Avit Flight Academy is a Part 61 flight school founded in 2016 by aviation enthusiasts and professionals in northeastern Ohio, with its headquarters and primary base at Wadsworth Municipal Airport (3G3) in Wadsworth, Ohio. The school operates its Wayne County Airport location under the KBJJ identifier in Smithville​/​Wooster, Ohio — one of five active training locations the school maintains across the greater Akron–Cleveland–Wooster corridor, alongside Akron Fulton Airport (AKR), Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (MFD), and Portage County Regional Airport (POV).   Avit is an award-winning school, having earned the AOPA Distinguished Flight School designation in the 2025 Flight Training Experience Review — a recognition given by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association to high-scoring flight training providers based on student and graduate feedback. The school's stated vision is to inspire, improve, and achieve, and its mission is to provide education, resources, and experiences in the science, discipline, and art of aviation. These formulations reflect an organization that positions itself as a career-track training provider rather than a recreation-only flying club: the school's curriculum ladder runs from Private Pilot through Commercial, Instrument, CFI, CFII, MEI, and Multi-Engine ratings, and the school maintains a dedicated Aviation Degree Programs page, reflecting a partnership with Purdue Global for students seeking academic credentials alongside their flight certificates.   Avit also maintains associations with Wadsworth Municipal Flight Services and The Airplane Clinic, connecting students to maintenance and FBO resources integrated with the school's operations. Training is conducted under both FAR Part 61 and Part 141, giving students and degree-seeking candidates the structural options appropriate to their goals. The school maintains a published alumni network of professional pilots, reinforcing its career pipeline orientation.

Home Airport(s)

Wayne County Airport (IATA: BJJ, ICAO: KBJJ, FAA LID: BJJ) is a publicly owned, public-use general aviation airport owned by Wayne County, Ohio, located 6 miles northeast of the central business district of Wooster and approximately 2 miles north of Smithville. The airport covers 331 acres at a surveyed elevation of 1,135.5 feet MSL and is found on the Detroit sectional chart. It is managed from 6020 North Honeytown Road, Smithville, OH 44677. The airport was built to replace Wooster Municipal Airport, the former city-operated field located approximately 3 miles southwest, which was decommissioned after 1972 when Wayne County assumed aviation responsibility for the region.   KBJJ is an uncontrolled airport with no FAA control tower. CTAF and UNICOM are on 122.975. ASOS weather is available on 118.075. Instrument flight rules support is provided by Cleveland Approach Control on 125.5 from 0600 to 0100 local time; outside those hours, Cleveland ARTCC (ZOB) provides approach and departure services via the Mansfield Remote Communications Air​/​Ground Outlet (RCAG) on frequencies 134.9 and 269.475. IFR clearance delivery can be obtained by contacting Cleveland Approach at 216-352-2323; when Approach is closed, Cleveland ARTCC at 440-774-0223 or 440-774-0490 serves as the backup. The airport is within Cleveland Center (ZOB) airspace. Airport attendance is 0700–1800 local time. A ramp fee applies to all aircraft, waived with a minimum fuel purchase.   KBJJ has a single asphalt grooved runway, Runway 10​/​28, measuring 5,190 feet by 100 feet in good condition. The airport has recently completed a new parallel taxiway matching the full 5,189-foot runway length, a significant infrastructure upgrade for a general aviation field of this size. High-intensity runway edge lighting (HIRL) is installed, preset to low intensity from dusk to dawn and activatable via CTAF. Runway 10 has a 4-light PAPI on the left at 3.04 degrees and REIL; Runway 28 has a 218-foot displaced threshold, REIL, and a 4-box VASI on the right at 3.0 degrees (with the VASI unusable beyond 8 degrees left of centerline). Published instrument approaches include RNAV (GPS) Runway 10, RNAV (GPS) Runway 28, VOR Runway 10, and VOR Runway 28. Special alternate minimums and special takeoff minimums and departure procedures apply. Left traffic is in use for both Runway 10 and Runway 28. Nearby radio navigation aids include Briggs VOR​/​DME (114.05, 22 nm northwest) and Akron VOR​/​DME (114.40, 34 nm east). Deer are periodically on and in the vicinity of the airport. Major airframe and powerplant repair services are available on the field. Bulk oxygen is available. Fuel service is full-service only; 100LL and Jet-A are available, with after-hours service by calling the airport manager. The FBO is operated directly by the Wayne County Airport, which offers hangars, tiedowns, oxygen service, catering, WiFi, conference rooms, pilot supplies, a crew lounge, snooze rooms, showers, and courtesy and rental cars.   The training environment at KBJJ is characterized by open, low-traffic airspace typical of northeastern Ohio's agricultural interior. The terrain is flat to gently rolling — characteristic of the Glaciated Till Plains of northern Ohio — which provides unrestricted practice area access in all quadrants without significant terrain or obstruction concerns. Cleveland Approach Control's coverage of the airport gives students exposure to radar services and IFR communications from their earliest cross-country flights. Akron-Canton Regional Airport (KCAK) lies 20 miles to the east, providing a nearby Class C airport for cross-country navigation practice. Wadsworth Municipal Airport (Avit's headquarters, 3G3) is 10 miles to the northeast, and Holmes County Airport is 21 miles to the south, creating a dense network of nearby GA fields suitable for student cross-country routing.

Fleet and Facilities

The aircraft assigned to Avit's KBJJ location, per the school's fleet listing, is one Vashon Ranger R7 Light Sport Aircraft. Students at the KBJJ location may also access aircraft from the broader Avit fleet network, particularly the multi-aircraft inventory maintained at the Wadsworth headquarters 10 miles northeast. The school's full fleet spans Cessna 150 and 172 variants, Piper Cherokee and Arrow variants, a Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, a Piper Aztec E, and a Vashon Ranger R7 at Wadsworth, as well as an FAA-certified AATD (Advanced Aviation Training Device) full-motion flight simulator located at the Wadsworth base. The facility at KBJJ is located at 840 Airport Drive, Wayne County Airport, Smithville, OH 44677.   Vashon Ranger R7 Light Sport — N981LA (2020) The Vashon Ranger R7 is a two-seat, low-wing, fixed-gear Light Sport Aircraft manufactured by Vashon Aircraft in the United States and introduced to the market in the late 2010s. It is one of the first all-American-designed and manufactured LSAs to enter the training market at scale, and Avit was an early adopter of the type. N981LA is a 2020 model year aircraft rated at $179.00 per hour wet. The cockpit is equipped with dual 10-inch Dynon SkyView HDX glass panel displays — the same avionics suite found on the Vashon Ranger across the fleet — integrated with engine monitoring, a two-axis SkyView autopilot, a SkyView COM radio, and a two-place intercom. The aircraft is certified VFR only, limiting its use to daytime visual flight operations. The Ranger R7 is powered by a Continental O-200-D engine producing 100 horsepower, cruises at approximately 115 knots, and burns approximately 5 gallons per hour, making it one of the most economical aircraft available for primary training time-building. Its side-by-side seating and modern glass avionics give student pilots a glass cockpit experience from the first lesson, building familiarity with digital flight displays that now dominate the professional aviation environment.   Fleet Access Across the Avit Network Students based at or traveling to KBJJ have access to Avit's broader multi-location fleet for higher-certificate training and specialized coursework. This includes multiple Cessna 150L, 150M, 150G, and A150L two-seat trainers; a range of Cessna 172 variants (172, 172H, 172L, 172M, 172N) with avionics ranging from Garmin 430W and dual G5s to GTN 650 XI and GTN 750 glass panels; a Cessna 182Q with Garmin 530 and Avidyne EX500 traffic and weather displays for high-performance training; two Piper Arrows (a 1979 PA-28-RT-201 and a 1972 PA-28R-200) for complex and high-performance endorsements; Piper Cherokee 140 variants for low-wing primary training; a 1964 Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche for multi-engine training at $406​/​hr wet; a 1975 Piper Aztec E PA-23-250 for multi-engine training at $446​/​hr wet with dual 250-horsepower Continental engines and a Garmin 530W; and a second Vashon Ranger R7 (2023 model, N366VR) at the Wadsworth base. The PFC CR12 AATD simulator at Wadsworth is FAA-certified for single-engine, multi-engine, and turboprop simulation at $70​/​hr, with unlimited-use packages available.

Hours of Operation

Avit's administrative hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Flight training operations extend beyond these hours based on scheduling; students should contact the school directly for current availability at the KBJJ location. The airport is attended 0700–1800.

Additional Notes

Avit Flight Academy's multi-location model is the defining structural feature of the organization from a student perspective. Operating across five airports within a roughly 30-mile radius of the Wadsworth headquarters means a student based in Wooster at KBJJ has access to the same curriculum, instructor network, aircraft fleet, and simulator resources as a student at any other Avit location. This matters most at the advanced certificate levels: a student who does their Private training primarily on the KBJJ Vashon Ranger R7 can access the Piper Arrows for complex and high-performance endorsements, the Twin Comanche or Aztec E for multi-engine training, and the Wadsworth AATD for instrument procedures simulation — all within the same school without transferring enrollment or rebuilding a relationship with a new instructor team.   The Vashon Ranger R7 as the KBJJ flagship aircraft is a deliberate positioning choice that merits examination. The Ranger was designed explicitly to address cost concerns in primary training — its low fuel burn (approximately 5 gallons per hour), competitive acquisition price, and modern glass avionics allow flight schools to offer primary training at a materially lower hourly rate than a Cessna 172. Avit's KBJJ wet rate of $179​/​hr for the Ranger compares favorably to the $183​/​hr rate charged for 172 variants at other Avit locations, and the modern dual Dynon SkyView HDX displays give students glass cockpit proficiency that translates directly to the Garmin G1000 and GTN-equipped aircraft they will encounter at higher certificate levels and in the professional pipeline.   Wayne County Airport's geography and infrastructure are well-matched to training operations. The new full-length parallel taxiway — a notable investment for a county-owned GA field — reduces runway occupancy time during high-activity training periods and eliminates the need for runway back-taxi that constrains operations at many single-runway training airports. At 5,190 feet, Runway 10​/​28 is long enough to support all single-engine piston and multi-engine piston training comfortably, and the instrument approach infrastructure (RNAV GPS and VOR approaches on both ends, plus Cleveland Approach radar coverage) gives Avit's instrument students a full IFR training environment without requiring a trip to a busier airport for approaches. The competitive fuel pricing at the county FBO — among the more accessible in northeastern Ohio — reduces operating costs for an organization flying multiple training hours per day across a multi-aircraft fleet.