Master Award Winner John Stonecipher is a master at developing new markets and his vision for Guidance Aviation is helping his company soar to ever higher levels of success.

Guidance Aviation provides helicopter flight training and ground school instruction from a modern facility in Prescott (elevation 5,045 ft.). The company was founded in 1998 and it is one of only two FAA-approved high altitude helicopter training facilities in the country.

The core of the Guidance Aviation program is ‘flight cost reduction training’, which enables Guidance to train better pilots with less actual flying time and with a twenty-five percent reduction in cost to students. This is accomplished through the use of Redbird FMX flight simulators — state-of-the-art training devices which offer 160 degrees of wraparound visuals and have fully-enclosed cockpits that allow students and their...

PRESCOTT - U.S. veterans can now use G.I. Bill benefits to pay for helicopter flight training at Guidance Aviation. Guidance Aviation and Yavapai College have expanded their partnership. For the past four years, Guidance Aviation has taught helicopter pilot ground school for the college. Starting in January 2010, Guidance Aviation will offer flight training as part of a new Associate of Applied Science Professional Pilot-Helicopter Degree Program. The two-year program will provide students with the necessary skills and Federal Aviation Administration certificates to gain employment as commercial helicopter pilots or flight instructors. With the new post-9-11 G.I. Bill, eligible veterans will have tuition, flight fees, books and cost of living expenses completely covered by their veteran's benefits. In the past, YC tuition covered only ground training, not flight training.

Traditional college students are eligible to...