our story

In 2002 Ty Frisby interviewed for an aerobatic instructor position with Michael Church, owner of a a Southern California Part 141 school., Sunrise Aviation. That meeting began a lasting friendship and professional connection as the two discovered a shared passion for flying and flight instruction. Ty quickly became the Sunrise Chief Aerobatic Instructor, and over the next five years the two pilots refined the Sunrise aerobatic curriculum, competed in aerobatic contests, co-hosted aerobatic training camps, and generally talked about flying.

Ty eventually moved on to a variety of other aviation jobs: test pilot at the Pitts Aircraft factory, corporate pilot, and eventually airline pilot. He is now employed as a captain at Alaska Airlines.

Sunrise continued to prosper. Michael formed an aerobatic competition team with notable success and in 2008 was hired on a trial basis by the Air Force to teach spins and advanced aerobatics at the Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB. This proved to be a great match and Church taught at Edwards for the next fifteen years.

He and Ty kept in touch with phone calls and breakfasts when Ty was in town on layovers. When they met they would pick up where they left off to talk flying.

Over time, evidence emerged of wide changes in US flight instruction philosophy, and those changes led Ty to see the value of this podcast: a discussion forum aimed to elevate flight instruction quality and ignite passion for flight excellence.