Jack Embery (12) has spent a large majority of his senior year working towards getting his pilot’s license. He officially achieved this accomplishment and received his Private Pilot’s License on Jan. 23, 2023.

It was a multiple-step process for Embery to receive his license. He started this process at the beginning of his senior year. “I started by completing 15 hours of online ground school, where you learn basic flying concepts,” Embery said. “You learn about aircraft systems, navigation, weather, and all the FAR/AIM legal regulations.”

After the ground school was completed, Embery spent endless hours preparing for the Knowledge Test. “A Knowledge Test is a 60-question multiple-choice exam. You have to pass this test to be eligible to take your check ride,” Embery said. “After completing the ground school and passing the knowledge test, I began the flying portion of the lessons.”

Once these many steps were completed, Embery could begin flying with his Certified Flight Instructor. He had completed almost 65 flight hours, succeeding past the legal 40-hour requirement. There are many qualifications such as 10 hours of flying had to be done alone and several had to be cross-country flights. “For some of my cross-country flights, I flew to Raton, NM; Trinidad, CO; Lamar, CO; La Junta, CO; and Colorado Air & Space Port, CO,” Embery said.

Embery continued to complete the tedious process until his final flight to receive his license. “We touched down at the Colorado Springs airport and it was such an overwhelming feeling of relief,” Embery said. “At this point I was safely off the runway, taxing back into the parking area, and we began reviewing the flight. We parked the airplane, and after some additional review, I was a certified Private Pilot!”

The feeling of being able to fly was a life-changing experience for Embery. “Actually, being able to maneuver an airplane from the plains of Colorado thousands of feet above the sky to an 11,000-foot piece of pavement and smoothly touchdown is a gratifying feeling,” Embery said.

Embery has been dreaming of becoming a pilot from a very young age. “From the time I met him in sixth grade he has been interested in flying,” Lairden Rogge (12), Embery’s close friend, said. “We even wrote a song in seventh grade joking about Jack being a pilot one day.”

Embery had grown his love of flying by often traveling with his family. “I flew a lot with my parents and grandparents; whether I was visiting family or going on vacation, going through the airport and flying was always a highlight of the trip,” Embery said.

Now that Embery has his Private Pilot License he has several plans to continue this career in the future. “I plan to finish the remainder of my ratings–Instrument Rating, Commercial Rating and my multi-engine rating– all of which require the same if not enhanced rigorous training. After completing these ratings, I plan on building hours, eventually making me eligible to become an airline pilot,” Embery said. “I am going to take a year to fulfill all my ratings and begin the process of meeting my ATP hour requirements of 1500 hours, by simply flying as much as I can.”

Embery also plans on staying in General Aviation after he gets his dream job as an airline pilot. “General Aviation has such an amazing community,” Embery said. “There are so many fun opportunities. For instance, I look forward to being able to do fly-in breakfasts at small airports around Colorado to meet up with other like-minded people. I even hope to get my seaplane rating this summer just to add to my resume of experience!” 

“I am super proud of Jack, and I am so excited to get to fly with him one day,” Rogge said.