Congratulations to Peter Rodopoulos, EAA 1194583, who recently passed his private pilot checkride in a Cessna 152 on his 17th birthday.
This is just one box checked on a long list of Peter’s aviation goals. His aviation journey began when he received a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator for his 12th birthday, followed by a visit to the Cleveland National Air Show with his dad, where he signed up for a weeklong aviation summer camp. That sequence of events led Peter to his first general aviation flight, and the rest is history.
Peter’s father, Phil, EAA 1192091, said the day of the checkride was a memorable day for both father and son.
“His reaction, as you can imagine, was amazement, accomplishment, pride, and, in an amusing way, almost disbelief,” Phil said. “I’ve only been a pilot myself for a few years. Actually, Peter talked me into it! So, Peter and I have taken this journey together. With that, my sense of pride and admiration for my son’s accomplishment is immeasurable!”
Since passing his checkride Peter has made a number of exciting flights, including taking his dad up as his first passenger and planning a group fly-out for lunch.
“Peter took his best friend in his airplane and coordinated a flight of two with a second 152,” Phil said. “Peter acted as the lead in the flight, managing navigation, altitudes, and communications with approach control and CTAFs.”
The next box on Peter’s checklist is to continue to study business in college while continuing his aviation education, with the long-term goal of starting his own aviation business. He plans to earn his commercial rating and become a certified flight instructor, and is working on growing his Aviation4Life YouTube channel to share the magic of flight with others.
Congratulations again, Peter, on this exciting accomplishment, and best wishes as you continue to achieve your aviation goals!
Have you reached a milestone recently? Passed a checkride, given your first or hundredth Young Eagle flight, flown your homebuilt for the first time? Tell us about it at editorial@eaa.org.