Wayman Aviation academy has been around for a very long time. But where do we come from? Throughout the last 30 years we’ve touched many lives through our mission; changing lives through aviation. No story exemplifies this mission better than that of Mr Wayman himself. It all started more than 30 years ago on a dirt road, somewhere in Peru with a young man who wanted to go to college.
At 17 years old Wayman Sr. headed down to Lima to pursue a higher education and apply to study at college. He was working the night shift in a Warehouse for a merchant family that owns supermarkets, while going to school during the day. The family is generous and donates a lot to the different various missions deep in the heart of the amazon.
One day while sleeping on a bag of rice in the warehouse a priest came to see a tractor that has been donated by the wong family. Friar Mariano Gagnon woke up Wayman and they had a conversation about what he was doing sleeping all day. He needed help getting the tractor to the missions in the amazon. Wayman was pretty handy and told the priest he could get it done. They made a deal; he would help him take the tractor apart and bring it to the missions, and the priest would pull strings to help him get into La Universidad Catolica.
“Landing and takeing off from some of the roughest improvised landing strips imaginable; clear-cut out of the jungle.”
It took 38 flights to take the tractor from Lima over the Andes and into the missions. At the end of the last flight the priest kept his side of the deal and arranged for Wayman to go college. But he changed his mind; after all of those flights he had decided to become a pilot.The friar said, “Great, that’s even easier”. He was then enrolled in the Civil Aviation school of Peru.
Wayman eventually became a pilot for Alas de Esperanza (Wings of Hope). Landing and takeing off from some of the roughest improvised landing strips imaginable; clear-cut out of the jungle. In these conditions pilots can only use rivers and their instruments to navigate their way to their destination. Wayman became the chief pilot of this outfit, flying throughout South America.
The Wayman family in Peru
In the 1980s when terrorism made it difficult to work in Peru Wayman came to Florida seizing the opportunity to bring his skills to the United States while maintaining connections and facilitating business with Latin America. Wayman Aviation was born. In the intervening 30 years Wayman PIlot Supplies has grown to 2 locations and the maintenance facility has moved to an 11,000 sqft hangar at North Perry Airport.
Bringing the experience of flight to every willing student is the driving force behind the flight school. Over the years thousands of pilots have earned their wings and are now flying throughout the world for JetBlue, American Airlines, Korean Air, and many more. Aviation changes lives. Mr. Wayman’s passion for flying was ignited in those first flights over the Andes. He became a pilot, eventually founding a school in South Florida which has in turn changed thousands of lives. The virtuous cycle of education and growth continues to turn and epand, helping people reach their potential through aviation.
