Empire Aviation

Empire Aviation Flight School is a flight school owned by Paul Hesse. The site says Hesse is a CFII, ATP, and multi-engine instructor. He was named North Carolina Flight Instructor of the Year in 2002. The school has operated since 1993.

The school offers flight training, discovery flights, and checkrides. The site also has a page for solo flights and checkrides, which lists students who have flown their first solo. It has a student resources page and a section for instructors.

The site says more than 95 percent of its students get their private pilot certificate on the first check ride. It says 100 percent pass on the second. The site says the instructors have more than 130 years of combined flight training experience.

The site lists rental aircraft. These include a Piper Cherokee PA28-140, a Piper Apache PA-23, a Cessna 172, and a Cessna 152. The school also runs a discussion forum for students to exchange information and learn from each other during ground school.

The site has a list of recent updates about students. One update reports a student who earned a Single-Engine Land commercial pilot certificate in September 2026. Another reports a student who has taken her fifth flight with the school.

The school can be reached by phone at 919-815-1169. The contact page has a form for questions and for starting pilot training. The site also shows local weather and airport information for KHNZ, the airport the school uses.