Why We Fly

A grandfather's best student takes wing

With aviation in her blood, Sarah Anne Lochner of Eagle River, Alaska, knows what she wants.

It began with her first "$100 hamburger" at age 12, during a cross-country flight from Birchwood to Talkeetna Airport. Her grandfather and pilot in command, Dick Lochner, let her take the controls on the flight back. "She held altitude better than I do," he said.

At age 14, Sarah approached her grandfather with this matter-of-fact announcement: "I want to be an airline pilot."

Dick, 74, is not only an FAA designated pilot�examiner with 47 years of flying experience, but also he is Sarah's flight instructor and mentor. There are 12 pilots in Sarah's family, including her dad. With such a strong aviation influence, it's no wonder she got hooked.

After a lengthy discussion with her grandfather about commitment and the long road to becoming an airline pilot, Sarah began her flight training in July 2006.

She soloed at age 16 in three different airplanes--an Aeronca Champ, a Morrisey/Shinn, and a Cessna 172--all owned by her grandfather. But unlike other student pilots in the "lower 48," Sarah has the opportunity to learn to fly in the Alaskan environment, where some of the wildest, most remote, and beautiful places on the planet exist. The climate, rough landscape, and changing weather can also make it very challenging.

Recently, when Sarah landed the Champ for the first time on Bold airstrip inside Chugach State Park, it took three approaches to set up just right for a landing on the 1,000-foot- elevation, 1,000-foot-long surface with rocks as big as a fist--and a 30-foot drop to Lake Eklutna at the end.

Following a short break to enjoy the scenery, it was time to hand-prop the airplane and return home, but the engine hadn't cooled sufficiently and after several tries, Sarah and her grandfather had to wait a bit longer before they could depart.

"He told me not to tell my mom," she said, adding that her mother is a reluctant passenger who does not enjoy flying. Sarah comes from a family of 14. She's the fifth girl and seventh child. When she's not helping to cook, clean, or care for her siblings, Sarah can be found working part-time doing odd jobs around Birchwood Airport once her schoolwork is finished.

"I am grateful for mom home schooling us," she said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have the time to fly."

Sarah also enjoys soccer, singing, ballroom dancing, snowboarding, and entering local pageants. But she never loses sight of her path toward becoming an airline pilot.

"I will hopefully get a job flying cargo with FedEx or UPS," she said, inspired by a female cargo pilot's speech she heard during an FAA Aviation Career Education Camp.

College is in her future, but in the meantime, Sarah is a birthday away from taking her private pilot checkride. This summer, she plans to complete her instrument training and will begin both floatplane and multiengine training. She hopes to become a seaplane instructor.

"This has been pretty amazing," she said about flying in the bush country. "I've had a blast. The opportunities have just fallen at my feet."

Kate Opalewski is a freelance writer and former editorial assistant of AOPA Flight Training and AOPA Pilot magazines.