Ruhi Kaneria | The Chronicle
Mason High School (MHS) students are taking the path less traveled as they explore new heights through flight school.
For some students, aviation was not on their radar until they researched potential careers. For senior Sam Bevan, a discussion about piloting during Mrs. Puma’s business class pushed him to take a flight lesson at the end of his junior year. Bevan started by touring Liberty University’s aviation program, where they recommended that he do a discovery flight.
Senior Sam Bevan maneuvers his trainer plane with a hand on the yoke, rolling to the right.
“I went up with an instructor and they let me hold the yoke to see if I liked it because [flying] is an expensive hobby [and] path,” Bevan said. “When I took a discovery flight, the instructor thought I had a lot of hours online on simulators, but I didn’t have any experience. I actually think flying is the easy part, it’s understanding the mechanics of the plane, all the communication and the pre-flight stuff [that is harder].”
After completing a special pilot’s physical exam, Bevan began training at the flight school of the Warren County airport. A typical training session starts with completing a pre-flight check of the airplane to ensure safety before heading into the flight.
“I really liked it, so I went forward with the license,” Bevan said. “When you get in the jump seat and your wheels get off the ground, the stress lifts away like the plane. School, tests, friends and all of that stuff are just gone in a second.”
Aviation is not just a hobby to Bevan, but also a career in the future. Bevan said he plans to fly early in his career with professional airlines.
“I don’t know if I could work a nine-to-five so that’s another reason why flying is so great for me,” Bevan said. “I really like the flexibility and the schedule.”
MHS senior Aiden Schnabel has always considered piloting as a career option. He said the thrill of going fast and flying pushed him to pursue aviation.
“I decided that I didn’t want to sit at a desk job like my dad, who is in IT sales,” Schnabel said. “My uncle Bob was a pilot, and the way he talked to me and told me the stories of him flying made me fall in love with it.”
Schnabel said he wanted to be a pilot since the 7th grade, but started pursuing the career after taking a tour and an introductory flight at the Clermont County airport his freshman year. After that, his training took off.
“I filled out all the information, got everything I needed to set up and created my accounts,” Schnabel said. “By my second lesson, we went out there, I went in the airplane and started flying. When I am by myself, I go out to our practice area and get some [flight] hours.”
For Schnabel, the easiest part of training is cruising in the air. But not all aspects of flying have come easily. With school and work, Schnabel has to stay on top of new aviation skills.
“The only thing that I [struggled] to understand and get the feel for was when I was coming in to land and my wheels needed to be ‘kissing the ground,’” Schnabel said. “I counted my logbook and it took me 47 landings before I started to make my landings nice and smooth.”
Flying multiple times a week for hours at a time has offered Schnabel unique sights. He said has experienced amazing views during his lessons.
“[The state trooper] flew near us,” Schnabel said. “We hopped on the same radio frequency and talked with him. The all-black state trooper aircraft was probably the coolest thing that I’ve seen.”
Schnabel said his family has always encouraged his pursuit of aviation, but that there was also hesitation, especially the first time he went on a solo flight.
“[My dad] got really nervous since I had been flying for only 26 hours,” Schnabel said. “It was a big step, but dad always wanted me to fly, so he was happy for me. My mom gets scared, and she always texts me a message [saying] ‘Be safe. Have a safe flight. Text when you land.’”
Senior Aiden Schnabel completes pre-flight. procedure before his lesson at Sporty Academy.
Schnabel said one of the scariest moments from his first 10 flight lessons happened when he was flying in the Clermont County practice airspace while performing a power-on stall.
“Our navigation systems were going crazy,” Schnabel said. “It kept saying aircraft proximity alert, and my instructor and I looked to see an aircraft 150 feet below us. [It] just shot right past and I asked, ‘Did we almost die?’ and [my instructor] said, ‘Yeah, we almost died,’ and made us go back to land.”
In these nerve-wracking experiences in the air, Schnabel said he reminds himself to stay calm under pressure. He said he notices himself gripping the yoke too hard and that he needs to relax his muscles.
“I tell myself to stay focused,” Schnabel said. “You just gotta give yourself that reassurance. Someone who freaks out under pressure typically ends up forgetting steps. They don’t typically hit their checklist, and they don’t go through all the procedures that they should if they were staying calm.”
Schnabel is graduating high school a semester early, allowing him to be a year ahead in college as he works towards flight certifications. Between working, graduating a semester early and attending flight school, he said he has to remind himself to stay off his phone and stay focused.
“I am up late and up early balancing school, flight and work, so I would say that caffeine is my best friend,” Schnabel said. “[Aviation] is something I want to do, so I lock in and get into the mode to just crank out study sessions.”
At work, Schnabel shares with customers that he wants to pursue aviation and many are surprised to hear that he actually gets to fly in training. He said he tries to explain the experience of being in-air to them.
“I just completely feel free, and it is a feeling that most people don’t get the chance to experience, so I don’t take it for granted,” Schnabel said. “In every single flight, there’s something new to learn, so I soak it in.”
