Welcome to the Pilot-Owner Academy

Pilot-Owner Academy - Infographic

Are You Ready to Increase Your Freedom? Fun? Flexibility?

Own and Operate Your Continental or Lycoming Powered Aircraft with Competence and Confidence.

Most pilots and aircraft owners face unnecessary stress, high costs, and operational inefficiencies because they lack the right guidance and tools for aircraft ownership. Many don’t even know where to start—whether it’s understanding licenses and ratings, selecting the right aircraft, or navigating airworthiness management and aircraft operation.

Owning and operating a Continental or Lycoming powered aircraft can feel overwhelming.

  • Stress: Where to start—licenses, ratings, the right aircraft? Managing airworthiness and operational complexity?
  • Costs: Maintenance and operational inefficiencies, leading to wasted resources.
  • Compromised Safety: Second-guessing decisions or missing critical insights.
  • Wasted Time: Losing hours to trial-and-error instead of focusing on flying.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Imagine owning and operating your Continental or Lycoming powered aircraft with the confidence of a seasoned professional—saving thousands in maintenance costs, maximizing fuel efficiency, flying safely without second-guessing your decisions, and reclaiming your valuable time.

The Pilot-Owner Academy is designed to take the guesswork out of ownership. Through expert-led guidance, proven strategies, and concierge-level services, we help you fast-track your journey to becoming a competent and confident pilot and aircraft owner—no matter where you’re starting.

  • Competence and Confidence: Owning and flying like a seasoned pro.
  • Savings: Thousands saved with evidence-based strategies and techniques.
  • Improved Safety: Making informed decisions with expert-backed guidance.
  • Time Saved: Fast-track your learning curve and focus on flying.
“Quest Aeronautics fills a critical gap in general aviation. Their graduate-level training and evidence-based guidance empower pilot-owners like no one else in the industry.”
Shawn Matthews - Image
Shawn Matthews
Experimental Test Pilot, Former RAAF Squadron Leader & Mooney M20J Owner
What a Test Pilot Says About Us
What a Test Pilot Says About Us

Your Trusted Partner in Aircraft Ownership and Operation

At Quest Aeronautics’ Pilot-Owner Academy, we believe every pilot and aircraft owner deserves a streamlined and stress-free journey to confident aircraft ownership.

Founded by aviation professionals with decades of expertise, our Academy provides a full-service program tailored to meet the unique needs of aspiring and seasoned pilots and aircraft owners alike. Here’s why we’re different:

  • Expert Guidance: Leverage the knowledge of aviation veterans who have managed aircraft operations, airworthiness, and ownership for years, saving you countless hours of trial and error.
  • Proven Strategies: Benefit from methods designed to save you time, reduce costs, and maximize safety.
  • Concierge-Level Support: From aircraft selection to ongoing airworthiness management, we handle the complexities so you can focus on flying.

We’re passionate about delivering clarity, efficiency, and confidence to every client we serve. Our mission is to empower you with the tools, insights, and services needed to master aircraft ownership and operation, no matter your starting point.

Quest Aeronautics - Logo
Quest Aeronautics - Pilot-Approved Excellence

Solving the Challenges of Aircraft Ownership and Operation

  • Who to Trust: With dealers and service providers pushing their own agendas, it’s hard to know if you’re getting unbiased advice.
  • Managing Maintenance: Continuing airworthiness and maintenance coordination are complex. Engine condition monitoring is often overlooked, leading to missed warning signs that could prevent costly repairs or unsafe situations. Mechanics may not keep owners informed during the process, leaving you in the dark until the bill arrives.
  • Optimizing Operations: Engine management, particularly leaning techniques, is often neglected or misunderstood, resulting in wasted fuel, higher operating costs, and reduced reliability.
  • Time Wasted: Navigating these complexities without expert guidance can cost you countless hours—time better spent enjoying the freedom of flying.

Without the right guidance, these challenges can lead to stress, wasted money, lost time, and even compromised safety.

The Solution: Simplify Ownership and Elevate Operations

Our comprehensive programme is designed to take the guesswork out of ownership and elevate your aviation experience.

Proactive Airworthiness Framework – Airworthiness Management

Take the stress out of airworthiness with expert management and guidance.

What We Deliver:

  • Management Made Easy: We partner with trusted CAMOs/CAOs (Europe) and SavvyAviation (US) to ensure your aircraft’s continuing airworthiness is handled seamlessly.
  • Proactive Strategies: Learn reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) principles and set up engine condition monitoring to catch potential issues early.
  • Expert Guidance: Gain actionable strategies for maintenance shop communication and oversight, ensuring transparency and cost-efficiency.

Why It Matters:

  • Save up to 30% on maintenance costs with proactive strategies.
  • Minimize downtime and improve operational reliability with expert-led solutions.
  • Build confidence in managing airworthiness while enjoying peace of mind.
  • Reclaim time spent coordinating maintenance and troubleshooting by leveraging expert support and proactive solutions.

Studies show that combining RCM and engine condition monitoring can save up to 30% in costs over traditional fixed-schedule maintenance approaches.

Advanced Aircraft Operations Guide – Aircraft Operation

Master the skills needed to operate your Continental or Lycoming poweredaircraft safely and efficiently.

What We Deliver:

  • Advanced Engine Management: Learn techniques such as advanced leaning, over-square operation, and optimal temperature management to maximize efficiency and engine lifespan.
  • Operational Support: Receive aircraft-specific test cards and checklists for enhanced safety and efficiency.
  • Precision Control: Enhance your stick-and-rudder skills with concepts like angle of attack and the backside of the power curve.

Why It Matters:

  • Cut fuel costs by up to 40% with advanced engine management.
  • Fly with competence and precision, knowing you’ve mastered key skills for safe and efficient operation.
  • Reduce inefficiencies and focus on what matters most—flying confidently and efficiently.
  • Accelerate your learning curve—master advanced techniques in weeks, not years, and focus your time on enjoying the freedom of flying.

Proper engine management techniques significantly lower operational costs and extend engine lifespan, while advanced flying skills reduce safety risks and increase pilot confidence.

Your Path to Confident Aircraft Ownership Starts Here

Our programme is a premium, all-inclusive experience designed to eliminate guesswork, save years of trial and error, and set you up for success as a competent and confident pilot and aircraft owner.

What’s Included:

  • Comprehensive Guidance: Expert-led support covering airworthiness and maintenance management, advanced aircraft operation, and tailored solutions to help you navigate every aspect of aircraft ownership and operation with confidence.
  • Lifetime Resources: Lifetime access to curated resources, tools, and checklists to keep you ahead in your aviation journey.
  • Personalized Service: One-on-one mentoring tailored to your aircraft, mission, and goals, ensuring every solution is aligned with your unique needs.
  • Exclusive Bonuses: Additional resources and services valued at over €10,000, including advanced aviation workshops, personalized mission templates, and expert equipment recommendations.

Programme Cost: €24,000 (excl. VAT)

Due to the personalised nature of our programme, we limit enrolment to 12 clients at a time, with only 3 new clients accepted per quarter. Once the cap is reached, no additional spots will be available, so we encourage early applications.

Sign up this quarter and get free one-year access to our Exclusive Pilot-Owner Alumni Support Programme (valued at €4,175).

Talk to us

We’re dedicated to supporting your journey in aviation. Whether you’re curious about the Pilot-Owner Academy, need more information about our training programme, or have specific questions, we’re here to help. Our team is ready to assist you in finding the right resources and opportunities to elevate your aviation experience.

Get In Touch

What a Test Pilot & Mooney M20J Owner Says About Us

As a military pilot, it is normal that in the years following graduation from basic flying training (“Wings”) courses, and even after initial conversion onto your first operational type, you will still be diving into the books and working hard to progress to an operational combat status. You will be mentored, challenged, and assessed by more experienced operational crews, flight commanders, and squadron executives. Continual learning and development is normalised—a continuous process of assimilating an almost insurmountable amount of information across different areas such as systems knowledge, operational procedures, and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs). While the motivation and effort are your own, you are supported by a large organisation with decades of experience, knowledge, and lessons learned that are captured, collated, and made explicitly available to you.

Even after transitioning to experimental and certification test flying in the civilian sector, often with general aviation aircraft, the experience and culture of my prior large organisation and professional aviation foundations have supported me. These foundations of continual learning, seeking to understand and perhaps challenge existing knowledge and procedures, and seeking evidence-based facts to understand and justify operational procedures, have greatly aided me in successfully developing a small independent “third party” flight test department within an EASA Design Organisation. It also greatly assisted me as the recent proud owner of a Mooney M20J.

With this background, it has been interesting to observe the contrast with general aviation, which I have pursued recreationally alongside my professional aviation career. I would still consider myself an amateur in many regards when it comes to the operation of small GA aircraft and their legacy Continental and Lycoming powerplants. I have experienced first-hand some of the confusion and pitfalls of this less structured environment. It has been welcome and refreshing to see the development of communities around organisations such as Quest Aeronautics, which are collating and disseminating evidence-based knowledge and experience into the general aviation world, providing some “post-graduate” support to recreational pilots, particularly owner pilots.

The general aviation world lacks reliable information for various reasons. Some information is retained behind the manufacturer’s intellectual property protection. General aviation tends to operate small fleets in localised environments, limiting the ability to collate and disseminate data and information. In the small airfield school or club setting, there is often a large hierarchical gap, populated with the “CFI” and perhaps older retired professional pilots on the one hand, and very junior student pilots or low-time occasional flyers on the other. There is not often a group of “near-peer” pilots in the middle to easily and openly share experiences and debate options or consider better ways to do things. It is easy to see how the younger cadre are reluctant to challenge mainstream, conventional “wisdom,” and perhaps the older group rely on old knowledge and become dogmatic.

It is particularly isolating to be a pilot-owner, where even interactions in a school or club environment are not available. There are no organisations directly aligned with the pilot-owner. Manufacturers and maintenance shops are aligned only in the sense of “customer satisfaction” to compete in the marketplace. They must factor in other considerations to make their products and services commercially viable. This tends to drive them (along with regulators) to risk aversion. There is no upside to a manufacturer, maintenance shop, or regulator supporting the extension of a component beyond recommended time intervals on condition. It is difficult for the independent pilot-owner to know what the regulatory limits are and what is an appropriate balance of risk versus costs or lost time, etc. There has been no independent resource available for guidance or advice.

That is why I am particularly pleased to see organisations such as Quest Aeronautics, founded by Sebastian Neudorfer, entering this space. It is an opportunity to build a community with data from a large fleet of aircraft and across the experience of many general aviation pilot-owners. They bring professional-level knowledge and experience, relying on evidence-based information to provide support to general aviation pilots who want to progress their knowledge and development.

Quest Aeronautics provides “graduate level” courses that assist pilots to move from the student level towards a more systematic and evidence-based model for improving their operational procedures and support owner pilots to take control of the continued airworthiness of their aircraft. They serve to fill the missing “near-peer” collaboration of disseminating best practices and continual learning and development in general aviation.

Organisations like Quest Aeronautics seek to provide a service and “graduate level” training in a commercial model that is independent and fully aligned with the interests of the pilot-owner. The Pilot-Owner Academy is a welcome part of that process and I think fills a valuable gap in the general aviation environment.

Shawn Matthews - Image

Shawn Matthews

Experimental Test Pilot
Former Squadron Leader, Royal Australian Air Force
EASA Flight Test Rating (Aeroplanes)
Mooney M20J Owner

Shawn Matthews - Image

Shawn Matthews

Experimental Test Pilot
Former Squadron Leader, Royal Australian Air Force
EASA Flight Test Rating (Aeroplanes)
Mooney M20J Owner

What a Test Pilot & Mooney M20J Owner Says About Us

As a military pilot, it is normal that in the years following graduation from basic flying training (“Wings”) courses, and even after initial conversion onto your first operational type, you will still be diving into the books and working hard to progress to an operational combat status. You will be mentored, challenged, and assessed by more experienced operational crews, flight commanders, and squadron executives. Continual learning and development is normalised—a continuous process of assimilating an almost insurmountable amount of information across different areas such as systems knowledge, operational procedures, and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs). While the motivation and effort are your own, you are supported by a large organisation with decades of experience, knowledge, and lessons learned that are captured, collated, and made explicitly available to you.

Even after transitioning to experimental and certification test flying in the civilian sector, often with general aviation aircraft, the experience and culture of my prior large organisation and professional aviation foundations have supported me. These foundations of continual learning, seeking to understand and perhaps challenge existing knowledge and procedures, and seeking evidence-based facts to understand and justify operational procedures, have greatly aided me in successfully developing a small independent “third party” flight test department within an EASA Design Organisation. It also greatly assisted me as the recent proud owner of a Mooney M20J.

With this background, it has been interesting to observe the contrast with general aviation, which I have pursued recreationally alongside my professional aviation career. I would still consider myself an amateur in many regards when it comes to the operation of small GA aircraft and their legacy Continental and Lycoming powerplants. I have experienced first-hand some of the confusion and pitfalls of this less structured environment. It has been welcome and refreshing to see the development of communities around organisations such as Quest Aeronautics, which are collating and disseminating evidence-based knowledge and experience into the general aviation world, providing some “post-graduate” support to recreational pilots, particularly owner pilots.

The general aviation world lacks reliable information for various reasons. Some information is retained behind the manufacturer’s intellectual property protection. General aviation tends to operate small fleets in localised environments, limiting the ability to collate and disseminate data and information. In the small airfield school or club setting, there is often a large hierarchical gap, populated with the “CFI” and perhaps older retired professional pilots on the one hand, and very junior student pilots or low-time occasional flyers on the other. There is not often a group of “near-peer” pilots in the middle to easily and openly share experiences and debate options or consider better ways to do things. It is easy to see how the younger cadre are reluctant to challenge mainstream, conventional “wisdom,” and perhaps the older group rely on old knowledge and become dogmatic.

It is particularly isolating to be a pilot-owner, where even interactions in a school or club environment are not available. There are no organisations directly aligned with the pilot-owner. Manufacturers and maintenance shops are aligned only in the sense of “customer satisfaction” to compete in the marketplace. They must factor in other considerations to make their products and services commercially viable. This tends to drive them (along with regulators) to risk aversion. There is no upside to a manufacturer, maintenance shop, or regulator supporting the extension of a component beyond recommended time intervals on condition. It is difficult for the independent pilot-owner to know what the regulatory limits are and what is an appropriate balance of risk versus costs or lost time, etc. There has been no independent resource available for guidance or advice.

That is why I am particularly pleased to see organisations such as Quest Aeronautics, founded by Sebastian Neudorfer, entering this space. It is an opportunity to build a community with data from a large fleet of aircraft and across the experience of many general aviation pilot-owners. They bring professional-level knowledge and experience, relying on evidence-based information to provide support to general aviation pilots who want to progress their knowledge and development.

Quest Aeronautics provides “graduate level” courses that assist pilots to move from the student level towards a more systematic and evidence-based model for improving their operational procedures and support owner pilots to take control of the continued airworthiness of their aircraft. They serve to fill the missing “near-peer” collaboration of disseminating best practices and continual learning and development in general aviation.

Organisations like Quest Aeronautics seek to provide a service and “graduate level” training in a commercial model that is independent and fully aligned with the interests of the pilot-owner. The Pilot-Owner Academy is a welcome part of that process and I think fills a valuable gap in the general aviation environment.

Sebastian Neudorfer - Image_square

Sebastian Neudorfer

General Manager, Quest Aeronautics GmbH
Commercial Pilot (EASA, SEP/MEP/TMG/IR)
Flight Test Engineer | Aeronautical Engineer

Sebastian is the General Manager of Quest Aeronautics, where he supports pilot-owners in navigating the challenges of aircraft ownership and operation with competence and confidence.

Before turning to aviation full-time, Sebastian worked for more than a decade in the chemical industry. His passion for flying eventually led him to pursue an engineering degree programme focused on aviation. He later completed a short course in fixed-wing performance and flying qualities flight testing at the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, California.

Sebastian holds a commercial pilot’s license for fixed-wing aircraft with several ratings and has accumulated experience as a flight test engineer, head of flight operations, and operational as well as demonstration pilot. His unique combination of technical knowledge and hands-on flying experience shapes the direction of Quest Aeronautics and the Pilot-Owner Academy.

He is committed to helping pilots and aircraft owners take control of their aviation journey—by challenging the status quo, simplifying complexity, and fostering a culture of trust, safety, and continuous learning in general aviation.