Name: Michaela Hepp
Age: 16
Event: Solo
Where: Hagerstown Regional Airport, Hagerstown, Maryland
Airplane: Cessna 162 Skycatcher
To be a fourth-generation pilot is unbelievably cool. To solo on my sixteenth birthday just makes it a million times better. I didn’t expect to fly on my birthday because I didn’t have the best landings in the lessons beforehand. This time, however, when I was flying with my grandfather, I was doing pretty well. When he jumped out of the airplane when we taxied back and said, “You want to fly by yourself?” needless to say I was surprised and nervous. That moment when I finally took off by myself I had the largest smile on my face. I felt like I was on top of the world; I don’t think anything could really replace that feeling. Learning to fly before I could drive—that’s definitely a story that my friends will be astonished to hear.
'Simply incredible'
A childhood dream realized
I was so excited to fly my first solo because becoming a pilot has been a dream of mine since I was 12. As I was taxiing to the runway, and that right seat was empty, I was thinking, “Wow, this is really happening!” The feeling you get flying an airplane by yourself for the first time is simply incredible.
Name: Carola Rhodes
Age: 37
Event: Solo
Where: Centennial Airport, Denver, Colorado
Airplane: Gobosh 700
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