SkyHoppers Chief Pilot

The Chief Pilot for SkyHoppers Aerial Adventures is Andrew R. Dilworth. Andrew is a professional American FAA Certificated Flight Instructor (CFII) and Instrument-Rated Commercial Pilot with 10 years of experience and thousands of hours of flight instruction given in various single-engine airplanes. Andrew also holds Advanced and Instrument Ground Instructor Certificates, and has thousands of hours in Tailwheel, High-Performance, and Complex aircraft.

The idea for SkyHoppers Aerial Adventures was born when Andrew first became interested in flying while sitting on the beach in the DR during a winter vacation in 1999 when he spotted a Cessna fly low overhead. From that moment on, the thought of tropical bush flying so intrigued him that he enrolled in flight lessons upon his return to San Jose, California, with the intention of returning to operate his own aviation business in the Caribbean someday. Less than 3 years later, Andrew had earned all his professional qualifications, and started building his experience as a self-employed flight instructor at the Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, where he began doing business as SkyHoppers Aerial Adventures.

Since 2003, Andrew has logged thousands of hours performing flight instruction in all types of light and heavy single-engine Cessna airplanes, from the ubiquitous Cessna 172, to the more complex and high-performance Cessna 182's and 206's with turbochargers and retractable landing gear, to the quintessential Cessna 170 and Cessna 180 tailwheel airplanes, which are Andrew's favorites. Andrew's professional experience also includes having served as Chief Pilot for a Part 141 flight training school, as a pilot examiner and Search and Rescue pilot for the Civil Air Patrol in California, and as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the FAA. Andrew's instructional emphasis has always been to ensure his students are trained above and beyond the minimum requirements for pilot certification, and to serve as a mentor for aspiring professional aviators. As a result, 100% of his student-pilot alumni have passed their initial practical test flights to date.

For 2008 and beyond, Andrew has realized his dream to operate his business, SkyHoppers Aerial Adventures, in the Dominican Republic where he continues to offer his dedicated training and service in the Caribbean. Andrew is intimately familiar with the island and its language, culture, and people, having spent part of his youth growing up with relatives on the island, and visiting annually throughout the years since then. SkyHoppers invites you to come visit the DR and enjoy Andrew's flight training excursions, as well as benefit from his expertise in piloting the Cessna 180 Skywagon!