Bearden student earns solo wings

Josh FloryOur Town Youth, West Knoxville

According to aviation tradition, flight instructors commemorate a student’s first solo flight by cutting off their shirttail, indicating that they can fly without direction. In the early days of aviation, instructors guided their students by tugging on the back of their shirts.

For many high school students, spring is the season to make memories at prom, in a school musical or on the graduation stage. But for a sophomore at Bearden High School, her most memorable achievement came in the air.

Sarah Stanley

On April 16, Sarah Stanley logged her first solo flight, taking off from Island Home Airport in a Cessna 172 and flying for about 15 minutes before returning to the same airport. The short journey marked the culmination of a long process.

Stanley, 16, got her start in a mechanics program for teenagers that was offered by the Skyranch Youth Aviation Program in Alcoa. She met a flight instructor through Skyranch and began taking lessons at the age of 13.

For her first solo flight, Stanley received a scholarship from the F.L.I.G.H.T. Foundation, which helped cover the $1,600 cost by matching the funds that Stanley raised by washing planes and babysitting.

Stanley said the most challenging part of flying is the landing, but that her favorite part is the feeling of freedom that comes from being in the air because “when you’re flying, all that matters is that you’re flying. You don’t have to think about anything else that’s stressing you out or aggravating you … In my mind, it’s just like, ‘That’s on the ground.’”

Stanley’s next goal is to earn her pilot’s license, and while she’s leaving her career options open, she hopes to continue flying: “I definitely want to keep doing that for as long as I can.”

Josh Flory is a multi-media specialist with Knox County Schools and writes this blog, Hall Pass, for the KCS website.

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