Pilot’s Out of the Blue
dream takes flight

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT Cathy Mighell’s Out of the Blue Aviation opened earlier this year at Arlington Airport, providing flight lessons, a pilots’ lounge, Internet access and an espresso stand.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Cathy Mighell, owner of Out of the Blue Aviation at the Arlington Airport, never had a chance to learn to fly when she was growing up. Now she’s making up for it, and offering others that opportunity, too.

“I’ve wanted to fly since I was growing up in Des Moines, south of Seattle,” Mighell said, “but I was one of 12 kids in the family, so there definitely was no money for flying lessons. I put it off, finished college, spent time as a French teacher and traveled a lot around the world.”

Even after marrying her husband, Bob; working 13 years to market the family’s Marysville business, World Medical Equipment; and raising three boys — Bryce, 17; John, 15; and Kennan, 12 — she still wanted to fly.

So a year ago, she finally learned to fly and earned her pilot’s license. Realizing how much she loved flying, and how much she wished she’d learned to fly 20 years ago, she decided to start her own flying business.

That’s how Out of the Blue Aviation was launched in January.

“So many friends told me that starting an aviation business was just ‘out of the blue’ for me that I decided it’d be a good name for this venture,” she said.

She still drives from her home in Stanwood to work at World Medical Equipment but spends most of her time now at her new flying business in Arlington, where her love for aviation and her marketing savvy are already growing the business. She’s providing flying lessons, aircraft rentals, Federal Aviation Administration testing, computer access to Internet weather and a pilots’ lounge with an espresso stand.

“It’s a great time and place to start a flying service,” Mighell said. “This is the fastest-growing area in the state, and the Snohomish County population is expected to increase by 300,000 people over the next 20 years. The airport is growing, too, and there’s a wonderfully close aviation community here.”

Only a few months after she earned her private pilot’s license, she heard that the airport’s main aviation facility had closed. Intrigued by the opportunity, she found an available hangar with rental space facing the flight line, adjacent to Taildraggers restaurant, and opened for business.

“I knew there was a real need for the services I could offer and that it was a great place to learn to fly. There are a lot of aircraft based here. The airport has two long runways, 5,300 and 3,300 feet. It’s not an FAA-controlled field, and there’s plenty of space to fly, which makes it great for students,” she said.

Her market study of the area provided more support for her decision to open a flight service at Arlington. Even though pilots only make up a half-percent of the population, she figured she would only need a small percentage of those fliers to have a thriving business, along with training new pilots.

Mighell’s services include flight instruction, with chief pilot John Pierson, for private, instrument and commercial licenses, plus pilots’ biennial flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. Ground school includes private and instrument certificate classes.

She already has leased three aircraft, Cessna 152 and 172 models, plus a Cessna 210, and hopes to lease three more planes soon. Six people have signed up for ground school instruction, three of them studying for private licenses and three preparing for their instrument ratings.

Out of the Blue’s office includes a reception area with pilot literature, aviation magazines, a computer with Internet access and supplies, including logbooks, study guides, charts, navigation aids, engine oil, filters and other merchandise. Soft leather sofas, aviation wall posters and a blue ceiling with white clouds add to the pilots’ lounge setting, along with snacks and espresso.

When she first talked about starting a flight service at the airport, many people told her that most aviation centers soon go out of business, she said. “But I think a lot of those were started by people who loved aviation but didn’t have the right business and marketing skills, experience that I have.”

Along with planning a booth for the Arlington NWEAA Fly-In at the airport July 5 through 9, an event that attracts more than 50,000 people each year, she’s participating in the $59 introductory flight program offered at www.beapilot.com, sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association, Cirrus and other aviation industry leaders. The discount certificate includes an hour of flight instruction and flying time. Also, Mighell thinks the FAA’s new sport pilot rating will help her attract new students.

“Learning to fly is a great investment in fun, a great challenge and sharpens your mental and observation powers,” she said. “Having the discipline to become a pilot will probably make you a little better at everything else you do because you had the self-discipline to learn to fly, which teaches you to multi-task and focus at the same time.”

For more information, call 360-474-1060 or visit online at www.outoftheblueaviation.com.

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