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Soaring high: Students pursue aviation

Soaring high: Students pursue aviation
Senior Emma Kochenderfer, suited up, prepares to to fly her plane at the Palo Alto Airport
Senior Emma Kochenderfer

The word 鈥減ilot鈥 typically conjures images of a male figure. According to the Centre for Aviation,聽 women constitute only about 5% of the total pilot population worldwide. However, the gender imbalance in the industry has not deterred senior Emma Kochenderfer from pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a pilot. Kochenderfer鈥檚 passion for aviation reflectsher role in a growing effort to increase female representation in the field.

As a fourth-generation pilot, Kochenderfer grew up hearing stories of her grandpa鈥檚 flight school and her father鈥檚 training. Beginning ground school the summer before her sophomore year, she devoted hours to studying traffic patterns and aircraft systems in preparation for the Federal Aviation Administration written exam. That summer, Kochenderfer also flew a plane for the first time. 鈥淚 remember going onto the runway and pushing in the throttle all the way for the first time, realizing that I was fully in control,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have words to describe that 鈥 it was incredible.鈥

Since then, Kochenderfer has continued to train at the Palo Alto Airport one to three times a week. She is currently working on flying at night, which requires a greater dependence on instruments inside the cockpit because of the darkness outside.

While she is qualified for the next step in the process, the in-flight and oral exam, aviation policies regarding mental health have made it difficult for Kochenderfer to receive the required medical certificate. She hopes to initiate conversations about mental health聽 between pilots and the FAA to make these standards more realistic and accessible.

Kochenderfer鈥檚 favorite part about aviation is seeing the world from a different perspective and the tight-knit community she has formed with other pilots. 鈥淓specially because it鈥檚 a very male dominated field, being able to find other women and other young women who want to do this is really special to me,鈥 she said. 鈥淭here are so many people within the industry that have worked hard to get there.鈥

Her aviation experience also helps her hone skills that she can apply to other aspects of her life. 鈥淚t鈥檚 helped me understand things in my classes a lot better, like physics, environmental science and even math,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I would say the most important skill I鈥檝e learned is being able to admit what you don鈥檛 know. When you鈥檙e flying, you鈥檙e responsible for your life, the lives of the people that you鈥檙e flying and anything that happens. Communicating with air traffic control and being able to follow through with procedures is the most important thing, so being able to say 鈥業 don鈥檛 understand what I鈥檓 supposed to do here鈥 can save you and your passengers鈥 lives.鈥

Beyond high school, Kochenderfer hopes to major in aerospace engineering and continue flying. She also hopes to someday try aerobatics, in which planes perform acrobatic maneuvers such as intense spins, drops and formation flying.

Senior Emma Kochenderfer, suited up, prepares to to fly her plane at the Palo Alto Airport (Photo courtesy of Emma Kochenderfer)
Junior Jonah Weinstein flies toward San Jose on his way back to Palo Alto
Junior Jonah Weinstein

For junior Jonah Weinstein, flying is a family affair. With his grandfather already a licensed pilot and his uncle on the way to becoming one, soaring in the air doesn鈥檛 sound too scary to him. Weinstein is currently preparing to take the free solo written exam, and if he passes, the solo flying exam next semester.

Influenced by his family, Weinstein showed an interest in airplanes from an early age, playing with Playmobil airplanes and dressing up as a pilot for Halloween 鈥 but only in the past year did he decide to take the step of making his childhood dream come true. Last year, while scrolling on YouTube, Weinstein came across a flying video that jumpstarted his determination to become an officially licensed pilot.

The feeling of freedom Weinstein gets from flying makes all the hard work needed to obtain a license worth it. 鈥淟ooking out the window, the world looks so big,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 kind of calming, just passing over everyone on the ground.鈥 The machine itself is also an innovation Weinstein finds fascinating. 鈥淚鈥檓 in awe that we built a machine that can fly,鈥 he said.

Admiring planes, however, is entirely different from flying them. As he works toward obtaining his pilot鈥檚 license, Weinstein has found that during flights, a fun plane ride can sometimes turn into a difficult maneuvering situation.

A few weeks ago, he encountered a 350-knot crosswind, which made it harder to land the plane. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 had that much experience landing with a crosswind,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e started turning off the runway a bit and it was a narrow runway.鈥 Thankfully, he was able to straighten the plane in time with the help of his coach. 鈥淭hat was a bit scary in the moment,鈥 he said.

Mentorship has been key in Weinstein鈥檚 pursuits. As a student pilot, he is obligated to fly with a licensed pilot, which lowers his stress. 鈥淚f I do anything wrong 鈥 which is bound to happen because everyone makes mistakes 鈥 he鈥檚 there to correct it,鈥 he said.

Weinstein hopes to one day make use of his pilot license. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I want to be a commercial pilot yet, but that鈥檚 something that, (once I) have my license, it鈥檒l be a much easier process,鈥 he said.

He encourages others to pursue aviation if it鈥檚 something they鈥檙e interested in, even just as hobby. 鈥淚t is something you should explore because it鈥檚 just such a rewarding experience, and I鈥檝e had a lot of fun so far,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ot that many people have the license, so it makes it pretty special.鈥

Junior Jonah Weinstein flies toward San Jose on his way back to Palo Alto (Photo courtesy of Jonah Weinstein)
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