Rapid Flight Training

Rapid Flight Training is an accelerated flight school at Delaware County Regional Airport in Muncie, Indiana, three miles north of Ball State University and five minutes from downtown. It was founded by Matt Lehtinen, who is also its chief instructor, to run what it calls fast, focused flight training: concentrated courses that avoid the relearning caused by pauses between lessons. The school specialises in accelerated instrument ratings and also runs accelerated private pilot and commercial pilot courses, with real-world cross-countries and scenario-based training at the core of the programme.

Training courses

The courses are branded Rapid and follow the school's own curriculum:

• Rapid Private: accelerated private pilot certificate, with a downloadable roadmap on the site
• Rapid Instrument: accelerated instrument rating built around weather, cross-country flying and IFR proficiency
• Rapid Commercial: commercial pilot certificate, manoeuvres and regulations
• Rapid CFI and Rapid CFII: flight instructor and instrument instructor courses
• Complex and high performance endorsements

Discovery lessons are available, and Ball State University students get a reduced-price discovery lesson and a pilot assessment. The school runs seminars, in-person events and live streams for pilots after they finish training, including a flight into known icing seminar, and lists Stratus Financial as a training finance option.

Fleet

The training fleet listed on the site is two Cessna 172S aircraft, N3544W (two Garmin GI 275 displays and a GFC 500 autopilot) and N66LY (two GI 275 and a KAP 150 autopilot), and a Piper Arrow, N533PU, with two GI 275 and a GFC 500. The school says it is continuing to add to and update the fleet. The home page shows a Cirrus SR22, but the courses and fleet listed in October 2026 do not include a Cirrus programme, so ask the school directly about Cirrus training.

Team

Besides the founder, the site lists instructors Lucas Welch (a founding instructor and Ball State physics and meteorology student), Jonathan Nagle (CFI/I, a 15-year US Army veteran who managed Chinook, Black Hawk and Lakota helicopter fleets), Dale Bryant (CFI/I, with time in the Cessna Skyhawk, Piper Warrior, Arrow, Seminole and Diamond DA40) and Jack Swartwood (CFI/I), plus business manager David White, an airline pilot who moved from accounting and finance into flight instruction. The site quotes IndyCar driver and team owner Ed Carpenter as a former student.

Contact

Email: info@rapidflighttraining.com
Description from the company's website (October 2026). Not a Cirrus Aircraft authorized service center. Is this your company? Claim this page to add photos and keep your details up to date.