Ready to Soar

By Brian Hamlin

Kathleen Engle, a community college student in Cordelia, Calif., recently obtained a pilot's license at Rio Vista Airport. She has also been accepted to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and hopes to become an aeronautical engineer and an aviator with the U.S. Marines. Engle's interest in flying began when she was very young, and in 2006, she had the opportunity to go on a Young Eagles flight at Buchanan Field Airport in Concord, Calif. A year ago, Engle began flight training for her pilot's license with the Travis Aero Club at the Rio Vista Airport . She relied on a single-engine, low-wing Piper P-28, and also took ground lesson at the Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville, Calif. Engle completed a 1.5-hour test flight in mid-March after taking a comprehensive oral exam. "I would love to be a fighter pilot, but I wouldn't mind at all flying a C-130," she says.

April 16, 2009