Instructor Spotlight: AeroGuard’s Piper Ambassador Brooke G. Inspires the Next Generation of Student Pilots

While she grew up in the realm of cheerleading, performing, acting, and even working at Disney, Brooke Gassert had a passion for aviation in her heart from the beginning.

In the midst of cheerleading and performing, Brooke had aviation surrounding her everywhere she looked. Her grandpa, dad, and brother all have their Private Pilot Licenses and her dad is even an aerospace engineer! She’s always been around aviation, building a love and appreciation for it.

While she grew up around aviation, Brooke had other dreams she wanted to pursue. In the midst of witnessing her dad and brother’s experiences with flying, Brooke was pursuing her lifelong dream of being a Cast Member at Walt Disney World. Once she got the most out of her career and time at Disney, Brooke realized that there were more dream careers she wanted to pursue.

After her time working in the world of Disney came to a close, Brooke moved back to Phoenix and had the increasing desire to fly and wasn’t able to shake it. When she confided in her dad about this longing to be in the sky and getting her Private Pilot License, but not having the career to do it, her dad encouraged her by saying “Why not make a career out of it?”

And just like that, Brooke’s brother bought her first discovery flight and she knew from that moment this career was meant to be pursued with all the love and appreciation she had for aviation and the industry. After touring AeroGuard’s Phoenix, Arizona campus, she felt it was the right fit for her and officially started her flight training journey.

Her training experience has been filled with a community that’s supported her and cheered her on from start to finish. People that started out as strangers have become some of her closest friends and she’s so thankful she got to do her training with them. Flight training does not come without its challenges, and Brooke learned that there was much more to training than just learning how to fly. As she overcame challenges, she goes back to the community she established and how their support, study groups, and constant encouragement helped get her through those challenges. When it came to conquering checkride nerves, she dedicated time to studying, preparing, praying, and trusting her training and instructor. Brooke took comfort in trusting her instructor and that they had prepared her for this moment.

Her favorite part about the aviation community she’s found herself immersed in is how much other people want to see you succeed and cheer you on, “Even outside of AeroGuard, people want to support and help because we all love aviation and airplanes and want to enjoy them together”.

As AeroGuard’s Piper Brand Ambassador, Brooke has been representing the AeroGuard and Piper Aircraft brand through her love for aviation and flying. She’s loved getting to make connections with other Piper Ambassadors and expanding her knowledge of general aviation, and the beauty of it all. She shared that “the heart within the aviation community is so sweet, and it’s been so cool to support each other through all the checkrides and celebrating success”.

Now becoming an instructor herself, Brooke confides in her past instructors for advice and encouragement in this new phase of her pilot career. When asked about her goals as an instructor and how she hopes to impact her students, Brooke ultimately wants to be the best instructor she can be and set her students up for success. Her instructors knew what she needed as a student and were very conscious of that – she hopes to do that for her students and create a safe environment for them, giving them the knowledge and training they need to succeed. “Getting to do majority of my flight training and now flight instruct out of the same airport I grew up watching my dad and brother fly out of feels like a full circle dream come true and I’m so excited for the opportunity to teach people to fly!”

If she could have any superpower, Brooke’s answer always stayed the same: to fly! Pursuing aviation has allowed her to spend her days flying and seeing the world from a bird’s eye view. As she moves forward with her career by building flight hours and experience, and teaching others not only how to fly but what it’s like to love aviation, Brooke sees herself flying for SkyWest and moving up to a major airline. She’s open to all the careers and possibilities that aviation has in store for her and is excited for what’s to come.

Brooke remains inspired by her dad and brother, their love for aviation and the respect for the industry has influenced her from the very beginning. Within her career, Brooke stated that she “hopes to carry the same love and respect for the industry that they have. It deserves it and that passion can be contagious”.