Lead Dog : Martin Fass
ATP, CFI, CFI-I and MEI. He's a former DPE, 2-time NAFI Master CFI and FAA Gold Seal flight instructor.
Marty is the founder and president of Black Hound Aviation, LLC. He retired in 2007 after a 27 year career as a Navigator and RPA pilot in the USAF. His pilot certificates include Multiengine Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), Commercial Airplane Single Engine Land and Sea, and Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS or Drone) Remote Pilot. He is a CFI/MEI in single and multiengine aircraft, training private instrument through CFI, and is a Gold Seal Flight Instructor. He’s a 2-time NAFI Master CFI, a former CAP Check Pilot Examiner and a former FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). He specializes in high performance and Technologically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) and has trained pilots in various single and multiengine aircraft including the Cessna 310, Cessna 400/TTX, Piper Lance/Saratoga, Seminole and Seneca, Beechcraft Bonanza, Mooney, Cirrus SR20 and SR22, and more. Other aircraft flown include the Swearingen Merlin and Cessna 340. His prior experience as an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner helps him ensure that students are exceptionally well prepared for their various Pilot Practical Exams by conducting mock checkrides.
His military career instilled in him a love of aviation that began with his earning his USAF Navigator Wings, then flying aboard the USAF C-130, T-43, OC-135 and other aircraft over the years. During his tour as a navigator at Elmendorf AFB AK, he decided it was time to learn to fly himself. With 3,000 hours in heavy aircraft watching pilots (and telling them where to go!), he thought this would be a piece of cake – but it took a while for him to get comfortable in the tiny Cessna 150! Over the years as his military career continued, he earned more advanced civilian pilot ratings and certificates. IFR was first up with Civil Air Patrol at Davison Army Airfield in Virginia. Some years later he bought his first airplane and earned his commercial certificate at Wright Flyers at San Antonio International Airport TX. That airplane, a new 2003 Cessna 172SP, tail number N810SA, has since become the workhorse of Black Hound Aviation’s fleet.
The commercial pilot rating, along with his USAF navigator wings, qualified him for the opportunity to fly USAF's RQ-4A Global Hawk at Beale AFB CA. This remotely piloted aircraft has a 120-foot wingspan and is often flown from a cockpit halfway around the world. Marty was Chief Instructor Pilot and Expeditionary Squadron Commander for the Global Hawk, all while wearing Air Force Navigator Wings! During this, his final Air Force assignment, he was offered the chance to go to a civilian flight school and earn his CFI and CFI-I ratings, which he completed in a total of 13 days. Day 13 featured both checkrides – required because the next day he flew home, and the day after that, walked his daughter down the aisle. No pressure! Two years later in 2007 he retired and went back to Wright Flyers to teach and earn his Multiengine Instructor Certificate in the Grumman Cougar.
Marty is a regular presenter and facilitator at the EAA's IMC club. He lives in Garden Ridge TX and is married to Dr Randi Fass of San Antonio TX. They have 2 daughters and 4 grandkids, all living in the San Antonio area.