Freeway Airport, Bowie

Light Cessna planes soar over the rolling green fields surrounding Freeway Airport before making their landing at the FAA-approved repair-and-maintenance facility. Staffed by FAA technicians and certified flight instructors, the aviation center services professional pilots with 24-hour fuel access, charts and plates, and other pilot supplies, and also educates budding aviators in the art of flight. For almost 50 years, the training center has supported pilots in their quests for sport, recreational, private, and instrument licenses as well as advanced commercial flight certificates. Staff instruct pupils with toolssuch as a Redbird FMX with a 200-degree wraparound visual cockpit displayand up-to-10-week ground classes teach flight principles and the best jokes to tell during passenger-safety briefings. Alternatively, during hands-on discovery flights, they let students take the helm of light aircraft to experience basic flight under their watchful instruction.