Drew Mitchell grew up in nearby Marin County and was introduced to flying at age 17 as a Santa Rosa Junior College student.  He used his half hour discovery flight gift certificate offered to the ground school class and has been flying ever since.  “As a student I was in awe of the knowledge and skill of my instructor.  I wondered if I would ever reach that same level of piloting.  I just kept working at it little by little until my dream became a reality."

Bill has been a pilot since 1982 and got his instructor rating in 1987. He taught a while in the Los Angeles area before family and career as a firefighter demanded his time. Bill started teaching flying again in 2011 after retiring from Cal Fire and raising his daughters . He has followed the progress of aviation for many years and has no plans to move on from instructing.

Chad joined Dragonfly Aviation’s flight team in early 2008.  After graduating Southern Illinois University with a Bachelors in Aviation Management Chad went to work for the UPS flight training center.  Chad’s career took him all over the country working for a number of aviation outfits and eventually ending up in Santa Rosa.  As a primary flight instructor at Dragonfly Aviation, Chad’s favorite aspect of flight instructing is seeing the smile on a student’s face after their first solo.

Michael Orchard
CFII, MEI

Michael Orchard grew up in San Luis Obispo, Ca.  Both his grandfather and his father were military pilots who later became commercial airline pilots.  After earning a A.S. degree in automotive he decided to follow in his father's footsteps and became a private pilot.  Shortly after he went to the flight academy ATP and earned his CFI, CFII, and MEI certificates.   He instructed in his home town for a while, later joining Dragonfly's team in November of 2010 where he is continuing to peruse his dream of becoming a airline pilot.