Braden Greenlee is soaring, and there’s nothing that can get in his way. He’s gliding at almost two hundred miles per hour, and when he finally gets a chance to think, he’s reminded that this, flying, is incomparable to anything in the world. He never wants to land.
A million other pilots must feel the same way every time they take off, but something sets Greenlee apart from that million.
He’s only fifteen.
While most high schoolers spend the weekends hanging out with friends, working a part time job, and doing homework, student pilots at NHS are taking to the skies. Airports like the Indianapolis Metropolitan and the Anderson Municipal airports provide flight lessons to teenagers. NHS sophomore Greenlee is one of many students learning to fly.
“I started flying maybe two and a half years ago,” Greenlee said. “Being able to control something off the ground always fascinated me, so I told my parents and they put me in [lessons].”
At first glance, learning to pilot a plane may seem difficult and inaccessible, and Greenlee says he started out thinking the same way. However, several places make it possible. Greenlee’s parents helped to get the ball rolling.
“[My parents and I] found a smaller airport in Anderson that would give lessons,” Greenlee said. “It took some time to get things sorted out, but eventually I started learning.”
After signing up, things can take off quickly. At the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport, senior Will Behlmer has flown for years. In that time, he’s had to rack up a hefty number of hours for his license requirements.
“There are programs you can go through,” Behlmer said. “They’re separated between hours. Forty hours is the minimum for a private pilot, but most people do 50 to be safe.”
Flying may be a fun and ambitious hobby, but according to students, it isn’t always easy. Still, aviators say that they are unwavering in their love for what they do. Every airman has a favorite part of the flight, and Greenlee is certainly familiar with that sentiment.
“When you first get off the ground and there’s nothing under you, you realize that you’re in full control,” Greenlee said. “That’s really great.”
Even though a pilot is the main person in control of aircraft, it takes a group of dedicated people to get a plane in the air and back on the ground safely. Chad Cheadle has worked in aircraft maintenance for 26 years, and in that time he has come to know the ins and outs of the aviation world. Cheadle hopes that students who want to become involved realize the importance of roles outside of just flying.
“It’s a dying skill,” Cheadle said. “If the new generation doesn’t fill in the shortage of maintainers, it will be detrimental to aircraft safety.”
As important as it is, being a pilot, as well as working with pilots, involves more than just the plane. Behlmer believes that instructors are key to the process, as they make the entire experience possible. Their guidance counts both in and out of the air.
“The relationship you build with your flight instructor is important,” Behlmer said. “That opens a whole network of things that you can do in the future.”
While flying is just a hobby now, it has the potential to turn into something much bigger. Countless career options await students studying aviation, and Greenlee is already thinking about what his future in aviation could look like.
“I’m really interested in going into the military out of high school,” Greenlee said. “At first I wanted to go into the Air Force, but the Navy has a lot to do with the water as well, which I really like.”
Military jobs aren’t the only direction that aspiring pilots can go in either. While Greenlee wants to go to the Navy, Behlmer plans on taking a different path to a shared dream.
“My main goal is to become a corporate pilot, and fly planes for private companies,” Behlmer said.
For whatever reason students head into the sky, as a career or as a hobby, they say they fly because of their passion and drive. Student pilots will do whatever it takes to chase their dreams, and because of that, they truly do soar.
“I was always told to do what you love,” Behlmer said. “This is what I love.”
