For one of the FAA’s top officials, scheduling time for flight lessons can be a challenge. But Michael Whitaker started flight training in a Cessna 172 in April 2014 and in October passed his private pilot checkride. Whitaker, who oversees development and implementation of the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), said he learned to fly to understand aviation technology beyond the intellectual level and to better understand general aviation issues. What’s next for the new pilot? He said he’d like to explore new areas of the East Coast.
Getting started: I took ground school in college. Flying wasn’t something I had really intended to pursue then…more of a dabbling. When I started flight training in 2014, I really did it because of my job and for my own edification.
Early challenges: Getting the hours in the airplane and the training sessions was the challenge. Also, learning all of the old technology that I wouldn’t need to use very much. And landings, I think, are always a challenge.
Aviation activity: I have to say, I have really enjoyed going to the airshows: Oshkosh, Sun 'n Fun, the AOPA Fly-In. There’s so many gadgets and other products to look at.
Favorite airplane: I don’t know yet. I’ve been kind of looking at a Mooney. I want something faster than a 172 so I can fly to my home in New Hampshire.
Advice for students: My advice for people would be to move as fast as possible in the process. Even taking two weeks off, you really lose ground.
Who: Michael Whitaker
Occupation: FAA deputy administrator
Hours: 70
Certificates and ratings: Private pilot-airplane, single-engine land
Extra: “I was really nervous for the checkride. It occurred to me sometime in the middle of the summer that it wouldn’t really be acceptable for me not to pass.”
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