Return to Fun Flying (aka “The Rusty Pilot”)

Meet Your Instructor!

Dave Elliott has been actively flying since 1975 and has been the Airport Manager of Meadow Lake Airport since 2008

He received his “Wings of Gold” as a Coast Guard Aviator after training in the T-34B, T-28B/C and TS-2. Follow-on assignments included flying the HU-16E “Albatross”, HC-131A “Samaritan”, and HU-25A/B Falcon “Guardian”. During an assignment with NORAD, Dave discovered the joys of General Aviation while flying skydivers and purchased his first light airplane, a Piper “Apache”.

After retiring in 1994, he taught as a Flight Instructor at the USAFA Aero Club and then began flying corporate jets (Falcon 20, 50, 900EX, Mitsubishi Diamond, and the Beechjet 400). 9/11 brought many changes to the industry and in 2002 Dave began his third aviation career as an airline pilot flying the Airbus for Frontier Airlines, retiring for the second time in 2015. 

In addition to managing Meadow Lake, his retirement plans include restoring classic aircraft (including Fairchild 24 and Alexander Eaglerock) and sharing his love of aviation. To date, Dave has accumulated over 24,000 hours in 84 different aircraft and is a “Gold Seal” CFI with over 2,000 hours of “dual given”. He holds FAA certificates: ATP (AMEL), Comm (ASEL/S, SMES), CFI/II/MEL, AGI/IGI, A&P, UAS(s).