Escape into the atmosphere with flying lessons at Greenville Downtown Airport
A few years ago, Patrick Buchanan wanted to take his relationship to new heights. So for one of their first dates, he asked his now-fiancée if she would like to go to Charleston. They left Greenville in the morning and enjoyed a seafood lunch and a French Quarter cuisine dinner at two of the Holy City’s top restaurants. They got back home later that night.
Now that is one surefire way to sweep your girl 4,000 feet off her feet. It also happens to be among the perks for private pilots.
Buchanan earned his pilot’s license in 2022 at Greenville Aviation and started working there as a certified flight instructor in 2023. More recently, on a cold, clear, mid-February morning, he took TOWN on a spin over downtown and out toward Pickens on a Discovery Flight.
“I actually wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid,” he says, explaining how he wanted to spread his wings after teaching music in high school and middle school for five years. “Turns out I’m not that good at math, so I figured pilot was a close second.”
He’s a big, bearded, affable 31-year-old with a ready smile and a gentle laugh that puts you immediately at ease. With more than 1,600 hours of flight time, he exudes laid-back confidence, nowhere near the cocky swagger of . . . that’s right, Maverick, we’re looking at you.
Flying, let alone owning, a small single-engine airplane ain’t cheap. Lessons cost upwards of $15,000 before you can get licensed. “I lived on ramen and pennies for a number of years while getting my certificate,” he says.
Learning to Fly with Greenville Aviation
Around Greenville Aviation, everyone you meet tells the essentially same story. On this particular Tuesday morning, Michael Dudley, 21, is about to do a pre-flight check before he takes off with his instructor. In December, he graduated from Clemson with a degree in business and finance. He starts his banking career at Wells Fargo in Charlotte in July.
“I got six months off, and I was like, ‘Am I just going to rot in bed or am I going to do something with it?’” he says. “My goal is to get a license before I start working. I budgeted for it. Always wanted to do it since I was in high school. I loved [flying] as a kid.”
Born in Columbus, Georgia, Dudley got his first taste of flying when he was less than a year old—in Nicaragua. He also got to buzz around Mozambique, all thanks to his parents’ work in the US diplomatic corps. Since having flown the coop, he took a Discovery Flight with Greenville Aviation in November. He started lessons there a month ago. “They know what they’re doing,” he says of the company that took off in 1967. With a fleet of 19 planes and 18 certified flight instructors, Greenville Aviation is the largest company of its kind at Greenville Downtown Airport—the busiest general aviation airstrip in South Carolina.
Meanwhile, Buchanan sounds like a kid who can’t get enough of high-altitude fun. Still, what goes up must, well . . .
“Taking off is optional,” Buchanan says, again with that easygoing laugh. “Landing is mandatory.”
Greenville Downtown Airport Flying Lessons
Greenville Aviation charges $168 per hour to rent a plane, plus $55 per hour to hire one of their pilots.
FLYING magazine details the costs of owning a Cessna 172M, based on one purchased for $79,900 and an annual flight time of 200 hours. Yearly ownership runs just over $30,500 or about $152 per hour, roughly the same price as a Greenville Aviation rental. Expenses include everything from insurance to storage and fuel to maintenance and more.
“If you’re not ready to fly at least 200 hours per year,” the magazine says, “you probably should not buy an airplane.”
Then again, once you go up in a Greenville Aviation Discovery Flight, you likely won’t come down from the experience.
