If you’ve ever dreamt of flying your own airplane, Las Vegas has the perfect solution. Combine the thrill of learning to fly with the ideal flight tour. All in Aviation invited me to check out a hosted flight lesson so I could share the experience here. I’m terrified of flying, so I’ll admit, I was apprehensive. After I was sent more details and a promotional video of the flight tour, I decided to bite the bullet and give the experience a try. I have to say; I’m very glad I did!
Cirrus Aircraft at All in Aviation (©Melanie Lee)
Owners Paul and Lindsay Sallach both know Cirrus aircraft inside and out and were inspired to start the school by a lack of training facilities in Las Vegas. “For me, it was just more of a need in Las Vegas to have support for Cirrus training. I sell airplanes for a living, and there’s nobody in Las Vegas who’s doing training. So I would sell hundreds of thousands of dollars of airplanes, and they needed help to have a safe flying record. No one was doing it. My wife and I both used to work at the factory as instructors, so we decided, hey, let’s start a flight school here,” Paul Sallach told us. The school currently has 14 planes, with ten at the Henderson Executive Airport location and four at the North Las Vegas Airport location.
Pre-Check and Briefing
We arrived at the school to find our instructor for the day would be one of the owners, Paul. The lesson began with a pre-check and a briefing on the exterior of the plane. At this point, Sallach informed us of the full-frame parachute, its location and how to deploy it in case of an emergency—something we hoped we wouldn’t have to do but something that also put us at ease knowing the additional safety feature was there.
Paul walked us through all of the checklist items inside upon boarding the plane, like checking the engine (super important). He explained all of the buttons, screens and controls. It felt almost like being inside a driver’s training car and considerably less intimidating than I had initially anticipated.
Cirrus Aircraft at All in Aviation (©Melanie Lee)
Before we knew it, it was time to make our way to the runway. Paul walked us through talking to air traffic control and prepping for takeoff. As for takeoff itself—few things are more exhilarating than takeoff from the pilot’s seat for the first time (especially with the most knowledgeable trainer in the seat next to you).
In the Air
After takeoff, Paul put the plane on autopilot so that I could sit back and enjoy the flight for a little bit. We headed east and flew over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead—Paul pointed out several excellent locations for taking photos, and having the wing in your Hoover Dam pics definitely makes them more unique. He let me handle the controls for a bit while explaining some of the plane’s additional capabilities. Soon, it was time to head back to the airport.
Hoover Dam From Above (Courtesy Jessica Alexander/Melanie Lee)
Back on the Ground
As a longtime Las Vegas local, few experiences in town feel entirely new, but the flight tour at All in Aviation was unlike anything I’ve ever done. The unique aspect of the flight school has undoubtedly attracted attention all around. “We get a lot of transient customers that want to do these experiences, and then the locals that want to learn how to fly, so it started as a need and it’s turned into a pretty big operation as far as flight schools go,” Paul explained, “My favorite thing is just the variety of clients and customers that we get to meet. People come from all over the world to Las Vegas, and they come, and they want to have a unique experience. Just the interaction with individuals, I think, makes it fun.”
In-Flight at All in Aviation (Courtesy Jessica Alexander/Melanie Lee)
