Chief Flight Instructor Cathleen Steele flies with student pilot Frank Hellwig, who is taking additional classes at Chesapeake ProFlight.

     Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) isn’t just for massive Boeing 747s or take offs and landings from experienced commercial pilots.

     The growing airport is also home to Chesapeake ProFlight, a Baltimore-based flight school that teaches students to fly.

     “The major advantage for our location at BWI is that a pilot will learn to fly in and out of a major, international airport and will learn early in their training to be able to communicate in a professional fashion with all of the air traffic control facilities,” said Cathleen Steele, chief flight instructor for the school.

     “We use a smaller general aviation runway, therefore we never interfere nor have to wait or mix with the airline traffic,” she said.

     It’s uncommon for a flight school to be located at an international airport, Steele said. “But the physical setup of BWI enables this to happen and our control tower is very cooperative with our operation.”

     ProFlight uses the same control tower and air traffic control system as the major airlines.

     The flight school — which has 16 aircraft in its fleet — is an FAA Part 141 accredited flight training facility, which means the school uses a structured syllabus for training, Steele said.

     The syllabus is designed to cover all requirements for various pilot licenses within a certain time frame. The school has three distinct divisions dedicated to the U.S. Naval Academy, career and civilian pilots.

     Typically, it takes students between 60 to 80 hours of flying to complete private pilot training, Steele said.

     The school, which was started in Easton about six years ago, moved to its current location

in 2002.

     Up until two years ago, the flight school worked primarily with the Naval Academy, Steele said. At that time, about 90 percent of the school’s business

came from midshipmen.

     This changed when the school’s current owner, Robert Wiedefeld, purchased it in 2004. Wiedefeld, a businessman for more than 35 years, has turned his attention to promoting the school to the public.

     Along with focusing on the school’s career and civilian divisions, Wiedefeld has made several other changes to the school, including hiring a full-time staff of eight instructors and updating the school’s fleet of aircraft, Steele said.

     The school still provides introductory flight screening for midshipmen who have chosen aviation as their service-selection plan.

     In addition, the ProFlight career division is designed to offer students the opportunity to maintain a private license, a commercial license and an instructor license. This division is primarily geared toward students interested in obtaining a career as a corporate or airline pilot. The civilian division is dedicated to students interested in pursuing various pilot ratings at their own leisure. Most people in this category are professional adults.

     Currently, about 50 percent of the school’s business is devoted to the Navy and the other 50 percent is career and civilian pilots, Steele said.

     “Our goal is to make the Naval Academy about one-third of our business and the two-thirds to be civilian,” she said.

     Richard Hess, who recently received his instructor’s license from Chesapeake Proflight, is retired from the Navy after flying aircraft carriers for 20 years.

     “After I retired I wanted to get back into aviation and perhaps mentor young pilots going into the Navy,” Hess said. “I looked all over for a flight school and since Chesapeake Proflight was in the area and deals with midshipmen, I decided it was the best place for me.”

     Currently, the school has about 175 student pilots.

     “When they come here, no one has any previous experience,” Steele said.

     While the goal of most students is to get their licenses, Steele estimates that about one-third of them do not follow through to become pilots.

     “People really don’t realize the study and discipline that goes along with the requirements,” she said. “I find that it is more likely to be the younger people that end up not following through.”

     Steele, who has been flying for 16 years and has flown about 6,500 total hours, did not start taking lessons until she was in her 40s.

     “Most of us don’t have the time and resources until we are in our 40s or so,” she said.

     This was the case for Frank Hellwig, who received his private pilot license from Chesapeake Proflight.

     “I waited to go to flight school because of the financial obligation, as well as the time aspect,” he said.

     The average cost to complete private pilot training is $7,500.

     Now, Hellwig, 45, flies all over the East Coast with his girlfriend and his two children. He even bought a plane, which he keeps at Chesapeake Proflight.

     “It’s like night and day being able to fly your own plane instead of flying commercially,” he said. “You don’t have to deal with lines. It is often cheaper and you can fly out of so many more airports.”

     Hellwig is still taking classes to obtain an instrument rating, which would allow him to fly in poor weather using only instruments.

     The school’s size and offerings are growing as “aviation is growing by leaps and bounds,” Steele said.

     “Our growth plan is to continue to build our civilian and career program and to add technically advanced aircraft to our fleet,” she said.

     “Corporate pilots and charter pilots are needed more and more and there are a lot of avenues out there for career pilots besides the airlines,” she said. “Not to mention, there are people who enjoy flying leisurely and then there are people like myself that make their livings as flight instructors.” ::

     Kara McAndrew is a freelance writer in Silver Spring, Md.

     Photos by Marilyn DiMarco