{"id":204331,"date":"2026-03-30T20:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=204331"},"modified":"2026-03-31T20:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T01:44:08","slug":"yinger-offering-flight-instruction-eying-another-lofty-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/03\/30\/yinger-offering-flight-instruction-eying-another-lofty-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Yinger eyeing a rather “lofty” goal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Crestview High School graduate is flying high these days and hopes to help others do the same while at the same time working toward his ultimate goal. Garrett Yinger, who graduated with the Crestview High School Class of 2024, is now a flight instructor and is offering lessons to locals at the Van Wert County Regional Aiport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from high school, Yinger headed to Florida and King Sky Flight Academy for training to get his initial pilot\u2019s license, which he obtained in Van Wert. While at the flight school, Yinger was involved with a structured flight program to get certified and has logged approximately 300 flight hours. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Van Wert County Regional Airport Manager Jim Black (left) said the CEO program helped Garrett Yinger (right) get a leg up in his pursuit of an aviation career. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While offering flying lessons, Yinger is also building up hours to go to a regional airline or a corporate pilot position and he\u2019s taking online college courses to help build his resume to be more competitive with airlines or a possible corporate position. To obtain a position with an airline, he\u2019ll need to log at least 1,500 flight hours, along with commercial, multi-engine and ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) licenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes a while but that\u2019s the ultimate goal,\u201d Yinger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Yinger is currently able to offer flight instruction on any propeller driven aircraft or any aircraft under 12,500 pounds that doesn\u2019t have a type rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny kind of basic flying like learning how to fly and I can teach more complex single engine aircraft as well,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours total time. It breaks down into different hours like cross country time, instruction time and solo time\u2026I can get you to those 40 hours and once you take the test and pass you get your private pilot\u2019s license.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yinger said his interest in flying began during his junior year in high school and began taking discovery flights at the local airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cI loved it and from there I was kind of hooked and went full-in into aviation and tried to learn as much as I could,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m still trying to learn a lot \u2013 aviation is an industry that you\u2019re always learning. There\u2019s always something new and that\u2019s also what brought me into the aviation field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEO (Career Education Opportunity) program, which is in its 10th year at Van Wert High School. It\u2019s offered to seniors as an elective course where students are released during the school day and partnered with either a teacher to provide educational experiences or local businesses which will provide internships, apprenticeships, or other business opportunities. Students have the opportunity to learn the skill sets that are necessary for a specific career and learn the soft skills necessary in the work force. Students will complete the course knowing the type of post-secondary education\/training required in their career field. Since its start, the program has been made available to seniors at Crestview and Lincolnview, and it helped accelerate things for Yinger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was great for me, it really opened up the world of aviation, more than just flying \u2013 it showed me the operational side of things, how airports are managed, what it takes for day-to-day operations and things like that,\u201d Yinger said. \u201cThat helped me as a pilot understand how aiports operate when I fly in and out of them and overall propelled me more into loving aviation and pursuing something in that field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great worker, just very intelligent and it seemed like you\u2019d tell him one thing and you learned you didn\u2019t have to teach him over and over,\u201d Van Wert County Regional Airport Manager Jim Black said. \u201cIt worked out wonderfully for us and then he got a part time job here after he graduated because he knew the daily operations. It\u2019s really amazing to watch his growth and how he\u2019s reaching his goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black added the airport still works with interested CEO students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to have the youth out here interested in aviation,\u201d Black said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone interested in local flight lessons can contact the Van Wert County Regional Airport or Yinger directly at 419.771.3587 or info@gsflightservice.com<\/a>, or gsflightservice.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor A Crestview High School graduate is flying high these days and hopes to help others do the same while at the same time working toward his ultimate goal. Garrett Yinger, who graduated with the Crestview High School Class of 2024, is now a flight instructor and is offering lessons to locals at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 01:57:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204331"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204417,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204331\/revisions\/204417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}