Pinch Hitter Course

Just-in-case flight training for the family & friends of rated pilots. 

Duration

4hrs. Ground Training
6hrs. Flight Training

Schedule

Year Round

Cost

$1,890

plane at the palmer airport before snowcapped mountains in winter

Alaskans log more hours in small planes each year than in any other state. And not just as pilots. “Unrated” spouses, partners, family & friends regularly sit right-seat, accompanying pilots on daily commutes, weekend adventures and long-distance trips.

Sound familiar? Now what if the unthinkable happens and you have to take over…sub-in as the pilot in command. Can you land the plane?

Blue River Aviation Logo Round

Pinch Hitter Course :

Blue River Aviation’s Pinch Hitter Course is designed to give you the best possible chance of getting your airplane – and everyone on board – safely on the ground in an emergency, without going through the 40 hours of training required to become a licensed pilot yourself.

  • up to 4 hours of ground instruction
  • up to 6 hours of flight instruction

Ground School Topics Include:

  • Radio & Communications
  • Navigation basics
  • Flight Controls
  • Judging runway length
  • Selecting off-airport landing location

Systems & Maneuvers:

  • Slow Flight
  • Stalls
  • Landing & pattern work
  • Standard maneuvers 
  • Navigation basics (5 Cs)
  • Best glide descent
  • Cruise, leaned for fuel conservation
  • Emergency Procedures

Frequently Asked Questions, Answered

We offer our Pinch Hitter Course in our Cessna 172 or 150; it’s up to you! Some of our aircraft are equipped with advanced avionics systems and others are simpler – VFR only. This course will be most useful to you if we can closely mimic the setup of your own aircraft. Give us a call and we can help you pick the best option. All of our instructors are qualified to teach in any of the aforementioned aircraft.

Pending instructor availability – and our own assessment of your aircraft – we do provide this as an option on a case-by-case basis. Send us an email with the make & model of your aircraft to get started. Before training commences, we do require you to have insurance and list Blue River Aviation as additionally insured with a waiver of subrogation.

Three of our Cessna 172s are equipped with 3-axis Garmin autopilot systems. While we won’t go into great depth for this course, we will definitely show you the basics of how to turn it on, set a heading, and let it do its job; assuming you’re in touch with air traffic control & they are directing you to a safe landing location. If you’d like more in-depth training, we’d highly recommend booking an additional lesson (outside of this course) with your instructor. 

Absolutely! All you need is a logbook and we can record all of your flights to count towards future ratings.

Ready to take off?

Let’s get you flying!

Let’s check that you’re human*

Don’t just take our word for it

250+ Happy Flight Training Students

  • “Learning to fly with Blue River has been nothing short of outstanding! The staff are always so helpful and the instructors are on top of their game day in and day out.”
    – Sebastian B.
  • Truly a phenomenal organization. These folks helped me obtain my private pilot license. I flew with several different CFIs and they were all great.
    Thanks to their use of flight schedule pro, and the ability to schedule myself I was able to find times that worked for me and my busy schedule. Another great aspect is flying out of Palmer so much beautiful scenery all around. If you’re on the fence, just do a discovery flight.
    – Daniel W.
  • Absolutely thrilled with my experience at Blue River Aviation! The instructors are top-notch. Their fleet of aircraft is well-maintained and up-to-date. The friendly staff and other students also helped me find a community and build long-lasting friendships while working on my private pilot license. I would highly recommend pursuing your training with Blue River Aviation.
    – Tayler H.
plane coming in to land at the palmer airport
Our Fleet & Rentals

The best airplanes in the business.

Blue River Aviation is proud of our expansive fleet. We provide aircraft for a wide variety of training. These include: Technologically Advanced Aircraft (TAA), Complex, Floats, Skis, Tailwheels, and Multi-Engine. Go check out the Blue River fleet!

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Summer 2026

Float Training

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