Students at Victory Christian Academy have the opportunity to earn their pilots license through the school’s new aviation program. SUBMITTED
At Victory Christian Academy, students have the unique opportunity to earn their pilot’s license before they graduate high school.
Shawn Rich, owner of Rich Aviation Services, helped start up the program at VCA. The school partners with the Decatur Flight Center to give students the opportunity to learn to fly.
“It’s really geared to try to get them through their private license sometime before they graduate,” Rich said. “They can solo at 16 and then they can get their private license at 17 and commercial license at 18. So if they can get their commercial license and get their hours, they could go straight into an airline after graduating from high school.”
The program currently has 12 students and teaches basic aerodynamics and how to identify airplanes through the ground program. After going through ground school, students will sit in the cockpit and put their knowledge to the test.
“Right now we’re looking at a couple of students getting their licenses this summer. We have two that are just about ready to solo,” Rich said. “We had a few flight sessions last summer and this semester we’ve got four or five that are consistently flying right now. With the school schedule, they’re a little bit limited on how much they can do, but things should go a lot faster in the summertime.”
The program is designed to start in 9th grade and students will go through a full four year curriculum. If a student is not interested in the pilot program, they can opt to diverge to the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path in 11th grade, where they can learn to become drone pilots.
“We’ve had a lot of excitement in the community once people have started to find out about it,” Rich said. “So far, for everyone that’s been flying, it’s really caught on. It’s a great career field to get into right now. It’s a great opportunity.”
Rich initially met with a member of the community whose children had graduated from VCA and they got to talking about the potential for teaching aviation at VCA. They connected with the principal and got the program up and running in a matter of weeks.
“Everything has worked out perfect. It’s just a matter of making it a little bit easier in the future,” Rich said. “I just did some research and then we were up and running within literally just a few weeks from when we decided to do it. It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind, but it’s been a lot of fun. And it’s really exciting when you see the kids out at the airport.”
Rich hopes that as the students progress through their aviation careers, they can one day return to VCA as instructors.
“I would like to see it to where they eventually move on and once they get their commercial, they can get their flight instructor ratings,” Rich said. “Then they can turn back around and it can kind of be a self feeding thing after about three or four years. We could have flight instructors here that are graduates from VCA.”
While the program is still in its early stages, the experience has been invaluable to everybody involved. Rich has been a flight instructor for nearly 30 years, and finds fulfillment in passing along his passion to future generations.
“Aviation gets in your blood, and I’ve always wanted to be a pilot. It was just something I was destined to do,” Rich said. “I grew up in the church, and the fact that VCA is associated with the church kind of drew me into it. And to be able to give some kids some of these opportunities that they probably wouldn’t have, I didn’t have for sure, is great. The kids have been great, and it’s so much fun.”
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