Bob Hoover Academy

Having completed our eighth year of public-private partnership with the monterey county office of education (mcoe), 2022 has been a year of growth for the Bob Hoover Academy. We moved into our brand new campus, expanded our aircraft training fleet, meanwhile recruiting and growing our student population size beyond the single classroom that we have traditionally occupied. Throughout these major changes, we sustained a high level of aviation education and training using all our donated resources.after two years of planning, design, and construction, 2022 brought the grand opening of the brand new mcoe/bha campus at the salinas airport. On august 4, 2022, returning and new students were welcomed to the new learning center of 2 classrooms, 2 faculty/staff offices, a simulator room, and hangar space for up to 4 small aircraft along with our aircraft maintenance training area. The efficiency and effectiveness of having all functions under one roof and steps away from one another helps deliver the best education and training to our students.2022 statistics: 24 students, 272.7 plane hours, 240 flights flown, 1 solo flights, 95 simulator hours, 121 simulator flights, and 530.3 volunteer hours. Aircraft and simulator training:bha continues its core mission of inspiring student learning through the power of flight. 2022 saw a three-times-increase in simulator usage (121 simulator flights as compared to 41 the previous year) thanks to an updated training and learning curriculum that incorporates simulator training to complement aircraft flights. Though not depicted above, this resulted in a savings of approximately 50 aircraft flights that would otherwise have been flown, for the same number of students served in 2021 and 2022, for a cost savings value of $8,250.meanwhile, in late 2022 a very generous donor gifted bha with a 2010 diamond aircraft da-40 xls 4-seater, valued at over $425,000. In 2023, this aircraft will add high training value due to its increased seating capacity. Student observers can sit in the back seat and learn all aspects of flying during training flights. Bha continues to innovate training methods for increased learning and decreased costs through the smart use of donated training equipment and volunteer mentoring time.volunteers: as mentioned previously, our simulator flights have increased significantly, and it is our volunteer mentor force that helped us meet that demand through their cost-free instruction. Their 119.3 hours of simulator instruction essentially carried the entire teaching load of the 121 simulator flights flown by our students. This equates to a cost savings of $7,158 through free instruction. Aopa high school stem curriculum:mcoe continues to teach the aircraft owner and pilots association (aopa) high school stem curriculum during the latter half of the school day. In early 2023 bha will reassess the value of using this curriculum as it does not serve as a student pilot ground school. Student pilot ground school:during the summer break, our volunteer flight instructor and chief pilot taught a trial preparatory ground school course for students to prepare for the faa private pilot written exam. This intensive course built a strong foundation for our student pilots, and highlighted the need to have such instruction during the school year as we receive new students.introduction to aviation maintenance:also introduced in the summer was an introductory maintenance intensive in which students were introduced to aviation maintenance practices. This subject proved to be a success and was incorporated into the school day afternoon period.