About Chicago Premier Flight Training

Rick Todd, the founder of Chicago Premier Flight Training, leads a squad of six FAA-certified flight instructors, who together have accumulated more than 20,000 hours of flight time. From their home base at Lewis University Airport, the team imparts students with every level of flight instruction, from learning the basic instruments and safety procedures to executing advanced in-air maneuvers to dodge lost balloons. Practical lessons take place in one of two 1979 Cessna aircrafts—each equipped with modern avionics such as GPS and satellite weather. Additionally, students can earn pilot hours from the safety of solid ground within the Redbird TD2 simulator, which recreates realistic flying conditions without real-life annoyances such as rookie copilots pointing out all the clouds shaped like potatoes.