Robert Haynes

Robert grew up around aviation. His dad was a WWII pilot and CFI and started teaching him at age 15. He soloed a tailwheel aircraft on his 16th birthday (1971) then got his drivers license the same day. He literally could fly before he could drive! A month later, Robert and his dad together bought a 1946 Taylorcraft BC12D (shown left). He earned his private certificate in that aircraft at age 17. Robert’s seaplane rating came a month later, then an instrument rating at age 19. Growing up and flying in Alaska, Robert had a unique privilege to fly many off-airport operations. He continued to fly until 1986 and stopped flying for 15 years, when he moved to Indiana.

In December 1981, Robert began a 29 year career as an air traffic controller. He worked at Anchorage Center for 5 years, then Indy Center for 24 and retired from ATC in 2010.

In April 2001, Robert started flying again. He had an opportunity to do some corporate work so he did a BFR, IPC, Commercial, multi-engine rating, CFI and CFII in 8 months. Soon after Robert started a flying club at KEYE and ran that for 4 years, teaching many students to fly.

Fast forward to 2010 when Robert retired from ATC. He continued to fly for Civil Air Patrol, then started flying corporate aviation in 2016 as single pilot captain in twin Cessnas. Recruited by Lift Academy to teach initial CFIs in January 2020, Robert was instrumental in setting up a successful initial CFI program. After evaluating 100 CFIs (with an 82.6% first time DPE pass rate), he was recruited to be a charter pilot with First Wing Charter flying the Citation Bravo. As much as he loved the Bravo, Robert could not balance charter life AND being a first responder for his aging father who was in assisted living. So, he went part-time and did not upgrade to captain as initially planned. Eventually recalled by Lift Academy, Robert, as a Chief Instructor, oversaw the initial CFI training/certifications and provided all the spin training for the school.

Robert has a fairly eclectic background in aviation having flown over 60 different types of aircraft. By far, his favorite are tailwheels!

Robert says one of his aviation highlights was flying with the legendary Patty Wagstaff in January 2024. What a great experience! If you are ever in St. Augustine, we encourage you to fly with her school. You won’t be disappointed.

Robert says, “The best part of flying is simple stick and rudder skills. Teaching crosswind landings, forward slips, short field landings, spins and upset recovery is my MOST FAVORITE THING TO DO! I’m a CFI, CFII, MEI and AGI…but I really love stick and rudder.”

Robert Haynes
ATP/CFI/CFII/MEI/AGI (+ certified tailwheel nut)

Derek Lawless

Derek was steeped in the lore of WWII figher pilots from a young age. His grandfather, a P-51 pilot in the European Theater, earned the distinction of Ace In A Day when he shot down five German fighters in one engagement. “Mac” as he was called, didn’t talk much about his experiences in the war but he did share his love of aviation through RC planes with his grandson. It was those early expriences flying stick-built glow-powered planes that ignited Derek’s life-long passion for aviation.

Flying since 1997, Derek earned his private pilot certificate in 1998, his instrument in 2001, and chose to share his love of aviation with others through teaching when he earned his initial CFI Certificate in 2016. As a CFI, CFI-I, AGI, IGI, Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP), Derek has flown unpressurized piston airplanes from the southern tip of Florida to the glaciers in Alaska and most of the states in between.

Since 2016, Derek has had the priviledge of being a flight instructor, a multiple location flight school manager, a chief pilot, a ferry pilot, and a Cirrus instructor. He is also an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic.

An IT nerd by trade, Derek enjoys the many benefits of the latest and greatest glass cockpit, digital autopilot airplanes, but his real love passion is basic stick and rudder flying. Fortunate to be introduced to Super Cubs and Huskys operated off of grass strips early in his flying career, Derek has long desired an opportunity to help other pilots develop their basic flying skills, improve their safety margins, and to learn to truly master the craft of flying little airplanes.