Elayne Humphrey

Humphrey’s love of aviation started when she was inspired to become an astronaut. She grew up in the Washington D.C. area watching airplanes take off from Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and wished she was on those airplanes. As a teen, the luxury of flight lessons was not a possibility, so she postponed her dream. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in marketing research from the University of Texas at Arlington, she got married, raised two kids, and had her own website design business. During the 14 years she was homeschooling her kids, she never gave up the hope of flying one day. Finally on May 2, 2018, after taking her first flight lesson, she knew she had found the life path she was longing for — combining her passion to teach and her desire to fly.

In the past five years, Humphrey has gone from student pilot to CFI, CFII, MEI, and earning a seaplane rating — a highlight of her flying time thus far. She won the Ladies in Flight Training scholarship and trained in floatplanes in Talkeetna, Alaska. This led to a great relationship with Alaska Floats & Skis at AK8 where she created and leads a yearly CFI intensive course.

Humphrey’s goal is to inspire others to know that they can do “it” — whatever “it” is for them. At every stage of flight training, she has sought to help people have confidence to pursue their dreams. Each new adventure has opened more possibilities for her to give back to the aviation community. To inspire others, during the month of May for the anniversary of her first lesson, she gives away free lessons.

Her free time is spent reading about and watching aviation-related or instructor-related videos and challenging herself to learn new techniques and knowledge to make her a better pilot, instructor, and mentor. When she is not flying, she loves being outdoors, taking care of her plants, golfing, and traveling with family and friends.