April 9, 2014
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Getting a drivers license can be a stressful time, but imagine the craziness of trying to get a license to fly a plane. Senior Tyler Green is in the process of getting his private pilot license. It can take anywhere from four to six months to earn this license and, the process is a lengthy one but that didn’t stop Green.
“You find a place to train at and do a discovery flight. This teaches you the basics of flying, after that you start your training, this ranges from basic Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flying and then you practice landing and how to get places,” Green said. “Once you get that you do solos and then cross-country, which is long distance training. It is about 50 nautical miles of flying. Basic instrument training comes after so you know what to do if you fly into a cloud. The very last thing you do is night flight and then there is check ride and prep which is like the driving test.”
Green got interested in flying because his uncle was a private pilot and he simply enjoyed flying.
“My uncle was a pilot and he got his license in high school, I figured I wanted to do the same. I’ve always found it fun to fly on commercial jets and airlines and that helped push me along. Also who else can say they are a pilot,” Green said.
One other person on campus can say they are a pilot on this campus and that is senior Josh Flowers. Flowers has had his license for a year. Since he has started flying he has met many student pilots from around the world.
“I have met a lot of older pilots, but I am friends with a lot people in my age group. Not just teenagers, but they are early 20’s college students, I know student pilots from England, a few from Australia, and I’ve talked to a bunch from South Africa,” Flowers said. “There are lots of students at the airport I go to, Texas State Aviation of San Marcos, there is a 70 percent chance that a pilot you see is a student renting a plane or learning.”
Both students have a passion for flying, Green and Flowers have taken the big steps to get to where they are with their flying career.
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