Meet Aaron Foster

Humble beginnings for CFII Aaron Foster have turned into a tried-and-true, go-to reputation for Foster Aviation, a flight school specializing in backcountry and tailwheel instruction at the Missoula Montana Airport (KMSO) in the western part of the state. 

“I always wanted to be a pilot, but there are two limiting factors,” said Foster, 52. “I think everybody can agree on time and money. If you have more of one, you have less of the other.” 

The only pilot Foster knew, his uncle, gave him two key pieces of advice: “Don’t learn to fly in the middle-of-nowhere Idaho because you’ll always be afraid of busy airspace and radio work, and learn to fly in a taildragger.”

With that guidance, Foster was well on his way. 

“I found myself doing a three-year stint in Portland [Oregon], and every day I was driving by Pearson Field [KVUO in Vancouver, Washington], right across the river from Portland’s class Charlie airspace,” said Foster. “They had a 1945 J-5 Cub they did training in, so I did my training there and never looked back. That was in 2008, and I got my private [certificate] in 2009.”

After earning additional ratings and moving to Montana 15 years ago, Foster has been enjoying the rewards of his work as a full-time professional pilot and flight instructor.

When you’re an accomplished pilot living on the edge of arguably the best and most challenging backcountry flying the nation has to offer, flying for a living can look a bit different than most full-time pilot gigs. 

“During the busy season I’m flying in and out of the backcountry seven days a week,” he said. “Every day is different, but typically I’m flying fishermen, hunters, backpackers, and general supplies out to outfitters and lodges.”

With 3,500 hours under his belt, mainly in Cessna 206s in and out of Montana and Idaho’s vast wilderness, Foster enjoys teaching pilots the art and nuances of this unique general aviation lifestyle. 

“Backcountry flying is kind of like fly-fishing,” he said. “You learn something new every time you go.”

Through his business, Foster Aviation, he has introduced hundreds of individuals to the backcountry. But setting the tone and expectations for those kinds of lessons is vital. 

“Most people when they come here wanting backcountry instruction, they want to go fly in the backcountry,” Foster said. “But that’s not where you go to learn. The backcountry is where you go to test out the skill set you’ve already got. Ninety-five percent of people that come to me wanting that instruction, they’re already realizing within a couple laps in the pattern that they aren’t ready for the backcountry. That’s where the frontcountry comes into play.” 

Missoula’s frontcountry includes a few key airports within a 20-30 minute flight of KMSO. 

“Polson, Ronan, Seeley, Condon, and even Missoula are all classified as frontcountry strips,” said Foster. “We can’t go do laps in the backcountry. There’s far more people out there that don’t enjoy the sound of a Cessna 185’s prop breaking the sound barrier than people that do enjoy it out there.”

Although flatlanders might believe that the art of backcountry flying must be learned and practiced in faraway, mountainous places with talented instructors (which is true), Foster believes that those building blocks begin at home. 

“It’s not rocket science,” he said. “All you have to be able to do is be able to configure the airplane, hit your airspeed, hit your altitude, and nail spot landings. When that’s second nature, then, yeah, we can go out and start exploring those easier strips and gradually work our way up.” 

Once Foster feels comfortable with a student’s skill set, it’s time to head into the wilderness.

“We will go in, do one approach, one landing, get out, look around, [and] ideally you would camp or fish, and then you get back in and depart,” he said. “And you always climb up to a reasonable altitude, as you’re heading out to the next spot so we aren’t annoying other users of these areas—and for safety reasons, of course.

“Picture yourself as a monkey swinging from a tree. You always need to be holding a branch. And that branch is where you go if the engine goes quiet. The lower you are, the closer together your branches need to be. Hopefully, it never happens, but, boy, an engine out in the backcountry in some places is just not going to be pleasant.” 

On the off chance that a pilot is faced with an engine out over vast mountain terrain, Foster has a few takeaways for his students.

“Sometimes your best bet is a ridgetop, but it always depends,” he said. “You can go uphill and into regen (new trees), as opposed to older trees because it will be softer. But there’s certain places, like the Impassable Canyon on the Middle Fork [of the Salmon River in central Idaho], that there’s nothing good, except the river, and it’s all rapids.

“You’re going to go upside down, and it is going to be insanely difficult to get out. But everything else is pure granite. What else are you going to do?”

Pilots know that being prepared for any situation while flying is essential. But in the backcountry a lack of readiness can be the difference between life and death. 

“I always have two ways of communicating: to get out and get the professionals coming in, like our friends at Two Bear Air [Rescue],” Foster said. “A Spot [beacon] and an inReach [messenger from Garmin] are essentials. One of them is always on my body, and the other one is strapped in the plane. I wear a fly vest with survival gear. You can’t bank on your life-or-death necessities being accessible. If it’s not on your body, it could burn up or float away.”

Although there is an additional element of risk associated with flying into the backcountry, instructors like Foster make it possible to experience some of the nation’s most dramatic and isolated regions in a safe and systematic manner. 

“We are so fortunate here in Missoula to have so many backcountry opportunities,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what direction you go, it’s gorgeous. But there’s a risk, so it is important to get instruction—and obviously I’m happy to help with that.” 

When he’s not in the backcountry or fly-fishing, Foster can be found at Minuteman Aviation at KMSO or online at flyfosteraviation.com.

This article first appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of Plane + Pilot magazine.