Fly Through
Any Weather

Modern Glass. Real Steam Gauges.
Complete Instrument Training.

Most instrument students train exclusively on glass and never develop a real feel for partial-panel flying or raw VOR navigation. N8877E is set up differently — a full glass cockpit for how modern IFR is actually flown today, plus a working steam-gauge VOR so you build the fundamental skills that make you safe when the screens go dark.

Modern Glass Cockpit

Dynon SkyView HDX + Garmin GTN 650

WAAS GPS with full LPV approach capability, synthetic vision, integrated traffic and weather, and an EFIS that mirrors what you'll see in modern training and charter aircraft. You'll fly real RNAV, ILS, and VOR approaches exactly as they're flown in the field today.

WAAS GPS LPV Approaches Synthetic Vision ADS-B Traffic & Wx

Steam Gauge VOR

Working VOR for Fundamental Skills

A functioning steam-gauge VOR receiver means you'll learn to track radials, intercept courses, and hold without relying entirely on a moving map. This is the foundational skill set examiners expect — and it's what separates pilots who understand instrument flying from pilots who just follow a magenta line.

VOR Tracking Partial Panel Raw Data Navigation Backup Instruments

Real IFR Flying, Not Just Hood Time

A lot of instrument training happens entirely under a view-limiting device on clear days — technically legal, but it doesn't prepare you for actual weather. Alex builds real IMC and marginal-weather flights into your training whenever conditions safely allow, so you finish the rating having actually flown in clouds, not just simulated them.

🌫️

Actual IMC Flights

The Bay Area's marine layer provides genuine instrument conditions throughout the year — a built-in training advantage most flight schools don't have.

📡

Real ATC & Approach Control

You'll work with NorCal Approach and file real IFR flight plans — not simulated ATC. By your checkride, talking to controllers under IFR will feel routine.

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Cross-Country IFR Flights

Beyond local approaches, you'll fly actual IFR cross-countries — filing, briefing, and executing a full IFR flight from departure to destination.

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Real Weather Decision-Making

Go/no-go calls, alternate planning, and personal minimums — taught against real forecasts and real conditions, not hypotheticals.

🎯

Checkride-Ready by Design

Training is built around the ACS standards examiners actually test — not a generic syllabus. Alex has a 100% first-attempt checkride pass rate across his own students.

FAA Instrument Rating Requirements

Per 14 CFR § 61.65, here's what's required to add an instrument rating to your existing pilot certificate:

Source: 14 CFR § 61.65 — Instrument rating requirements. Most students exceed these minimums; the national average is closer to 60–65 total hours before checkride readiness. Alex builds a plan around your pace, not just the regulatory floor.

Instrument Rating Pricing

Most instrument students already have cross-country time from private pilot training. If you need to build additional PIC cross-country hours, special time-building rates are available — ask Alex for current pricing. Actual cost depends on your starting experience and pace of training.

Trained by a CFII Who Knows the Standards

Alex Fagan is a Bay Area native and FAA Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument (CFII) based at Palo Alto Airport. He knows several Designated Pilot Examiners across Northern California personally and trains his students directly against the ACS standards they test to — every one of his students has passed their checkride on the first attempt.

That track record isn't an accident. Alex builds each student's training around real IFR flying — actual weather, real ATC, genuine cross-countries — so the checkride feels like just another flight, not a high-stakes performance.

FAA Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument (CFII)

Personally acquainted with multiple Northern California DPEs

100% first-attempt checkride pass rate

500+ hours of dual instruction given

Trains in actual IMC whenever conditions safely allow

Glass panel + steam VOR aircraft for complete instrument training