Jennifer Miller, EAA 137695, doesn’t come from an aviation background, and never considered becoming a pilot as a realistic goal. Although, ironically enough, she found herself living so close to an airport that it was practically in her backyard in her last few residences.
Perhaps Jennifer was always meant to become a pilot. When traveling, Jennifer always opted to fly rather than drive.
“My favorite part of flying is the takeoff and landing, just that surge in both directions. It’s a thrill, it’s interesting and feels good,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer had the interest, she just needed someone to help ignite that spark.
When her father, a community man at heart, heard about a pancake breakfast at nearby William T. Piper Memorial Airport (KLHV), he jumped at the chance to volunteer and dragged his daughter with him.
“That put me in the environment and of course the instructor was always there, so I wondered about it,” Jennifer said. “Twice before I started when I moved here to this area in 2008, I talked to him about it. ‘What did it involve? How much was it? What are your class schedules like? What was the teaching style?’ All those different questions.”
Between the cost associated with learning to fly and the time obligation, Jennifer determined that it just wasn’t feasible. That was until June, when everything finally seemed to fall into place.
“My schedule freed up and I started classes that June,” Jennifer said.
From June to November, Jennifer became a “hangar bum,” soaking up all the knowledge her instructor had to offer. Then on Friday, November 6, Jennifer soloed!
The day of her solo, her mom was there right beside her instructor cheering her on from the ground. As Jennifer made each pass, her instructor would give her the thumbs up, encouraging her to keep going.
“My takeoffs and landings I didn’t feel were excellent, but for my position as a student doing it for the first time with nerves, I think I did OK,” Jennifer said. “It was pretty exciting. It wasn’t perfect. But I felt really good about what I was able to do all by myself.”
With her solo crossed off the to-do list, Jennifer said she plans to buckle down and hit the books for her sport pilot practical exam.
After earning her sport pilot certificate, Jennifer said she would one day like to move on to the private. Her ultimate goal is to start flying for humanitarian groups such as Angel Flight and Pilots N Paws.
“This has been very eye opening,” Jennifer said. “So many potential opportunities, there’s so many opportunities that I never even considered as like a ‘regular person.’ I always pictured myself as a regular person, and the aviation community as something that was out there but for the military or the people that fly planes. I never even considered it as a true career option or even something that was a viable possibility just for myself as a regular person.”
Jennifer said she may even become a helicopter pilot someday. The possibilities are truly endless and there is nothing more fun and exciting for other enthusiasts than to watch someone new to the world of aviation get bitten by the bug, fall in love, and dive in like a kid in a candy shop; eyes wide open, grabbing at every shiny object, not sure where to start and wanting just about everything in sight.
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.