Congratulations to Jake Owsley, EAA 1283935 and EAA Chapter 677’s Ray Scholar recipient, for passing his private pilot checkride on July 10!
Jake joins his grandfather, father, and uncle in the sky as the third generation of pilots in the family. Jake said from a very young age on he’s always had an interest in aviation, but it was when he took his first flight at the age of 15 that he really fell in love with it.
“Three years ago, my dad took me up in a Cessna for my birthday and that’s what sparked my interest,” Jake said. “It was really cool, it was a feeling like no other, it really fired me up and made me want to do this.”
As Jake experienced the joys and frustrations of learning to fly, his father was by his side the entire time.
“My dad was actually my CFI, it was cool but frustrating sometimes because he’s my Dad and I didn’t always want to listen to him, but at the same time if I ever had any questions I could just run downstairs and ask him right away,” Jake said.
Through Jake’s EAA chapter, he was able to learn about available flight scholarships and how to apply. Jake was the chapter’s second member to be awarded the Ray Aviation Scholarship which allowed Jake to afford to keep going at a faster rate.
Jake said his chapter also helped him find other pilots who could give him advice and allow Jake to experience different teaching styles.
“Being part of a chapter is pretty important because before it was just me and my dad, so it was nice to have more people by my side supporting me, it made it easier and made me more motivated to get it done,” Jake said.
Jake said passing his checkride felt like a huge weight being lifted off of his shoulders.
“I had three checkrides scheduled but they all got canceled because of weather and other reasons and so I was super anxious to get it done and once I got it done it felt amazing,” Jake said.
While Jake plans on enjoying his summer flying for fun, he is excited to attend Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, in the fall where he intends to earn his commercial certificate and someday follow in his father’s footsteps and fly for an airline.
Have you reached a milestone recently? Passed a checkride, given your first or hundredth Young Eagles flight, flown your homebuilt for the first time? Tell us about it at EAA.org/submissions.