Red Rock: The Blog Book

     Meet Our Aircraft Series: Our Piper Malibu (PA 46-310P)   Although we don't generally use it for flight training, our PA 46-310P, more commonly known as a Piper Malibu, is our nicest and most updated aircraft. Though she is not usually used for flight instruction, the Malibu is the jewel of the Red Rock fleet.  The Malibu is a six-seat (one pilot and 5 passengers), single engine, near-luxury aircraft with an impressive range and fuel efficiency.  She is an all-metal, single engine, fixed-wing aircraft, with low-mounted wings and retractable tricycle landing gear. There is a single door for entry on the left side behind the wings, that opens with half the door hinging upwards, and the other half hinging down to form the steps up into the plane.  The first PA-46 was put into production in 1983.  Built to compete with the  new   Cessna Centurion and  Mooney M22 , the Malibu also came equipped for cabin pressurization for higher altitude flying. Piper created several models from 1

Meet our Instructor Series:  Michael Beaudoin   Hi everyone. I’m Mike Beaudoin, AKA Bobby Boucher, AKA Little Mike. I was born and raised in Southern California. I lived for short periods in the Bay Area and Colorado, but ultimately always ended up back in SoCal until 1998 when I moved to Arizona and have been here ever since. When I first moved here, the things I missed most about California were the beach and the trees. You just don’t have the same shades of green in Arizona. I have been in law enforcement since I moved here. I started with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office as a detention officer for about a year. I then moved on to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (State Troopers), where I currently still work as a sergeant. I’ve been a motorcycle officer for most of that time and have also done an extensive amount of teaching for the agency to include DUI enforcement, speed enforcement, firearms, motorcycle operations and still teach many of those subjects to this day. Te

     Meet Our Aircraft Series: Our Piper Aztec (PA 23-250T) After you have completed your Commercial Pilot checkride, you can move on to an even more powerful aircraft in your Multi-engine add-on training. We use a PA 23-250T, also known as the Piper Aztec, to do the Multi-engine flight training. With the Aztec we keep many of the upgrades we got in the Lance, such as retractable landing gear, more seats, and variable pitch props, and we add another engine, more leg room, and more power!  The Aztec is a versatile airplane that has been used for everything from training to various military applications across the world. Ours is a six-seat, all-metal, dual engine, fixed-wing aircraft, with low-mounted wings and retractable tricycle landing gear. There is a single door for entry on the right side, which is entered by stepping up onto the wing just like our Cherokees. Unlike the Cherokees there is more baggage space with a compartment in the rear, and an additional one in the nose! The PA

    Meet Our Aircraft Series: Our Piper Lance (PA 32R-300)   When you get into Commercial Pilot training, you have to get familiar with bigger and more powerful aircraft. We use a PA 32R-300, more commonly known as the Piper Cherokee Lance to do most of our high performance and complex flight training. The Lance was an upgrade to the Piper Cherokee Six, adding retractable landing gear, and giving it the new PA 32R designation.  Ours is a six-seat, all-metal, single engine, fixed-wing aircraft, with low-mounted wings and retractable tricycle landing gear. They have a single door for the pilots on the right side, which is entered by stepping up onto the wing just like our Cherokees, and a secondary door on the left behind the wing for passengers to enter the plane. The first PA-32R was put into production in 1976 to surpass Pipers Comanche as their best high performance single-engine plane. Piper created several models of the PA-32R from 1976-2009, in this time by installing a range of e

  Meet Our Instructors: Carson Ruedemann Hey everybody, my name is Carson Ruedemann. I was born in Scottsdale Arizona, raised in Mesa, and currently living back in Scottsdale. I worked at various golf courses such as Las Sendas, TPC Scottsdale, and Biltmore while I was in Highschool, and I was also the Varsity Captain of Boys Golf Team, with a 6 handicap. I am currently a full time University of Arizona Student Studying Criminal Justice, and I am also Interning at Arizona Justice Center Law Center. I'm interested in Law, Aviation Law, and Criminal Law as my backup to my flying career. I started flying in the summer of 2019 after having an epiphany at U of A. I had been feeling like I wanted to switch from Pre-Med to Pre-Business and saw A-10's as well as C-130's fly over, and I suddenly knew I wanted to fly then. Aviation interests me due to the practicality of the field knowledge (what you are learning has a direct application, rather than just college theories). My dad is

  Meet Our Aircraft Series: Our Piper Cherokee's (PA 28-180) Here at Red Rock, we do most of our flight training in the PA 28-180, more commonly known as the Piper Cherokee. We currently have 6 Cherokees in our fleet of 8 training aircrafts. Our Cherokees are all four-seat, all-metal, unpressurized airplanes that are single-engine, piston-powered, with low-mounted wings and tricycle landing gear. They have a single door on the right side, which is entered by stepping up onto the wing. The first PA-28 received its type certificate from the FAA in 1960 and the Cherokees in our fleet all come from that era ranging from 1962 - 1966. Piper created several models of the PA-28 in this time by installing a range of engines capable of 150, 160, and 180hp. All of ours have at least the more powerful 180hp Lycoming O-360 engine, in order to make flight training faster and easier for more people. The extra power makes it practical to fly with more seats filled for scenic flights!  All our Cher