Flight Instructor Honored on Birthday

For his 70-somethingeth birthday, Kittyhawk Squadron III chief flight instructor Ralph Trugllio celebrated with the requisite cake and gifts from his favorite teen-somethings.

But the Monday night party was no average birthday bash. It was also a recognition of Trugllio’s tireless dedication to Kittyhawk Squadron III of the Air Explorers, a club that teaches youngsters between the ages of 14 and 21 to fly.

After the cake crumbs were cleared away, it was back to business at the Panorama City office building where Trugllio teaches weekly ground school to a class of a dozen attentive youngsters. Saturdays, the World War II Air Force veteran flies out of Van Nuys Airport with his students in a Cessna 172 donated by the North Hollywood Optimist Club.

Because of his love of flight, Trugllio has donated his time and expertise to the young fliers for as long as anyone can remember.

“He’s a great person,” said Air Explorers member Barak Raviv, 20, of North Hollywood. Trugllio “is an inspiration for us all. It takes a lot of heart for a person to be willing to donate their time to another.”

And for students like Raviv, the club and the flight instructor also make an expensive hobby affordable: Instead of paying as much as $90 an hour for commercial flight instruction, club members pay a mere $25 hourly to cover the Cessna’s gas and repairs.

And for a bunch of young people, Raviv added, time spent flying sure beats time in front of the television.