FLORIDA KEYS FLIGHT ACADEMY IS CHURNING OUT TALENTED YOUNG PILOTS

2022 Coral Shores graduate Ariana Duran Muñoz is working on her private pilot’s license and will soon take to the sky for her first ‘cross-country’ flight to Marco Island or Naples.

16-year-olds can’t sit down at a bar and order a beer. They can’t buy a lottery ticket, get a tattoo or vote.

But they can fly a plane.

Such is the case with many of the young aviators at the Marathon-based Florida Keys Flight Academy, several of whom are pushing the envelope to earn certifications as fast as the law will allow.

The flight school offers instruction all the way from zero-hour training to certification as a commercial pilot or flight instructor, and has undergone a rebirth since new owner Sol Bradman took over the business in November 2020. A Keys pilot since 1984, Bradman flew as an instructor for the academy’s previous owners before launching himself into the business. Inspired by 94-year-old Marathon Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) president and local legend Ed Waldorf – who still makes time to fly his own aircraft on a regular basis – Bradman intends to make this his final landing.

“I decided in my old age that this would be my last thing, because I want to end up like Ed,” said Bradman with a laugh. “I believe there’s a fountain of youth somewhere in here, and I’m trying to see if I can tap into it.”

Bradman has a number of projects in the works, from the restoration of multiple classic aircraft to an upcoming World War II experience that will take participants through a simulated briefing room before climbing into a 1941 Vultee BT-13A, a WWII trainer aircraft. And though he can excitedly rattle off a history lesson on virtually every plane he passes at the Marathon International Airport, his face lights up the most when talking about the accomplishments of his young students.

Florida Keys Flight Academy owner Sol Bradman takes great pride in his students’ accomplishments – and he’s a walking aviation encyclopedia.

Take, for instance, Ramrod Key’s 17-year-old Eagan Cunningham. Eyeing an eventual career as a commercial pilot for an airline or cargo company, Cunningham returned from his second-ever solo flight in a plane, a quick trip to Duck Key and back, over the course of this interview. 

“How’d it go?” joked Bradman as Cunningham exited the plane. “Is Duck Key still there?”

“Sol is super helpful with everything that you do, because he doesn’t give you the answer. He leads you to the answer so you can figure it out yourself,” Cunningham told Keys Weekly. “And it’s in a way that it makes the process easier and also makes it so you’re actually learning rather than him going and telling you the answer.”

Coral Shores senior Aaron Anstett is another of Bradman’s model pupils. Earning his private pilot’s license and instrument rating at 17 – both the youngest ages permitted by law – Anstett will enter his final year of high school after earning his commercial license on his 18th birthday and his Certified Flight Instructor rating shortly after.

Coral Shores student Aaron Anstett will walk through the doors on the first day of his senior year of high school as a commercial pilot and certified flight instructor.

“I went from zero hours all the way to where I am now with Sol,” said Anstett. “It’s been great down here.”

Though flying is, as one might expect, an expensive endeavor, the school takes no deposits, allowing all students to pay and progress at their own pace. Bradman is quick to point out the potential for his young pilots’ return on their investment, with a national pilot shortage leaving many companies scrambling for quality candidates in high-paying positions. In the Florida Keys, with astronomical boat expenses becoming more and more commonplace, the cost of flying is, in his mind, a matter of perspective. 

“From a hobby perspective, I think it’s expensive, but from a career perspective, I think it’s a value,” he said. “Everybody just pays as they go, so they’re never going to lose a dime. And everything (license wise) is transferable because everything is federal.”

Eagan Cunningham returns from his second solo flight.

With 15 to 20 consistent students at present, and a complete roster of roughly 50, Bradman looks forward to expanding the academy, hoping to bring the joys of flight to all ages and backgrounds. 

“We’ve been fixing it up, we bought some airplanes and increased the amount of students,” he said. “We’ve really dedicated ourselves to it, and we plan on going nowhere.”

To see the school’s complete offerings, including instruction, plane rentals, historical experiences and more, visit floridakeysflightacademy.com or pay the school a visit above the EAA Air Museum at the Marathon International Airport.

A 1941 Vultee BT-13A Warbird is the focal point of a World War II experience offered at the Florida Keys Flight Academy.
Alex Rickert made the perfectly natural career progression from dolphin trainer to newspaper editor in 2021 after freelancing for Keys Weekly while working full time at Dolphin Research Center. A resident of Marathon since 2015, he fell in love with the Florida Keys community by helping multiple organizations and friends rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Irma. An avid runner, actor, and spearfisherman, he spends as much of his time outside of work on or under the sea having civil disagreements with sharks.