Pilot Spotlight

With families taking flights to vacation destinations nationally and internationally over the summer months, many have their mind on the skies. However, with commercial flights, you rarely encounter those guiding the plane from one location to another.

While you may never have the opportunity to learn the backstory of some of these essential workers, Thrive introduces you to three pilots with local ties who describe the joy that comes with a career in aviation and what inspired them to enter the industry.

All three pilots work for Rock Solid Aviation, a flight school opened by Steve Thompson in 2018 and named after the late Rock Palermo. The school, located at Lake Charles Regional Airport, provides opportunities for the community to obtain various flight licenses. In the following pages, meet Viktoriia Thompson, Dongsung Kang and Alan Abduzhalilov.

Viktoriia Thompson

Viktoriia Thompson’s only experience with aircraft had been flying with commercial airlines when she would leave her home country of Ukraine for vacation. However, that all changed when she met her husband, Steve Thompson, owner of Rock Solid Aviation, a flight school located at Lake Charles Regional Airport.

Viktoriia recalls the day she met Steve after having communicated for just a month or two. “It was a rainy day, and I was in a bright yellow coat. I saw him and ran to hug him.” For their first date, Steve took Viktoriia to an airport and introduced her to small planes with a flight over Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

The couple were married in November 2020 at The Pioneer Club, and then aviation became part of everyday life for Viktoriia. “I learned flying slowly. I learned a lot flying with my husband every week. I learned the aviation language. English is my second language and aviation is a third language.”

Viktoriia is now manager at Rock Solid Aviation and has a student license but recently finished her cross-country training and solo flights. She will sit for her checkride test shortly to obtain her private pilot license. The license will allow her to fly in good weather conditions and carry passengers, but it does not allow for compensation. Viktoriia says one of her main goals in getting her license is to travel to the different flight school branches and help the employees there. Rock Solid Aviation has branches in Lake Charles, Beaumont, Orange, DeRidder and New Orleans with plans to expand to at least three more airports in 2025.

“It’s been my dream the last few years [to learn aviation]. I’ve been studying hard. Flying builds a lot of confidence. I give commands on the ground but have to take commands up there,” Viktoriia says, pointing to the sky.

Not only was Viktoriia introduced to the aviation industry through marriage, she has also been involved in humanitarian efforts since the war in Ukraine broke out. In partnership with Trinity Church, Steve and Viktoriia were able to send boxes of medicine to the country. Viktoriia recounts the time she did a KPLC interview and people recognized her in Kroger, giving her funds to support the cause. “The people here have heart and soul,” she says.

Since the beginning of the war, Viktoriia has helped bring 16 Ukrainian refugees to Lake Charles, including two families who have disabled children. Some of the refugees work at Rock Solid Aviation as pilots, instructors, mechanics and fuelers. Viktoriia also supports Nashi, an anti-human trafficking organization that houses underage girls who have been evacuated from Ukraine to Poland.

Helping in these ways, she says, brings her peace. Originally from the east Ukrainian city, Dnipro, Viktoriia notes that there are Ukrainian soldiers now living in her childhood home. Her grandmother is still there and sleeps in her clothes in case the front, which is only a few miles away, is breached.

Back in the aviation world, Viktoriia says, “I get to meet so many different people—doctors, lawyers …. Our clients often become our friends. We travel together. We share meals at each other’s homes. We help each other. My grandmother was saved by a flight student and friend, Dr. Niazy Selim, who is a highly respected surgeon who volunteered to do emergency surgery. I’m grateful my husband and I get to share aviation as our work and passion.”

Dongsung Kang

Dongsung Kang was born and raised in Vietnam but is of South Korean ethnicity. He became intrigued by aviation during his flights to and from South Korean to visit family. “I would see beautiful views and the engines sounded cool. I thought, ‘One day I want to be a pilot,’” Kang says.

Upon graduating high school, Kang researched flight schools in the United States and attended the University of Utah for a year before returning to South Korea for mandatory military service. He served in the Marine Corps for two years before returning to the U.S. and attending Western Michigan University on a scholarship.

Kang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aviation flight science in December 2024 and accepted a job offer from Rock Solid Aviation. It was a whopping 19-hour drive from Michigan to Lake Charles. He began his position as a full-time flight instructor in January.

“I studied hard, usually five to six hours a day, even on holidays, to get my certificates as soon as possible to minimize the cost,” Kang says. “My dad worked really hard to pay for my flight training degree and I didn’t want him to be disappointed. I believe in myself and that my hard work is going to pay off.”
Kang has his private pilot license, an instrument rating and a commercial pilot license. As a flight instructor, he is gaining hours to obtain an airline transport pilot license, which is needed to fly for a commercial airline. 1,500 hours are usually required for the license, but Kang only needs 1,000 hours since he holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation. He estimates it will take two years to finish his flight hours.

Being a flight instructor is highly dependent on external factors. Kang’s schedule varies greatly due to the number of students he has, students’ schedules and weather conditions. He notes that weather here in SWLA is milder than that of Michigan, especially in the winter, and that, while flying, he takes in beautiful views ranging from local lakes to the Gulf.

Kang’s dream is to become an airline pilot, and he plans to work at a regional airline upon completing his hours before moving to a larger airline such as Delta. Kang’s desire is to pilot international flights, try a variety of cuisines and immerse himself in other cultures. “Life is short. I want to do as much as possible to enjoy my life.”

With the ability to schedule and deal with clients directly at Rock Solid Aviation, Kang says his work environment is relaxed and flexible. If you’ve always dreamed of learning how to fly, get in touch with Kang and he can help you earn your certificates.

Alan Abduhzalilov

Born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine, Alan Abduhzalilov’s childhood home was near an airport. As planes passed overhead, Abduhzalilov remembers looking up at them in the sky and dreaming of being a pilot. His dad also dreamed of being a pilot but was unable to fulfill his aspiration due to health reasons and the cost of flight training.

Abduhzalilov’s family history is an interesting one. His grandmother escaped North Korea and made her way to Uzbekistan. However, due to issues like local terrorism and communism, Abduhzalilov’s relatives settled in Ukraine.

Having started college and flight training in Ukraine before the war broke out, Abduhzalilov’s dreams were halted with the Russian invasion. His mom and two younger brothers escaped to Romania the day the war began, and he followed six months later, working in a coffee shop to support his family.

When the Uniting for Ukraine program, spearheaded by then President Biden, was initiated, Abduhzalilov started searching for a sponsor in the United States. The program, now closed, allowed refugees to seek shelter in the U.S. for a period of time if they had a sponsor.

Steve Thompson, owner of Rock Solid Aviation, saw Abduhzalilov in a Facebook group of refugees looking for humanitarian parole and knew he was the perfect candidate to bring to Lake Charles. With the help of a student loan from Thompson, Abduhzalilov arrived in the United States on March 25, 2023, and began receiving flight training. Not only did Abduhzalilov finish his training in eight short months, he did so while working to fuel planes at Freeman Jet Center and stints at Buffalo Wild Wings and 121 Artisan Bistro.

Abduhzalilov not only holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation, but also a private pilot license, an instrument rating certification, a commercial pilot license, a flight instructor license and a flight instructor with an instrument rating license. He began working as manager for Rock Solid Aviation in autumn 2023 and is now manager at the New Orleans branch located at Lakefront Airport. He runs the flight school, oversees maintenance and billing, and provides flight instruction.

Thompson describes Abduhzalilov as “the hardest working person I’ve ever met.” As for Abduhzalilov, he says his return to aviation “was unbelievable. I never thought I’d be able to do it again.” As for future endeavors, Abduhzalilov says he is enjoying work and “happy with what I have.” He emphasizes it’s hard to make concrete plans while the war continues and when his legal status ends in late 2026. The one certainty is that he hopes to return to Ukraine one day.