Third generation Sclair solos

What tops the list for your most memorable moment as a pilot? If I had to guess, nearly every pilot would say: “My first solo flight.”

Among the many memorable moments in my life as a pilot, soloing for the first time is at the top of my list.

On July 9, 2024, I got to add another memorable moment. But this time, I was planted firmly on the ground.

Deb, my wife, and I stood excitedly as we watched Brenna, our daughter, perform her first solo flight at McMinnville Municipal Airport (KMMV) in Oregon.

A stunningly beautiful — and early — morning greeted us at KMMV as we rolled into the parking lot just before 6 a.m.

Brenna and flight instructor Jake scheduled this flight early as the temperature would quickly climb into the upper 90°s.

But let’s back up for a moment.

I grew up on an airpark. We had a hangar, but no garage. Flying was a part of our lives.

My kids did not grow up that way.

Over the years I have taken all three of our kids flying and they were not at all frightened by the experience. But they also weren’t pushing to learn to fly either.

I let each of them know that if they are interested in learning to fly, let me know and Mom and I would support them anyway we can. I left it at that. You can’t force anyone to learn anything…especially flying.

Fast forward a few years to late last year.

Brenna, now enrolled in the Doctor of Physical Therapy School at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, called me one day to say she was interested in learning to fly.

Trying not to get too excited, we discussed why the “sudden” interest.

Turns out she had been thinking about it for some time, and as she looked at the bigger calendar of her life, she realized the summer of 2024 would be her last summer vacation. After graduation in January 2026 she’ll enter the workforce.

Apparently, one of my shared insights sunk in. She recalled me telling her the best way to learn to fly is to go all in. Fly every day, if possible. Compress the time allotted for training and an aspiring pilot will learn quicker, better, and most affordably.

So, with a final summer vacation on her horizon, that became her goal.

Some weeks later, I was invited to speak to an aviation group at the Enumclaw Airport (WA77) in October 2023. While there I met a young lady named Emily who started 2023 with no flight experience. By October she had earned multiple certificates and ratings and was a CFI in eastern Oregon.

Emily learned to fly at Trimble Aviation in McMinnville, just 15 miles down the road from Newberg.

With a couple of quick emails I was able to connect Brenna and Emily. Emily was most generous with her time and heartily recommended Trimble Aviation for Brenna’s compressed timeline.

Brenna went out to the airport and took a discovery flight with Jake Trimble and let him know her intentions to earn a private pilot certificate this summer.

In short order, he was on board.

Not so fast. I’m still her Dad and I had to check him out for myself. So Deb and I drove down for a tour of the flight school and to get eyes on Jake.

Long story short, he passed my check.

Brenna passed her written exam well before her first flight lesson on June 17. When she soloed, her logbook tallied 21.9 hours and 34 landings.

As of July 11, as I write this column, Brenna’s private pilot checkride is scheduled for July 31. By the time you read this, I hope we’ve added one more certificated pilot to the registry.

Watching from the ramp as Brenna moves her way through learning to fly has been fun. The questions she’s posed have pushed me to dig deep into my flight training memories, three-plus decades ago.

Best of all, it puts a smile on my face every time I think of her learning to fly and getting to watch her solo.

Thank you Brenna for playing a leading role in adding a top memorable moment to my flying memories.