Page 42 - proof 8 December 2017 The Castle Pines Connection

42 CastlePinesConnection.com
Welcome to the ight club (Continued from front page)
Aviation tradition dictates that when someone solos for the rst time, a portion of their shirt be removed and inscribed with the details of the ight, usually by the ight instructor. Grace Beall (right) holds her solo certi cate while her ight instructor holds the back of Beall's shirt.
Grace began training in April of this year and already has 55 hours in the air. In that short amount of time, she’s piloted her rst solo
ight and her rst cross-country ight and, on November 26, she took her checkride, which is the nal step in order to earn her private pilot’s license (PPL). At that point, she will have met with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designated pilot examiner to demonstrate her pro ciency. Once she does that (and passes) she will have her PPL.
That might seem fast, and it is. “Grace and a handful of other high school and college-age girls have been on a fast track to get their pilot’s license,” said Mulstay. “They have all been coming in for training three to four times a week
with two to three hours per session. When you have that commitment, you can get your license in six months, but normally it takes much longer.”
AFC is located in Dove Valley at Centennial Airport. According to the FAA, Centennial is the busiest general aviation airport in the U.S., with 1,600 arrivals and departures considered a slow day. In fact, it has become one of the 30 busiest airports in the country, outpacing many of the nation’s big commercial airports.
With all that tra c, Grace said her dad, who is an air tra c controller at Denver International Airport, had some concerns. “As an air tra c controller, he knows how busy it can be
and he knows all the talk that’s going on up there. He told me, ‘Grace, you’re only ying weekdays and mornings.’ I was ne with that, but now that I’ve gone through training, I feel comfortable up there, and I’m ying Saturdays and Sundays as well.”
Greg Garvis, who is an American Academy parent and is the owner of AFC, said people have di erent reasons for wanting to y. “Over half of our new customers are learning to y as a career choice, hoping for a career in the airlines. With the growth in air travel, in passenger service, and the pilot shortage due to the FAA’s mandatory retirement, there will be a huge demand for new pilots for decades.” (A study by Boeing Co. estimates that 18,000 pilots will retire over the next three years.) Others get into ying for more personal reasons. “Some come to it for the basic thrill they get from ying,” Garvis said. “Others are seeking a rewarding hobby.” AFC balances the varied goals of some 700 active members – 58 of them hailing from the 80108 ZIP code.
Aspen Flying Club owner Greg Garvis (left) and Castle Pines resident Carissa Mulstay (right) enjoy bringing the fun of ight to the community.
Flying can be expensive and very time consuming. For many pilots, all the technical and pro ciency training and all the expenses that go along with it are all worth it to return to those moments of unbridled freedom that are found – and often left – in childhood. Welcome to the ight club.
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