Volume 7, Issue 9 | September 2024

New Class Begins at CVG Part 147 School

Our second class of aircraft mechanic students at our Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport campus started last month. The school is humming under the leadership of its new director, Terry Dunaway, whose years of experience bring tremendous value to Epic’s team. 

New classes will begin at both of our AMT schools on October 14, 2024. We invite you to prequalify if you’d like to earn your FAA-approved aircraft mechanic certificate. If you have questions, stop by one of our upcoming Open House events for a tour.

New Flight Students in August

Smiling faces! Welcome to these New Smyrna Beach flight students who arrived last month. We also welcomed students to our other campuses and are looking forward to welcoming more new students in September!

Epic Alumni News: Career Updates

Our graduates just keep on achieving even after they leave us! We’re so proud to share these career updates. 

• Wade Fuller, First Officer flying the Embraer Phenom 300e for TransMedics, Inc.
• Jack Durrani, First Officer, recently earned his A220 type rating at Breeze Airways
• Kevin Gagne, First Officer flying the Cessna Caravan for Southern Airways Express
• Christian Harper, First Officer flying the Amphibious K100 for Acadian Seaplanes
• Pierre Carrel, First Officer flying the A320 for Air Côte d’Ivoire
• Jack Goebel, Line AMT at Delta Air Lines
• Anthony Vitale, First Officer flying the Cessna 208 for Southern Airways Express
• Aditya Jung Karki, First Officer DHC8-Q400 for Shree Airlines in Nepal
• Sotiseth Eng, First Officer flying the A320/321 for Cambodia Angkor Air, the national flag carrier of Cambodia
• Kaitlyn Lera, Demo Pilot & Sales Manager at Pipistrel Textron eAviation flying the Panthera, Alpha Trainer, Velis Electro, Sinus, Virus, and Explorer

From Our Graduates:

We appreciated this generous praise from Pierre, Jack, Sotiseth, and Kaitlyn:

Pierre shared, “Epic is a great school with good instructors, good staff. Be focused, trust the process, and you will succeed.” 

Jack had some advice for current Epic students: “I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without Epic Flight Academy. A special thank you to Jon Clark and Dennis Holland who were of the utmost excellence when it came to instructing and teaching. Epic prepared me for my dream career and had me ready to go from day one once I arrived as an AMT to Delta Air Lines!  Aim for Delta! I have never worked for a company that values the employee as much as Delta does. The benefits are second to none and they invest into their employees with training and care.”

Sotiseth shared, “Epic is an amazing flight school, I have learned more than flying. Such wonderful memories at Epic.”

Kaitlyn remembers Epic fondly, saying, “The highlight of my training was undeniably the exceptional instructors. They not only made challenging concepts fun, but also went above and beyond to help me and were always available when needed. Even after completing my ratings, they have continued to support me, providing character references for job opportunities and offering guidance. I am grateful to consider many of them my friends.”

If you trained at Epic, please send us a career update! 

J. Paul Saccone Joins Epic Board as 5th Director

Epic Flight Academy is pleased to announce the election of a new Director at its recent Board meeting. New Smyrna Beach resident J. Paul Saccone was elected as the fifth member of Epic’s Board of Directors effective September 1, 2024.

Epic founder and CEO Danny Perna said, “Paul has an extremely high business acumen and will be a valued advisor to the company in this leadership role. His knowledge and experiences are an excellent fit for Epic’s growth trajectory.”

Employee Updates

The Epic team continues to grow! Welcome, everyone!

• Louis Augier, Ground Support (EVB)
• Megan Celik, Scheduler (EVB)
• Brooklyn Byrd, Dispatcher (EVB)
• Vincent Laschiazza-Paul, Ground Support (EVB)
• Sydney Anderson, Registrar (EVB)

• Nathan Connelly, Ground Support (HEG)
• Terry Dunaway, Director of Aircraft Mechanic School (CVG)
• David Craig, Dispatcher (EVB)
• Yonnic Adams, Flight Instructor (TUS)
• Braden Smith, Flight Instructor (TUS)

Two Open House Events in September

Make plans to attend one of these informative events at either of our Aircraft Mechanic Schools – at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport or at our New Smyrna Beach campus. Representatives from the Kentucky Career Center will co-host our CVG event.

Epic Outreach and Airline Relations

Aviation is more fun when it’s shared! Clockwise, from top left:

1) Representatives from Envoy Air visited our New Smyrna Beach aircraft mechanic school;

2) Andrew Rachmell from Purdue Global shared college opportunities for flight students;

3) Tyren Wilson (R) made the rounds at the OBAP Conference;

4) the New Smyrna Beach Aircraft Mechanic School staff shared pizza with students for Student Appreciation Day; and

5) Jayson Presley (L) and Tyler Prenesti (R) represented Epic Flight Academy at the College of Central Florida Career Fair. Our outreach team has a lot of events on the horizon! We’ll see you somewhere soon!

Aircraft Mechanic Passes

These aircraft mechanic students passed their FAA exams in August:

Airframe

Shaun Credle
Elijah Tomberlin

Powerplant

Gavin Riegel

Pilot Check Rides

Sofia Tieche passed her PPL check ride on her first attempt last month in Ocala. She is pictured with her flight instructor, Tyler Prenesti.

These flight students passed check rides on their first attempt in August!

Private Pilot   

Terrence Kayne McNab North
Michael Anthony Diaz
Eric Ryan Carpenter
Tristin Scott Perry
Corbin Douglas Ochs
Sofia Lucia Tieche (OCF)
Abram Nathaniel Loucks
Mohamad Haron Stanikzai
Bryson Jack Stepp
Jazsmin La Trica Smith
Christian Alan Frazier (TUS)
Zeynep Tuncay
Velocity Wray Ritchey
Jarell En Yu Lim
Luke Parker Ratliff

Instrument Rating   

Jennifer Michele Van Ingen
Dawn Marie Hill
Christian David Duran
Austin Lee Schad (TUS)
Christian Matthew Anctil
Jacob Dawson Bridwell
Christian Robert Nelson
Yu-Shan Chow
Evan John Phillips
Yash Nimesh Patel
Yi-Ling Chen
Matthew Hunter Webster
Kylie Renee Evans
Hollonou Darkon Kelian Louis Christopher Kouakou

Commercial Single-Engine   

S M Azizul Hakim
Mahid Islam
Mark Joseph Henderson
Pedro Henrique Magro
Tobias Buckley Pardey

Commercial Multi-Engine

Abdulrahman Essam H Ragban
Erdi Adar Turel
Justin Sosa
David Michael Hartung
Kyle Robert Mooney
Thomas Andrew Cummins
Michael Ian Glick
Zayne Wallis Koth
Matthew John Spence Jr

Certified Flight Instructor

Michael John Bashta
Jacob Anthony Resendes
Andrew Joseph Fox (TLH)
Phuoc Minh Phan
Igor Dos Santos Sa
Tristan Tate Heffernan
Dana Renee McGowen
Sebastian Robert Oshiro Doroba
Brian Scott Grainger
Bradley Jo Graham
Luke Austin Letchworth
Riley Alexa Sorge

Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument

Asmar Nurieva
David Joel Birchfield
Yonnic Joshua Adams
Andrew Joseph Fox (TLH)
Gregory Braden Smith
Yesenia Thays Gonzalez
Karina Marie Oritiz Munoz
Evan Joel Villanueva
Roderick Josip Pluscec

Multi-Engine Flight Instructor

James Stephen Kwan
Hisham Rashad Zohary