Our Story
The name Waco Flight Training first appeared on Waco Regional Airport in 2009. Brand new flight instructor Aaron Dabney and his business partner, Parker Woodruff, had a vision to bring flight instruction back to Waco Regional and bring passion back to flight instruction. After 18 months of successful operation, the business was bought by a third party and changed names, with Aaron continuing on as chief pilot.
In 2013, Aaron determined that it was time for a change and opened his own flight school called Master the Tailwheel just down the ramp from the original location. In the beginning, he specialized in tailwheel training and transitions, as these were his true passions. It wasn’t long though before contemporary airplanes also re-entered the picture, as Aaron began operating a late-model Cessna 172 the next year in order to meet continued demand.
Over time, though various flight training entitles came and went in the Waco market, it became clear that Aaron’s model viewing the flight instructor as more educator than aviator was still in great need across the flight training spectrum. After beginning to add staff instructors to meet the demand, he made the decision in 2019 to reposition from his Master the Tailwheel brand and resurrect the Waco Flight Training name. This brings our operation full circle, and more accurately portrays the wide array of services we offer as well as our identity as Waco’s premiere private flight training provider.
We Love Our Logo! Why is it Based on a Historic Battle Flag?
If you’re from Texas, you no doubt recognize our repurposing of the famous Gonzales Battle Flag. If you’re not a Texas history buff like us, here’s the short version! In late 1835, Texians were beginning to agitate for freedom from Mexico and spread unrest and rebellion. In response, the Mexican Army demanded that a band of Texians located in Gonzales, Texas return a cannon which had been provided for their defense. The Texians’ response was essentially a dare, “come get it yourself,” from which the “Come and Take It” or Gonzalez Battle Flag was born. This skirmish turned out to be one of the earliest shots of the Texas Revolution.
Our founder Aaron Dabney grew up just over an hour away from the battle site and devoured Texas history as a kid. When he went out on his own to open a flight school in 2013, many people who knew better warned him he wouldn’t be successful. In response to these warnings (we’re sure glad they were wrong!) as well as Aaron’s outright rejection of the corporate, big flight school model of training, he knew he wanted a logo that incorporated that flag.
Although our model has grown to include all types of flight instruction, the venerable J-3 Cub will always be the airplane silhouette in the Come and Flight it logo to honor our taildragger roots!