John Truax and his wife, Mayson Truax, stand in front of a Cessna after his first solo flight. Courtesy | John Truax

The Hillsdale Flight Center took off this past summer with five students enrolled in pilot lessons at the school.

“We expect that number to grow exponentially once our advanced training aircraft is online,” said owner and founder Travis Stebelton.

The Hillsdale Flight Center opened in May at the Hillsdale Municipal Airport and offers flight lessons in a Cessna 172 to those who hope to earn their private pilot license. John Truax, a 27-year-old Hillsdale native and Jonesville resident, was among the first to enroll. 

“I’ve been extremely interested in flying since I was a young kid, and my grandma always told me, ‘You should do it, absolutely do it,’ but they just didn’t have any schools close to Hillsdale and I didn’t want to drive all over to Battle Creek or Jackson,” Truax said. “It was a bit too far for me, especially with working full time. And then I saw on Facebook that they had one at Hillsdale, and I was like, ‘Yes, this is it.’”

Truax enrolled soon after the school opened. He said his trial flight solidified his decision to take flight lessons.

“I was like, OK, wait, this is actually real,” Truax said. “This is a thing I can actually do.”

Traux’s lessons, which are three hours long and three times per week, include both ground school classroom sessions and in-flight training. He said he was surprised by how much background knowledge is needed to fly a plane.

“You have to know what type of engine is in the aircraft, how much fuel it holds, how much fuel it burns per hour, how much oil it needs,” Truax said. “I had to take a step back. It is more than just flying the plane.”

On Sept. 15, Truax completed his first solo flight from Hillsdale to the Jackson County Airport, a requirement to earn his private pilot license, which Truax said he will likely secure before the first snowfall of this year. 

After that, he will work toward his commercial pilot license.

“My end goal for right now is to obtain my private license,” Truax said. “At that point, I think I will probably take a little bit of next year off from training, and then my wife and I are going to travel around Michigan and have a great time. But my end goal is to definitely be able to fly the big planes.”

Stebelton said the goal of the flight school is to teach both recreational and career-oriented pilots.

“We are not a one-program-fits-all school,” Stebelton said. “We will always tailor our service to each client’s needs. As for the future, bringing on advanced aircraft is our goal, as well as a flight simulator training aid. We hope to someday offer high-performance aerobatic and multi-engine training.”

Students interested in taking pilot lessons can reach out to the flight school at hfcjym@gmail.com.

Truax said his favorite part about flying is seeing the clouds from above.

“I love getting all the views,” he said.

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