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| Aaron Wages, posing with flight instructor Carla Dedera, achieved his first solo flight February 28. |
Ground school for pilot training started in early January with a packed class of about 20 students. Several of those students, as well as a hand full of others not taking the official ground school, have already begun their flight training. The ground school, usually scheduled once or twice per year at Northern Air, is a structured way to learn the technical information required for a private pilot license; however pilot training can begin at any time with one of the flight instructors at Northern Air – Dave Parker, Carla Dedera, Nathaniel Cheshire and most recently, Jeff Pedersen.
When a student pilot begins their flight training, one of the biggest milestones is their first solo flight. The first nine flight lessons are dedicated to teaching the student how to safely take off and more importantly to land. Emergency procedures are also taught in those lessons to prepare the student to deal with any adverse situations. When the instructor feels their student is ready, they send the student on their own to complete three solo take-offs and landings.
One of the new ground school students, Aaron Wages of Bonners Ferry, took his first solo flight on February 28 on a beautiful sunny day between snow storms. After he completed three successful landings on his own, he returned to the airport with a grin that couldn’t be removed! His instructor, Carla Dedera, did the honors of cutting off his shirt tail (a tradition for student pilots who complete their first solo flight).
The mechanics at Northern Air have also been busy this winter completing aircraft inspections and routine maintenance. Now that Northern Air’s Piper Comanche is up and flying, there is more time to work on the Citabria.
The Citabria is a tail-wheel aircraft that will be used for aerobatic training and tail-wheel endorsements starting this summer.
If you are interested in experiencing the thrill of flight, you can take an introductory flight or tour the mountains from the sky with Northern Air or ask your pilot friend to take you for a ride (there are lots of new pilots around these days!). Stop by and meet the friendly folks at Northern Air located at the Boundary County Airport, call us at 208-267-4359, or visit our website at www.northernair.biz.