Today we’d like to introduce you to Monika Gietl (Moni), Ludwig Huber (Wigg), and Alexandra Schloesser (Alex). Them and their team share their story with us below:
At the beginning of 2020 – in the midst of her flight training for a private pilot license – Alex came up with the idea to develop her own clothing brand for private pilots. Alex is an expert in marketing and product development, and as she pays a lot of attention to good style herself, she was missing an appealing selection – especially for female pilots – when going for a flight. This is how the Air Lovers brand was born.
Besides the desire for more attractive pilot clothes, Alex loves nature and conveys an eye for that beauty to others through aerial photographs. Also, Alex is known for her unique photo gifts that she creates with such love and passion as she wants to remind people of the beauty that is in our lives which is what also keeps herself going in moments when life just isn’t that great. Alex always ensures that there is an extra portion of humor in her interactions with others and within our team. Both turned out to be great ingredients for writing about flying when Alex literally dreamed about her first aviator story and wrote it down the next day. With these stories, Alex conveys the unique experience of flying in a fun and entertaining way and make it thus accessible to pilots as well as to non-pilots.
Moni loves bringing people together and organizing meetups (online and offline). Together with a friend she started an aviator meetup in her local flight school “Air Munich Aviation” in Jesenwang (Bavaria, Germany) in order to provide a platform where pilots share their passions and flight experiences with each other and come together for flying. One of the highlights was a Top Gun theme party in 2019 which Moni organized together with Alex and two further friends. This group of pilots has grown to over 120 people until today. During 2019 and 2020, Moni lived in Minneapolis, MN and made connections with local flight schools (like Inflight Pilot Training in Eden Prairie, MN), and with flight schools in California, Nevada and Hawaii. At that time, she was planning a U.S. flight tour around Vegas, NV with friends from Germany and the idea came up to connect her home base with the pilots from the U.S. flight schools for a student or flight instructor exchange.
On the other hand, Moni is also the calming and dreamy part of our team. She loves to work with her voice – which is a unique mix of powerful but gentle at the same time – for giving meditations and for creative visualizations. And one day she had the idea to combine that with programming the mind with standard flight procedures to gain more and more security in her own flight practice every day. So she implemented the first – as we call it – “mental flight training” shortly after and we have received lots of positive feedback since then.
Wigg is the one who has the most flying experience on our team. He is an aerobatic pilot and flight instructor flying since 2005 and has a great attention to detail. Thus, he is an essential asset to our team when it comes to the quality of the Air Lovers products but also to very important areas of our creations like security and aeronautical expertise. As a flight instructor, Wigg revolutionizes flight training by using video in order to bring specific knowledge and understanding to pilots which goes beyond current standards.
Furthermore, as a flight enthusiast and aerobatic pilot Wigg also loves traveling and thus encourages other pilots to go beyond their limits. A large number of private pilots only rarely leave their known flight areas, and Wigg wants to convey that a border crossing – e.g. – into European foreign countries is no hurdle. This way he enables others to exceed their comfort zones and experience the freedom that flying comes with.
Together we have organized our first flying tour in 2022 in which we traveled through Europe with other pilots who did not know each other until then.
The joint briefings before, during and after the flight trip and the numerous unforgettable moments and experiences have contributed to the fact that our flying group has grown together in no time and that the strengths of each individual team member of the Air Lovers crew could be perfectly incorporated.
The best compliment that the group could give us afterwards was that they would like to do this kind of flight trip with us at any time again because of the many wonderful experiences and the many learnings, and that they hope to do it again soon.
In this way, the talents, gifts and experiences of our team very naturally grew into the Air Lovers portfolio which consists of…
- Mental Flight Trainings
- Aviator Meetup 2.0
- “Fesch”-ion (Bavarian for “chic”) for Pilots
- Next Level Experiences
- Pilot Stories
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate. It feels like we have full support from the universe. At that moment when Alex, Wigg and Moni put their ideas for aviator stories, pilot clothes and mental flight trainings together the Air Lovers portfolio quickly grew somehow naturally into its five pillars. And only a few days after that we were lucky enough to get a booth at the AERO Friedrichshafen 2022 (an international aviation fair in Germany) which we had only 2 weeks to prepare for. But we were so thrilled! Eventually, it was a fantastic opening and the beginning of a way towards many more exciting encounters and serendipities. To just name a few: Air Munich Aviation expressed interest in a collaboration with us. Inflight Pilot Training is considering coming over for a joint flight trip in Europe and the Bavarian Alps. There have been discussions with Clear Prop Studios about a possible collaboration in the realm of virtual reality and the Metaverse. In addition, we have already collected lots of creative ideas for the AERO Friedrichshafen in 2023, and on top of that, in 2022 we have realized our first joint flight trip to several European countries (Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia) for a group of 8 pilots from Jesenwang this summer. Last but not least, we now have the honor of writing an article for the VoyageMinnesota Magazine – thank you, we appreciate this opportunity very much!
Also, looking backwards, we’re now able to “connect the dots” as Steve Jobs put it in his famous speech at Stanford University. It’s how Alex, Wigg and Moni independently followed their call to fly and were brought together eventually as a team, which is a whole story on its own. And when Moni lived in Minneapolis, MN, and made the first international contacts with several local and further U.S. flight schools… At that time, we didn’t think about Air Lovers yet. But certainly, all of this was not just lucky coincidences. So next we are planning to expand our relationship with all the U.S. flight enthusiasts in the near future and we want to invite everyone around the globe to join our community on Instagram and Facebook and immerse themselves in the world of flying together with us.
We’ve been impressed with Air Lovers – Immerse yourself in the world of flying., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
With Air Lovers we stand for the values of freedom, community, passion, safety, and joy. Because life is simply beautiful and that’s how we think we should look at it and live it.
The Air Lovers crew consists of three passionate pilots. Each of us has our own very unique talents, gifts and experiences. But what unites us all is our vision to create and promote the sense of community as a new “we”-culture in aviation. We provide a platform which allows pilots and other flight enthusiasts to immerse themselves in the world of flying together and connect internationally, using online tools as a means to meet up in the real world.
We enjoy and share fun flight experiences and the feeling of excitement and freedom that comes with flying. Flying with us becomes a completely new experience for pilots worldwide – even outside the airfield.
We see safety in aviation as a crucial ingredient for all of this and thus, contribute responsibly to this area of private pilot flying by offering innovative elements for flight trainings and fostering the open exchange of flight experiences by promoting personal meetings amongst flight enthusiasts, and developing a flight community – all across national borders.
Our clothes are intended to promote recognition among Air Lovers members and serve as a direct conversation enabler, for example, if they – intentionally or unintentionally – happen to bump into each other at an airport or an aviation fair.
Because of all the positive experiences and the many doors that are opening for us with each new day and have already opened, we feel very confident to be on the right track and love seeing our community growing steadily.
Our specialties are:
MENTAL FLIGHT TRAINING
“A completely new kind of flight preparation! Flight procedures will become second nature to you.” – Moni
Haven’t flown traffic circuits for a long time? How about a “Mental Traffic Circuit in KFCM Flying Cloud, Runway 10L”? (visit our website for a sample audio)
Did you know that mental training can significantly increase your practical training success?
“In aviation, good flight preparation is directly related to flight safety.” – Wigg
Mental training can be easily integrated into everyday life, e.g. when running, cooking or traveling. Whether a traffic pattern, precision landing or the emergency landing procedure. All maneuvers and standard procedures are provided via audio files.
Through regular repetition, the procedures are “programmed” into the subconscious through the audios and can therefore be called up at any time if needed. Longer flight breaks in particular can be easily bridged in this way.
AVIATOR MEETUP 2.0
“In 80 days around the world? You can do this in one evening today!
We are creating a new “we” in the aviator community. Digital. Worldwide. Inspiring.
Make exciting new contacts, share stories and experiences with other pilots, discuss and learn together – from and with other pilots.” – Moni
With the Aviator Meetup 2.0 we create a space in which pilots and other people who are enthusiastic about aviation meet with each other.
It’s about the direct exchange between pilots and the common passion for flying! Stories and experiences are shared and the focus is on learning from and with one another. New contacts are made and maybe you want to even arrange to fly together – at home or abroad.
The Aviator Meetup 2.0 takes place via Zoom live meetings. The closed Facebook group “Air Lovers Aviators Lounge” (https://www.facebook.com/
“FESCH”-ION FOR PILOTS
“Have you always wondered where to find good clothes for flying?
Then you are exactly right with us. Our collection for pilots is comfortable, functional and also “fesch” (chic)! We cordially invite you to browse our online shop.” – Alex
Our collection is constantly being expanded and intended to give both, pilots and non-pilots, a lot of joy – during flying, but also in their remaining free time.
The “Fesch”-ion for pilots is available from our online shop: https://air-lovers.com/
NEXT LEVEL EXPERIENCES
Travel the world together with Air Lovers and your friends, experience its beauty and the feeling of total freedom!
From the quick “500 $ burger” trip to the next airfield restaurant, to airfield parties, to very special flight trips for sightseeing or a spontaneous visit to the beach. We organize unparalleled flight trips for pilots as well as non-pilots – stunning scenery, an indescribable sense of community and exciting experiences included.
PILOT STORIES
“We conduct exciting interviews with flight students, freshly graduated pilots and experienced aviator icons – up close and from real aviator life!” – Wigg
What could be more exciting than immersing first-hand into the lives of experienced pilots or freshly minted soloists?
No matter what life situation. Whether you are a “pedestrian” or just starting your career as a pilot, whether you are in the middle of or after the end of the active flight time, everyone has a story to tell.
Learning from the experiences of others, avoiding tricky situations, feeling understood in case of uncertainties because you are not alone with these thoughts, and being able to make the right decisions in similar situations right away.
“Are you a pilot, a dream or cloud dancer? Wonderful! We also can’t stop dreaming of flying and share our stories with you from all sorts of different perspectives.” – Alex
We transform experiences into emotionally moving and easy-to-understand stories that appeal to pilots and non-pilots, from young to old, and invite them to dream of flying – no matter what stage in their aviation career they are at.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Inflight Pilot Training (https://inflightpilottraining.com/, https://www.instagram.com/inflightpilottraining/) – Super professional flight school in Eden Prairie, MN and hopefully our soon to be guest in our home base Jesenwang (EDMJ) in Bavaria, Germany for a joint flight in the Alps.
Leaders Ignited (https://leaders-ignited.com/, https://www.instagram.com/leaders_ignited/) – Monika Gietl is also an expert, coach and sparring partner for meeting culture of the new era. Her mission is to open so called “Wisdom Rooms” for executives and leadership teams in corporate business in which access to new resources is made possible. She does this by supporting them in getting in touch with their inner wise instance so that they find their very own answers and questions to what is relevant to them.
Leaders Ignited organizes online aviator meetups for pilots worldwide in the name of Air Lovers. In addition, Leaders Ignited creates audio-supported, mental flight training for Air Lovers in cooperation with flight schools and clubs.
Clear Prop Studios (https://www.clearpropstudios.com/welcome-to-clear-prop-studios/, https://www.instagram.com/clearpropstudios/) – A passionate startup who create super realistic and unparalleled models of general aviation airfields for flight simulators. They opened us the door to our first booth at the AERO Friedrichshafen 2022 (an international aviation fair in Germany) and we are looking forward to further potential cooperation in the realm of virtual reality and the Metaverse.
Flieger Revue (https://www.fliegerrevue.aero/, https://www.instagram.com/flieger_revue/) – A very well-known flight magazine in Germany. They shared their booth with us on the AERO Friedrichshafen 2022.
Vimana (https://www.vimana-gmbh.de/en/) – Highly innovative supplier for software, seminars, and trainings for pilots, and our first official partner (look out for special conditions when booking through Air Lovers;-)).
Sam Hentges (https://hentgesphoto.com/, https://www.instagram.com/samhanwiches/) – A passionate and brilliant hobby photographer and good friend from Minneapolis, MN. Also, he is the creator of our phantastic imagery from Moni’s flight trip from Flying Cloud (KFCM) in Eden Prairie, MN to Sky Harbor Regional Airport (KDYT) in Duluth, MN.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://air-lovers.com/en/home-en/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airlovers.official/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airlovers
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjsjN9DON8E4kmLE_Rcl2g
Image Credits
Sam Hentges
Air Lovers Crew
