Flight school changes name to reflect new vision

Lake County: Lakeport flight school owners Gary Trippeer and Nancy Brier want to help international flight students like Aneesh Mullacheri earn their wings. The 18-year-old from India completed the first critical step to becoming a commercial pilot last week when he earned his private pilot license at the couple’s expense.
“I am ready to do anything to continue and get done, but I don’t know what to do,” Mullacheri said.
After they became familiar with Mullacheri’s plight, Solo Flight School in Lakeport is changing its name to Solo Flight Academy International to reflect its new vision. The flight school partnered in November with Santa Rosa Junior College to offer international students a level of pilot training that will satisfy visa requirements.
“This will allow international students to apply to Santa Rosa for the aviation program and stay in the country with an F-1 visa, which is like the Holy Grail of visas, because it is an academically based visa,” Trippeer said.
Four of Mullacheri’s friends visited the Lakeport school Wednesday, and said they wanted to start before the year is done. They were among the group of approximately 100 international students affected when ASA closed. Since then, they and others wealthier than Mullacheri re-enrolled in other Bay Area flight schools, but Trippeer said the availability of pilot training resources is not keeping up with the demand.
According to Trippeer, the highest demand comes from India and China, but more Asian countries are sending students overseas for pilot training to meet the demands of their growing commercial flight industries. Once Mullacheri gets his commercial license, he said he can earn between $8,000 and $10,000 monthly in India flying an Airbus 320.
Mullacheri’s visa expires in February. The American School of Aviation (ASA) in Atwater folded after he had paid $38,000 upfront for commercial pilot training. Mullacheri has to prove financial stability in order to get a new visa. With his money gone, Mullacheri said his chances of being able to come back to America to finish his training are slim and none. Brier said she is working with Congressman Mike Thompson’s office to get an extension on the visa.
04/12/08 Tiffany Revelle/Lake County Record-Bee, USA