Not only are AHS teens Juliette Woodrow, Ethan Burkley, Ford McClure, and Judd Hawk varsity athletes, International Baccalaureate students, and National Honor Society members, but they also share one major aspiration: They are all studying to get their pilots’ license through the Aspen Higher Learning Flight Academy. These four students are going above and beyond the responsibilities of most teens by spending a majority of their free time acquiring the minimum fifty flying hours needed to get a pilots’ license.

Junior Juliette Woodrow’s passion for aviation stemmed from a spontaneous second lottery Ex Ed pick: Aspen Aero. This experience, combined with her love for physics and math, led her to discover a potential career path. Woodrow just recently passed the written knowledge exam for the ground school private pilot class, which is equivalent to a permit-driving test. She spends her black day free periods in the cockpit, and she has already accumulated 16 hours at the wheel, flying out of Aspen either around McClain Flats, Rifle, Eagle, or practicing touch-and-goes on the runway. Woodrow is hoping to perform her first solo flight within the month of November.

“I definitely think it will be worthwhile. Even though I do not want to be a commercial pilot, I do want to build planes some day, and I think that knowing how to fly them will make that job easier. I also think that it’s pretty cool to say that I am a pilot,” Woodrow said. “The possibilities are really endless. I could potentially work for an airline company, fly planes for other people, or just use it for my personal enjoyment. It would be helpful, I think, in any field of engineering as it also teaches me the physics of fluid dynamics and of flying in general.”

Ever since he was a kid, Ethan Burkley has always dreamt of being a pilot. Between the second semester of the 2014-2015 school year and now, Burkley has completed ground school, started flight training, passed the written knowledge exam, and completed his first solo-flight. Now he is working towards his check ride, which is equivalent to a drivers’ license test, so he can get his private pilots’ license test by the time he turns 17 in December. By the time he graduates AHS in 2017, Burkley hopes to become a commercially rated pilot. Burkley feels that if someone really works hard enough, getting a pilots’ license is a completely attainable goal.

“I want to be a pilot after college. I’m looking for schools with flight programs, so it definitely helps to start this process now,” Burkley said. “I feel like not enough people take advantage of this great program we offer to our students. Anyone who really wants to go through the process can become a pilot, which is really cool.”

After finding his passion in science, math, and physics, Ford McClure was motivated to incorporate all these things into an extracurricular and try to get his pilots’ license.

“I was attracted to aviation as it presented me an opportunity to use everything I have learned in a professional setting. In addition, it is a unique hobby with few participants, and the community is filled with well-respected individuals that all have the same common passion for flight,” McClure said.

McClure, along with Jud Hawk, established the Aspen Aero Club to promote aviation and related careers to the Aspen community. This, along with his experience on the aviation Ex Ed, has solidified his love for aviation. McClure has logged 17 flight hours so far, and will perform his first solo-flight towards the end of November. Once McClure earns his private pilots’ license, he plans to continue to fly for fun and then train for his Instrument Flight Rating (IFR), which will allow him to fly into instrument meteorological conditions.

Hawk’s inspiration to become a pilot came from an eight-person aeronautics class at AES.

“I never thought I would become a pilot through the program because two years ago it didn’t have any resources. Now there is a full motion simulator, six desktop simulations, and a plane,” Hawk said.

Hawk has already completed ground school and passed the written knowledge exam for the ground school private pilot class. He has accumulated 20 hours of flight experience, but is waiting until he has around 75 hours to get his check ride. Hawk says this process can be as quick as three months or as slow as two years, and the challenge of coordinating the nine Aspen Higher Learning Flight Academy students’ schedules with the plane maintenance has greatly elongated it. Even after receiving his pilots’ license, Hawk doesn’t plan to use it for more than his own enjoyment because he thinks of flying more as a hobby than a career.

“It’s a great way to see the world from a different angle. It has taught me a lot about my own skill set in certain areas,” Hawk said. “It is a large commitment, but super rewarding when you first takeoff, make a perfect landing, or call to Air Traffic Control. It definitely makes someone feel like an adult.”