobatics here. Allan (Crabill), Lynzie (Hudson), Cam Koutz, Mike Becker, Clint Beacham are great XL instructors with tens-of-thousands of hours teaching flight. Mike (Henderson), the owner, is always helping people. He believes in me and always supported me. He even gave me a block of hours to prepare for my first competition. He does that with many of us. He helped Cameron (Koutz) to get his CFI and now Cameron is instructing here. He helps all people who need it.
What else is very good here in the U.S., you have scholarships and the FAA and people want to help. In Russia, it’s not like that. They just want your money. Here, safety is very important. And I would like to add that everyone here, the instructors and the mechanics are very good. They are experienced and they want to keep safety as a top priority.
IFUSA: Is the school good about bringing women into aviation?
Anna: We have numerous female instructors here, Lynzie (Hudson) and others and of course many female pilots at all levels including aerobatics. We have one girl who got her private license in a Decathlon, in a tail wheel, and then she got her commercial license in a twin, in a Barron, and then single-engine add in a Pitts. She’s pretty impressive and flies a lot. We have families, and we have people who come with their kids and their dogs. The kids get to watch and fly cool planes. It’s a great community.
IFUSA: XL is an impressive school. Thank you so much for your time.
Learn more about XL Aviation at xlaviationtailwheel.com.
