While most high schoolers are excited to get their driver’s licenses, some students have loftier goals. 

Several Hillsdale students are taking to the skies, earning their pilot’s licenses or working toward it. For many, the process started young.

Junior Colby Langeler received his pilot’s license during his senior year of high school. He said flying planes runs in his family. 

“My dad got his first, and he asked me if I wanted to get one. It didn’t really take much convincing,” said Langeler.

For senior Lauren Smyth, flying is also hereditary. 

“My dad is a pilot, and his dad was a pilot,” she said.

Smyth’s family even has their own plane, which she learned to pilot.

“My dad is an air force test pilot, and now he works for United Airlines, so we own a Piper PA30 Twin Comanche, and I learned in that,” Smyth said. “I think I took my first flight when I was six months old.”

Smyth started learning how to fly at an early age too.

“I started taking flight lessons when I was 8, and I’ve been taking them ever since,” said Smyth.

Despite her head start, Smyth still hasn’t completed the license process.

“You have to fly a certain number of hours. Depending on what type of certificate you want, they may vary,” Smyth said. “For instance, they may have to be cross-country or at night. You have to do a certain number of take-offs and landings, and then you have to complete a check-drive, where someone flies with you to make sure you’re doing everything right.” 

Some pilots in training go to flight school, but Langeler chose a different route.

“It was a relatively private matter. I had a certified flight instructor, and he ran me through the training,” said Langeler. “Half of our work was spent in the sky, just learning flight maneuvers and such. The other half was book work, and we just did that at the airport.”

Langeler said he doesn’t know where flying will take him, but he doesn’t plan to pursue it as a career.

“I just enjoy flying people and being in the air,” said Langeler.

Smyth is excited to take her first solo flight. 

“The solo flight is usually a big ceremony. After that, you take a written test and an oral exam, and sometimes a medical exam,” Smyth said. “After that, you can receive your license.” 

Junior Graham Wesbury says he took his first flight when he was 11 and started taking lessons soon after. 

“I didn’t play sports as a kid, so flying is what we spent time and money on,” said Wesbury.

Wesbury said he used to aspire to be a commercial pilot but has abandoned the dream for something more lucrative

“When I was younger, I dreamed of flying commercially, but then I discovered there was more money in having your own business and flying your own plane,” said Wesbury. “Ultimately, I’d like to own my own business and my own plane,” said Wesbury.

Wesbury says flying is something rewarding, but not for everybody.

“Flying is an incredible hobby,” Wesbury said. ”But everything moves fast, so it’s not for the faint of heart.”