Welcome to Patch Aero. We are a tight-knit family of exceptional flyers, united by our shared love for aviation and a commitment to leading fulfilling, meaningful lives. At our core, we believe in more than just flying planes–we believe in flying toward personal growth, wellness, and continuous self-improvement in all aspects of life. This form of flight is the fabric of everything we do.
Our community is filled with remarkable individuals who excel in the skies and embrace a lifestyle of balance, taking care of their bodies, minds, and spirits. Join with us in our pursuit of excellence as we explore the world of aviation together, fostering a supportive environment that encourages learning, safety, and mentorship. In our community, you'll find kindred spirits who inspire you to be the best version of yourself, both as a pilot and as a person.
Discover the joy of being part of something greater, where every flight is an opportunity for growth and every connection is an invitation to soar. Experience the pleasure of belonging to a community that cherishes the thrill of flight while upholding the values of integrity, wellness, and continuous self-improvement. Come, let us take off together and realize the aviator you aspire to be.
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We are #FlyinFabric.
EQUIPPING AVIATORS IN THEIR
CONTINUAL PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
COURSES AND PRICING
The Tailwheel Course
Ready to remove the training wheels? The Tailwheel Course prepares you to operate conventional-geared aircraft, but also opens the door to a wide spectrum of flying adventures. From banner towing to aerial application, bush flying to aerobatics, many paths in aviation begin with learning to operate a tailwheel aircraft.
The Spins and Recoveries Course
You devote well over 99% of your training to coordinated flight. When the time comes in your training to cross-control stall the aircraft–a fully uncoordinated maneuver, knowledge of which is required even at the private pilot level–are you ready to recover as your Cessna 172 ratchets onto its back and finds you inverted with the stall horn blaring?
The Advanced Aviator Course
A long day of flying can wear you out and affect both your motor skills and decision making processes. Though we hope it never happens, all too often we read of ill-fated pilots who found themselves stalled and uncoordinated, spinning to the earth below, fresh out of ideas and altitude. Should that time come, are you prepared?
Our Crew
CASEY RICE
Gold Seal Instructor
BEN SAMPLES
Gold Seal Instructor
NATE ROGERS
Director of Maintenance
The Patch Aero crew represents many decades of experience, safety, and service in the skies. As a team, we have worked in numerous flight operations, developed courses and curriculum for flight schools and universities, published numerous aviation titles, worked with the FAA through various FAASTeam events, mentored/coached countless aspiring aviators, and interacted with our communities through outreach programs and activities.
Casey Rice, A&P, CFI-ATP
Casey is a co-founder of Patch Aero and has worked in aviation for over 18 years. He started his career in the United States Army, serving as an Apache helicopter mechanic with the 82nd Airborne. He holds an airline transport pilot certificate (ATP), is a gold seal instructor in airplanes (CFI/CFII/MEI) and helicopters (CFI/CFII/NVG-IP), and is also an airframe and powerplant mechanic (A&P). Casey has impacted the industry as a chief flight instructor at Part 133, 135, and multiple 141 operations (with examining authority).
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Benjamin Samples, PhD, CFI-ATP
Ben is a co-founder of Patch Aero and has been flying since the 2000s. Ben served with the United States Army in the 19th SFGA and holds airline transport pilot (ATP) and gold seal instructor certificates in airplanes (CFI/CFII/MEI) and helicopters (CFI/CFII/NVG-IP). He has managed operations as a chief flight instructor and professor with a university Part 141 operation and as a check airman with a Part 141 flight school (with examining authority). Through his master's and doctoral work, Ben advanced embodied cognition and creative approaches within aviation training and worked toward reducing the LOC-I problem.
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Nathan Rogers, A&P(IA), CFI-ATP
Nate is a co-owner of Patch Aero and has worked in aviation for over 15 years. As an Armament Electrician on the AH-64D Apache, he has served multiple deployments with the Army’s 82nd Airborne. He holds commercial certificates in airplanes and helicopters and instructor certificates (CFI/CFII) in helicopters; he has also built aircraft with Lancair and has flown Part 135 air medical transport. Nate is an airframe and powerplant mechanic (A&P) with Inspection Authorization (IA) and has acted as a director of maintenance with a university Part 141 operation. As the backbone of Patch Aero’s maintenance operation, he diagnoses, fixes, and maintains all of our equipment, keeping it in first-class condition and ready for takeoff.
Our Training Platform: The Super Decathlon
Our tag, #FlyinFabric, comes from the fact that you’re flying a fabric airplane. Most light aerobatic aircraft feature wings comprised of special fabrics molded over steel and wooden internal components. Performance fabric aircraft, such as the Super Decathlon, react to control inputs and flight situations in unique fashion–they provide very natural feedback while withstanding the larger loading conditions associated with certain aerobatic maneuvers and various training events; e.g., it’s about 50% stronger than a Cessna 172! Moreover, should you attempt to spin your Cessna, keep in mind the tight fuel limitations that are required to get the aircraft into the utility category out in the training environment, while reserving enough fuel in the tanks to get back home.
Additionally, the tandem seating configuration allows for unparalleled sight-pictures. And 180 horsepower gives us ample opportunity to explore turning tendencies and vertical lines, while transporting us from the airport environment to the aerial training environment in quick and cost-effective fashion.
These characteristics, along with specialized harnesses that secure you into the seat, mean you are fully in control of every degree of pitch, roll, and yaw throughout the aircraft's envelope (whether inverted or upright!). When you are #FlyinFabric in the Super Decathlon, you can rest assured, it fits like your favorite shirt and performs like a muscle tank top.
General characteristics
Length: 22.9 ft
Wingspan: 32 ft
Height: 7.7 ft
Wing area: 169.1 sq ft
Empty weight: 1,340 lb
Gross weight: 1,950 lb
Fuel capacity: 40 US gallons
Powerplant: LYCO AEIO-360-H1B 180 hp
Performance
Maximum speed: 155 mph
Cruise speed: 141 mph
Stall speed: 53 mph
Never exceed speed: 200 mph
Endurance: 3.4 hours at 75% power
Service ceiling: 15,800 ft
g limits: +6/-5
Rate of climb: 1,280 ft/min
THE NEW AVIATION
CULTURE
The Impetus of an Aviation Renaissance
Are you ready for a transformation? The aviation industry likes to differentiate between pilots and aviators. Perhaps no one identified this distinction more succinctly than aviation pioneer Elrey Jeppesen: “There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight.”
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At Patch Aero, we envision an aviation renaissance and are reimagining the way the industry makes aviators. Based on the research of one of our founders, Dr. Benjamin Samples, and hewn into practicality by the other, Mr. Casey Rice, Patch has developed a transformational approach to initial and continuing aviation education that emphasizes aircraft control, the development of expertise, lifelong learning, personal development, and collaborative creativity. So perhaps you are just interested in aviation as a possible career and have never sat in the pilot’s seat. Or maybe you are struggling through training and need a push. Or maybe you are years into the game and looking for your next adventure. Patch Aero wants to share your journey.
#FlyinFabric embodies a continual pursuit of excellence and an elevation of the ideal we foster as aviators.
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Through individual and collaborative pursuits, we cherish novel experiences that continually refine our skills and knowledge toward a safer and more perfect paradigm in both the skies above and on the ground here below. We believe aviation’s reputation hinges on educating, equipping, and encouraging one another as a community of aviators. While many of these experiences occur in the aircraft, the complete evolution from pilot to aviator happens in the mind, the hangar, and every other locale we visit during our day-to-day walk as artists in love with flight.
We are #FlyinFabric.
Location
Lantana Rd, Lake Worth, FL 33462, USA
We're at Palm Beach County Park Airport (Lantana Airport)