Brad Detert

CFI / CFII / MEI / ATP

Brad is the founder of Region Flyers. He started flying at age 19 and has since logged over 9,200 hours. He attained his formal training from Purdue University and currently flies the Airbus A320/321 for a Major US Airline.

Brad is qualified on just about every light general aviation aircraft, as well as 7 different corporate jets and airliners.  His job mostly entails running the business but occasionally you’ll find him out teaching in taildragger and multi-engine aircraft.

Brad enjoys swimming, camping, traveling, scuba diving, skiing, and riding and fixing motorcycles.

Tyler Dean

CFI / ATP

Tyler grew up in the region and graduated from Lewis University’s Aviation Flight Program. From there he began working in various positions at a local FBO and Charter company. Tyler is currently a Captain on several business jets out of the Gary Airport.  He is a natural and very patient teacher!

Tyler enjoys fishing, hiking, playing hockey and softball in his free time. 

Tim Earles

CFI / CFII / MEI

Tim is our Assistant Chief Flight Instructor.  He has been obsessed with the physics of flight for as long as he can remember, but it wasn’t until after college that he decided to pursue the dream of becoming a professional pilot. He has done all of his training here at VPZ. Tim is a CFI/CFII/MEI and can teach you pretty much any course you desire!

In addition to flying Tim teaches Algebra 2 and Physics part-time at a local high school.  See you in the sky Professor!

Josh Wittmer

CFI / CFII

Josh is studying Professional Flight at Purdue University.  He began flying at Valparaiso, where he received his Private Pilot License.

Josh is a CFI/CFII.

Josh enjoys flying, traveling, volunteering on the Fire Department and working on his family farm.

Andy Dessuit

CFI

Amanda Ji

CFI

Amanda was born in Taiwan, home of beautiful scenery. It’s no wonder she is adventurous and loves the outdoors. Coming to the U.S. opened some new windows of opportunities for Amanda and with strong influences in the field of aviation, she set out to build a new career doing what she loves!

Earning her PPL in 2018 she went on to become a CFI shortly after. Sharing her love of flying with her students, Amanda says she is “living her dream” and loves seeing the success of students living theirs!

Justin Seng

CFI/CFII/MEI

Justin grew up fascinated by airplanes and the magic of flight, but never thought the daydreaming could actually be hiding a possible career.  After trying many other paths, he decided to take a chance and dropped everything to give it a shot. Ever since that first taste of flight he still can’t get enough and loves every moment he can spend helping others to chase their own dreams in the sky!

When he isn’t flying or nerding out about aerodynamics, Justin loves traveling, reading, sailing Lake Michigan, and backpacking the great outdoors.

Barry Moore

CFI / CFII/ MEI / ATP

Barry grew up in the Chicago area and earned his initial ratings in California over 30 years ago. While currently an engineer for a chemical company, he is always looking to fly.  His 4000 plus hours of flying experience ranges from flight instruction to regional airline captain.

Barry is a CFI/CFII/MEI.

He is excited to share his passion for aviation while helping others achieve their own goals

Mitchell Bolda

CFI

Mitchell has been fascinated since a young age by travelling, weather formations, and driving anything that could be operated.  He decided to combine all his passions into one form – aviation of course.

Mitchell completed his Private Pilot training at Region Flyers before moving on to more ratings while enrolled as an Aviation Major at Purdue University.  As soon as he earned his CFI certificate, he couldn’t wait to come back to Region to instruct.

In Mitchell’s free time, he enjoys spending time with family, boating, water-skiing, and winter snow sports.  Mitchell is a Christmas fanatic and enjoys serving at his Church.

Quite an enterprising young man, Mitchell has aspirations to be the Chief Pilot of American Airlines in the future.  See you in the sky Mitch!

Phil DePaolis

CFI

Phil has been obsessed with all things aviation related since he was a small child. Growing up, he spent many hours building model airplanes and badgering anyone who would listen with obscure details of aviation history or design.

After graduating college, he earned his CFI certificate and began working as an instructor alongside the rest of the Region Flyers crew.

Phil brings that same childhood love of aviation into the classroom and cockpit each day. His passion is to help each of his students achieve their own dreams of flight. When he’s not flying and teaching, he spends his time with his wife Jenny, who is also a teacher, and their dog Lola. 

Luke Sebring

CFI

Luke has always been fascinated by anything to do with airplanes since a very early age.  His Grandpa was a pilot in WWII and would frequently take Luke to airshows where his interest would become borderline obsession.  

Luke obtained his Private Pilot lincense at Region Flyers and would then go on to earn the rest of his ratings and graduate from Purdue University’s flight program.  

In his free time, Luke enjoys going to baseball games and playing shows with his band in which he’s the lead singer!

Tony Rose

Ground School Instructor

Tony, a veteran pilot, former public school teacher and principal, is our Advanced Ground Instructor.

He offers ground school classes twice a week in sessions that last 12 weeks each.  His goal is to prepare prospective private pilots to pass their required FAA written exam. 

In Tony’s free time, he enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren, playing a MEAN guitar, and of course flying!

Contact Tony for details on all things related to ground school.

Lisa Brattain

Flight Operations Manager

Lisa started her love for aviation in the armed forces, where she ran the administrative compenent of a flight wing of attack helicopters! 

Nowadays, Lisa is our expert at fleet and personnell management.  She brings an incredible attitude to the table, being an expert in serveral areas like accounting, scheduling, flight training, customer service and staff management.  All done with a smile that will light up even the darkest room!

While Lisa is not busy running the business, she enjoys flying and spending time with her husband David.