Meet The Team
Alex Kelley
Owner
CFI, CFII, MEI
Alex grew up in Glen Allen, Virginia and first moved to the Harrisonburg area in 2010 to attend James Madison University. Upon graduating in 2014 with a degree in history he decided to attend flight school. After completing flight school in 2015 he came back to Harrisonburg to be a flight instructor at Blue Ridge Aviation and has been here ever since. In 2017 he became owner and manager of Blue Ridge Aviation and Charlottesville Flight Center. When Alex isn’t flying he enjoys spending time with his wife and their two cats, Maddie and Millie, and two dogs, Teddy and Callie.
Braxton Via
MANAGER
CFI, CFII
Braxton is from Waynesboro, VA. He joined our team in 2018 as a high school intern and moved his way on up into a multi-faceted aviation career. Braxton was self-motivated and completed all of his training in house with us! He leads our team at CFC, helps customers buy or sell airplanes, and is a certified flight instructor. He enjoys spending time with his German Shepard named Maverick.
Alex Wilay
CFI
Alex is from Rochester, Mn and came to us in March of 2023 as a CFI. His hobbies include cross country skiing and flying. His dad is a Private Pilot and that inspired Alex to embark upon an aviation career. His goals are to continue his aviation journey with the airlines!
Daniel Carr
CFI, CFII, MEI
Daniel was born in Colorado Springs, CO and lived there until 2017 when he moved to Berkely, CA. He swam collegiately and internationally for five years. After graduating, he got married and embarked on his aviation journey which culminated in them moving to Charlottesville, VA. He was inspired to start flying by both his father and father-in-law, both were pilots.
Quinn Arbogast
CFI
Quinn was born and raised in Harrisonburg,VA. He joined the Navy at 20 years old. After finishing, he traveled the world teaching yoga. Places he traveled include France, Brazil, Costa Rica, Spain, and South Africa. After this, he attended flight school which brought him back home to Virginia where he now is a part of our CFC team.
Harlan Walters
CFI
Harlan was born in Winston-Salem, NC and grew up in Williamsburg, VA. He enjoys flying and spending time outdoors with family and friends. His grandfather inspired him to embark on an aviation career. He flew 747 for Northwest, and Harlan's first flight was with him in an Aeronca Chief. His grandfather also raced in air shows and was a stunt pilot. Harlan completed all of his training at CFC from new pilot all the way through to certified flight instructor!
Matt Ehlers
CFI
Matt was born and raised in Northern Virginia. He attended UVA starting in 2018 and graduated with a degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2022. In 2023 he decided to begin his aviation career and completed all of his pilot ratings up through CFI in six and a half months here at CFC! He is passionate about flying and enthusiastic to have the opportunity to train others! In his spare time, he enjoys skiing and hiking.
Jacob Gimnich
CFI
Jacob grew up in Louisiana and came to Virginia in 2021 to attend Liberty University. He started flight training in 2020 and finished with us here at CFC. He completed his Commercial and CFI in 2024 and is now a part of our instructor team! While flight training, he worked at the airport for Signature Flight Support as a Line Service Technician where he gained valuable aviation experience. He enjoys fishing when he is not up in the air flying!