AeroDynamic Aviation, San Jose

AeroDynamic Aviation co-owner and chief pilot Zdravko took his first flight at the ripe old age of 2 weeks. As his baby eyes looked out the window of the DC-3 airliner, watching the houses grow smaller and smaller and the clouds become his companions, the idea of flight bored itself into his mind. Zdravko has now racked up more than 7,000 flight hours—most of them as a flight instructor—and completed taildragger and acrobatics training with Amelia Reid, a pioneer of female flying and the 1960 founder of the location's original flight school.

Together with his fellow FAA-certified instructors, Zdravko shares his passion for flight via sport, private, commercial, and aerobatics training. The staff is dedicated to educating pilots on tailwheel aircraft and teaching true stick-and-rudder flying, which is much more reliable than using leather reins attached to each wing.