AJ Larson

I was born in Glenview Illinois and moved to Florida when I was 12 years old and began to build and fly remote control airplanes as a hobby. The father of my best friend in high school owned an air ambulance company and was training his son to follow in the family business. A few times I was able to fly with them in their Piper Seneca (one time from Florida all the way to Colorado and back) and I was forever hooked.

However, I couldn’t afford a pilot’s license, so I began to pursue my other passion in life; music. I finished high school and went to Florida State University where I received a degree in business management. While there I played bass in a band that became popular enough for us to decide to move to California to try to make a name for ourselves. To pay the bills I took a day job working at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. They had me working at the LAX location for a while and I kept meeting pilots which awakened my inner pilot.

I booked an intro flight at Santa Monica Flyers and from day one told them I wanted to be an instructor. I trained for my private license and my instrument rating, and finally my instructors rating. I have been teaching for a year and a half now and have amassed nearly 1500 hours of flight time and I’ve loved every minute of it.