Gregory Patchel, Gateway Technical College’s director and chief pilot of the Aeronautics-Pilot Training program, has been recognized for his high standard of flight instruction by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the world’s largest aviation association.

Patchel has been awarded a spot on the Flight Training Experience Awards as a Distinguished Flight Instructor, a title given to high scoring flight instructors from AOPA’s 2018 Flight Training Experience Survey. This is the third straight year Patchel has been selected for this national honor.

AOPA’s Flight Training Experience Awards were created to highlight the best flight training the industry has to offer.

“We were excited to see how many customers described our winners this year as including them as part of a family and helping them join a rich aviation community,” said Chris Moser, Senior Director, Flight Training Education of AOPA’s Flight Training Initiative. “Giving the personal touch, in addition to providing great flight training, is something we know helps create lifelong pilots.”

The 2018 awards were drawn from flight students and pilots who voluntarily reviewed their flight training experience this past summer through an AOPA online customer satisfaction survey. The process yielded an evaluation of 954 different flight schools and 1,849 individual flight instructors.