By Allison Morgan
Whereas many excessive schoolers are getting their driver’s licenses and studying to navigate roads, some native teenagers are additionally maneuvering site visitors within the sky with their pilot’s certifications. The Florida Keys Flight Academy is producing gifted younger pilots, a few of whom are in highschool or simply graduated. Two latest success tales are these of standout college students Ethan Sauders, 19, and Courtney Grabus, 18, who launched their aviation journeys two years in the past.
Final week, Sauders, a 2024 Marathon Excessive College graduate, grew to become the youngest licensed flight teacher of the present cadre of instructors on the academy. Only a few years in the past, Sauders had by no means sat behind the controls of a airplane earlier than he launched into the academy’s discovery flight – the place to begin for pilots that provides them the texture of being past the management yoke. Now he has cross-country flight expertise, flying from the Center Keys to the Midwest.
“They do a extremely good job of making ready you as a result of they introduce a few of the real-world flying,” Sauders mentioned. “A number of locations don’t do this. I bought to fly to Wisconsin twice and on a few the legs of the journey solo, and that’s one thing that lots of people don’t get to do.”
The academy was established within the early 2000s and in 2020 was purchased by Sol Bradman, who has been flying since 1984 and has been concerned with aviation virtually his complete life. At 15 years outdated, Bradman flew his first flight, so he mentioned he can relate to younger college students’ pleasure when taking to the air.
“It’s tremendous rewarding to see our college students begin from scratch and find yourself in an aviation profession,” Bradman mentioned. “My favourite a part of what I do is giving again data. The texts and pictures I get from the youngsters make it very rewarding.”’
The flight college affords instruction all the best way from zero-hour coaching to certification as a business pilot or licensed flight teacher. College students undergo ranges together with FAA written take a look at prep, non-public pilot, instrument, business and licensed flight teacher coaching.
The Marathon-based academy additionally affords coaching in Key West. That’s the place Grabus, a Key West Excessive College senior, normally flies. Subsequent month, she’ll earn her highschool diploma, and she or he hopes so as to add a flight teacher certification to her checklist of life milestones. The daughter of a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee pilot who earlier was a U.S. Navy aviator, she mentioned she naturally fell into her father’s footsteps.
“One summer time, my dad, who is aware of Sol very nicely, was speaking about scholarships and the flight college. I used to be like ‘I wish to do this,’ and I assumed I might make my dad proud, too,” Grabus mentioned.
Grabus has her sights set on turning into a business airline pilot in her early 20s after incomes a level from Lynn College in Boca Raton. She’s inspiring others to discover a ardour for aviation, too. Final yr, she and a buddy created an Aviation Membership at Key West Excessive College to introduce their friends to the sector and join them to the flight college. Group outreach from the academy helps younger flyers “catch the bug” as nicely.
“We fly over 200 children right here a yr totally free,” Bradman mentioned. “A number of younger children began with the Younger Eagles program, the place 8- to 17-year-olds get to fly free twice a yr.”
With many fair-weather days and fewer air site visitors within the Keys, Bradman mentioned the college can provide college students a stable basis rapidly.
“We give them base right here after which have them take it to the mainland to get extra expertise with communications and site visitors,” Bradman mentioned. “We’ve lots of success tales with our college students. We’ve lots of locals now flying for company.”
The college takes no deposits, permitting all college students to pay and progress at their very own tempo. The academy additionally affords scholarship alternatives. Sauders and Grabus have been each awarded scholarships from the Buzza Basis, based by an area household.
To see the college’s full choices, together with instruction, airplane leases, historic experiences and extra, go to floridakeysflightacademy.com or go to the college, above the EAA Air Museum on the Marathon Worldwide Airport.
Images by Allison Morgan and contributed photographs.