From wrenching to flying fires at lightning speed

In 2013 in Talkeetna, Alaska, Young, then 17 years old, discovered Build A Plane, a nonprofit organization that gives young people the opportunity to build airplanes. She found that she really enjoyed working on them, and after she graduated high school she applied for a place with the airframe and powerplant mechanic program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Working part time as a helper at Everts Air Cargo, she got her A&P certificate in 2015 and was hired there as a mechanic.

Everts Air Cargo uses its four Douglas DC–6 aircraft and one C–46 to transport fuel and food to remote, unimproved gravel and ice runways in Alaska, and while Young enjoyed her “wrenching” job, she had her sights set on the flight engineer position these aircraft required. So she worked on and passed the FAA flight engineer exam and practical test, obtaining a waiver as she wasn’t yet 21. She received her flight engineer certificate in March 2017 on her twenty-first birthday. However, “there was a bit of an issue, I was told they didn’t want a female for this position, but I was able to prove them wrong with my very strong work ethic and after that, they were very accepting,” Young said in an interview with AOPA. “I have 2500 hours flying fuel around,” Young remembers. “I loved the DC-6’s four radials, the pilots were very cool, and I got to fly all over Alaska, which was amazing.”

Even though Young had ample opportunity to learn to fly and become a pilot, she wasn’t initially that interested because flying gave her motion sickness; however, once she found out that it affected her less if she had something to do there was no stopping her. Provided she paid for the fuel, Everts allowed her to use its Cessna 182, and she convinced a co-worker who was a CFII to train her. Within 11 months she got her private pilot certificate, instrument rating, and commercial pilot certificate.

“I immediately found a school in the Lower 48 that could take me on short notice to get my multiengine rating,” which she received in 2019, Young said. But she didn’t stop there. Thirteen months after her first flight lesson, she took her FAR Part 125 checkride in a DC–6, which covers operations of large airplanes with 20 passengers or 26,000 pounds of payload, and in 2020 she passed her second-in-command checkride in the C–46. After she had accumulated 1,000 hours flying commercially and combined those with a third of her hours as flight engineer, she earned her airline transport pilot certificate and her type rating in the DC–6 and DC–7. Somewhere in between she miraculously found the time to earn her flight instructor and instrument instructor certificates.

Eventually, Young felt that she wanted to move to the left seat and get some pilot-in-command experience.

In 2021, during a stop at Galena, Alaska, while flying cargo, she saw a Fire Boss, an Air Tractor equipped with a pair of Wipline 10.000 amphibious water-scooping floats for aerial firefighting. Young was able to get a tour with the pilot. She was so impressed that she took a leave of absence to get trained on the aircraft, which included 10 hours of AT-802 flight simulator training, as well as aerial dispersal time performing jobs such as tree fertilizing to build time, all of which she paid for out of pocket. She also passed the required course at the National Aerial Firefighting Academy and was hired by Dauntless Air in February 2022. In March 2022 she was OAS (Office of Aviation Services)-carded.

“I love being alone in the cockpit,” Young said, but added that she loves the formation flying and group tactics involving anything from two to eight aircraft total. “Scooping is challenging,” she said. It requires 10 hours of training before the solo and several more to get a good understanding of it. “Even if you’re a high-time float pilot, scooping is nothing like flying.”

In 2022, Young flew her first fire in Alaska. Then 26, she was believed to be the youngest person and the first woman to fly a Fire Boss on a mission.

Young was born and raised in Alaska and credits her parents and the work ethic they instilled in her for her career. “They were extremely supportive and encouraged me to do what I love,” she said. Neither of them is a pilot, but they enjoy flying with Young, and one of her brothers now wants to learn to fly. As an Alaska Native, Young was able to benefit from the Native American Career and Technical Education Program, which paid for part of her tuition at Fairbanks, and for her tools.

And what’s next? Young really enjoys flying and working the Fire Boss. She lives 20 minutes down the road from her place of work. “Alaska is very beautiful, and I don’t want to spend the summer anywhere else,” she said. In the winter she likes traveling and has been to Europe, Mexico, and Australia. She shares her hangar home with a Piper PA–18 Super Cub.

But that doesn’t mean she can’t attack something new. In 2022 she got her commercial pilot for rotorcraft category helicopter rating and thinks about getting a Robinson R44. 

In spite of her incredible career trajectory, Young is extremely modest and just concentrates on the next task, enjoying what she’s doing, an inspiration to every aviator and aviator-to-be.