Case Studies

Case Study 1

Liberty University

Liberty University is having tremendous success with TakeFlight, training 200 on-campus flight students each year. Students master skills at their own pace and style without a flight instructor present.

"TakeFlight is amazing because the artificial intelligence instructor is in there actually teaching you how to fly — how to start, how to taxi, how to take off, how to circle, climb, descend, turn — with no human interaction. As you are flying, it's talking to you, telling you what to do, giving you feedback, and you go through multiple lessons and you get graded on it based on the FAA standards. Students can come in here and practice as much as they want to get good at it, and they do this before they ever hit a big sim, a flight instructor, or the airplane."

Kevin "Sling" Martin, CFI, CFII, S-MR
Director, Technology and Innovations | Adjunct Professor, Liberty University School of Aeronautics

Case Study 2

University of North Dakota Research

A recent study from the University of North Dakota using our Private Pilot courseware proves the efficacy of an AI-based versus a human flight instructor. Notable quotes from that study include:

"When considering the transfer effectiveness of an artificial intelligence-based simulator pre-training program on the total flight hours realized by initial student pilots in the Private Pilot curriculum, the TER was 0.34 for student pilots who conducted simulator pre-training. This ratio indicates that for each 10 hours of simulator pre-training, flight training time is reduced by 3.4 hours, on average."

"The results showed that students who conducted the pre-training lessons took fewer calendar days to complete the pre-solo block, required fewer hours in the airplane, and required fewer ground training hours. The findings show a comparable level of transfer effectiveness in utilizing a human flight instructor versus an artificial intelligence-based flight instructor."

You can view the research here — find information specific to TakeFlight in Study 3: "Quantifying The Transfer Effectiveness Of An Artificial Intelligence-Based Simulator Pre-Training Program For Student Pilots," page 74.

Case Study 3

EAA Chapter 66 Ray Scholar, Jabari Brown

EAA Chapter 66 in Ft. Myers, Florida has graduated their second Ray Scholar at 40 hours Private Pilot completion in two years. Jabari Brown completed his check ride at Flight Fast Track in Punta Gorda after only 4 weeks and 40 hours of training — a great accomplishment when the national average is 60–80 hours.

"I used my TakeFlight Academy subscription regularly before I received my Ray Scholarship. It was a huge part of my developing understanding of flight maneuvers and procedures, and precise control of the airplane. When I began at Flight Fast Track, I already had a significant understanding of how to fly and was very confident. In fact, my instructor didn't even touch the controls of the airplane for the first 15 hours."

Jabari Brown, EAA Chapter 66 Ray Scholar

"We are thrilled that we've been able to provide these capabilities to Jabari and our other aviation hopefuls. Jabari is heading to American Airlines flight training in Dallas; we're sure he's going to make them as proud as he's made us."

Steve Gagnon, President of EAA 66 Ft. Myers