It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…a high school student? Superman is not the one flying around in the sky; it is Victor Levonenko, a WCHS senior and pilot-in-training. Being able to fly is every kid’s dream, and Levonenko is fulfilling it at the Pilot in Training Flight Academy in Gaithersburg, MD.
“We have ground school interactive and hands-on lessons,” Levonenko said. “We start with ground school aerodynamics and forces of flight, learning the main components of planes and getting into rules and regulations. Then you go through scenarios about what you can find at airports and runway lights; how to talk to airport personnel and communicate and what to do in an emergency.”
The flight school is organized into online courses, in-person Ground School and hands-on flight training. Students can get a private pilot license, an instrument rating, a commercial license or a flight instructor license. The Pilot-in-Training Cadet Program has a minimum age of 16 for applicants, and the minimum age for a private pilot license is 17.
“Getting a license in high school gives you a headstart and puts you above others who want to be pilots,” Levonenko said. “You do not have to do intro classes and can knock out the basics. Through the program, you can become an instructor, get certifications, work your way up into becoming a pilot and get a commercial license, and then start operating jet engines and in big airports.”
There are many life paths people can take with aviation such as becoming a pilot, air traffic controller, airline manager or lawyer. Although there are several flight school programs, the best ones in the country are at Purdue, Embry-Riddle, Kent State and Ohio State. Everyday life is vastly different than the average student for Levonenko, who leaves for his flight school internship after fourth period.
“I help with maintenance and work with the planes and understanding their internals,” Levonenko said. “I do aircraft upkeep, refueling, prepare planes for their next flight and once a week I do flying. The coolest thing I have done was to replace an entire engine and see it disassembled and when I did a practice test flight at 10,000 feet.”
There is a lot of theoretical knowledge a pilot needs to know and learn: physics, math, calculations for the weight of a plane and more. For beginner pilots, CESSNA 172s are used as training aircraft because they are small but spacious. Different aircraft require adaptation. For example, there are different controls like a yoke versus a side stick and some planes rely on instruments rather than visuals.
“There are key skills that you need [to be a pilot],” Levonenko said. “Hand-eye coordination, quick decision making, using your eyes for judgment, seeing where the plane is going to go and critical thinking. [There are challenges like] rough flying, like when there is wind or bad weather and you have a lot of rough landings. It motivates you to do more and learning the theoretical is a lot of studying.”
Levonenko’s flight school is crucial to his development as a pilot-in-training. He started as a student there and is now an intern. The academy was established by Slava Modehaev, a senior instructor and former pilot in the Israeli Air Force. The instructors like to collaborate with different students and work together so all their students will be as successful as possible. This leads to a unique community that feels like family.
“Something I look for in a student and an intern is someone I can rely on and someone who has consistency,” Mordehaev said. “If a student makes a mistake, then they have to come and disclose it. Something we look for is someone with responsibility. Victor and his fellow interns are trusted with things that no other intern normally would, like helping with maintenance. Something I like about him is his high work ethic.”
Levonenko is on his way to becoming a commercial pilot and fulfilling his dream. His childhood dreams are starting to become reality.
“I want to go into this and become a pilot since it is such a unique experience and something I love doing,” Levonenko said. “I want to become a commercial pilot or look into how airplanes run and have that lifestyle living out of hotels and exploring different places. Only time will tell.”
