AV8 Questions: Nick Zak

Interview with Nick Zak, AV8 Flight School Chief Flight Instructor

When did you become interested in aviation? I became interested in aviation at a young age. I was roughly 12 when we took a family trip to Disney World, and we flew on a DC-10 that Sun Country was operating at the time. When we went to take off, I remember how cool it was to be pushed back into the seat. From that day forward I was hooked on aviation.

Are your family or friends interested in flying? Not really. My family and friends enjoy flying to go on vacation, but general aviation isn’t something that is on the top of their lists.

How did your career in aviation begin? When I graduated high school in 1999, I was told by my peers that I couldn’t fly because I wear glasses. Being told this multiple times, I looked to other potential college interests. I started down the path of becoming an engineer, when one evening I was at my now wife’s college apartment and her roommate’s boyfriend was a first officer for Northwest. I noticed he was wearing glasses, and I asked him how he could fly. Once he said that people with glasses can become pilots, I immediately started looking for flight schools. I found my home at UND in Grand Forks and graduated there in the summer of 2004.

Has your career evolution followed an expected path? Nope, not at all. When I graduated from UND in 2004 the market for pilots was not the best. My wife and I decided that it would be best for me to go back to the family business and work in auto body at Lakeville Collision. I would fly enough to stay current and get my fix of flying when I had the time and money. This all changed in late July of 2018 when we attended Air Expo at Flying Cloud Airport. My wife and I stumbled upon Hummingbird Aviation at the expo and the then program manager offered me a job. After relentless calling on his part, I accepted the job and started instructing in September of 2018. I was able to complete my ATP hour requirements by the summer of 2019 and accepted a job as a first officer at SkyWest in November of 2019. On January 20, 2020, I started training in Salt Lake City with SkyWest only to be sent back home on March 17, 2020, due to the pandemic. During that time away from SkyWest, I decided to forgo my aspirations of being an airline pilot and concentrate on being the best husband and dad I could be. I continued to work in the family auto body shop and instruct at what is now AV8 on the weekends and evenings. AV8’s general manager, George Lichty, continued to push me throughout my 6+ years of employment and offered me a job I never dreamed of having, Chief Flight Instructor of a Part 141 flight school.

Do you have a favorite aspect of your work? Yep! My favorite thing is seeing the success at AV8. When I started, I was the only instructor with maybe 10 students. We have grown to now over 100 students and roughly 15 instructors for fixed wing. The other aspect of success I enjoy is seeing all our students fulfilling their dreams of being top-notch pilots.

Is there a time in aviation history, or aircraft that you find most fascinating? Aircraft in general fascinate me. I’m a mechanical person at heart and to see these machines fly and have everything work onboard in unison is amazing.

When is/was your favorite industry-related event, such as annual camp or fly-in? Having the opportunity to attend FSANA conventions would have to be my current favorite.

What is the future of flight for you? My lovely wife would like me to say, “Flying float planes in the Caribbean so she can sit on the Florida beach in the sun while I fly.” Realistically though, one day I would love to be able to fly a jet possibly and become a Designated Pilot Examiner for the FAA.

Nick with Ellie, a private pilot student prior to her high school graduation. She is now one of AV8’s flight instructors!

Thanks to Nick for taking part in the series, AV8 Questions: Interviews with Aviators as our second interviewee. It’s incredibly satisfying to know that dream jobs can be achieved, and that AV8 Flight School Chief Flight Instructor is one of them!

Have questions about becoming a pilot? Contact us at AV8 Flight School and we’ll be happy to answer any questions and help you to get flying!

AV8 Questions: Interviews with Aviators