WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) - Maybe it was on a childhood trip to New York City, where he got to hover face-to-face with the Statue of Liberty, suspended in the air by whirring helicopter blades.
Maybe it was a visit to Fantasy of Flight in Auburndale.
Maybe it was his admiration for how dragonflies zip through the summer air. Somewhere along the way, Alexander Schulz, 17, caught the aviation bug.
It lay dormant for a while, but over the summer - while watching an aircraft land - the passion was reignited, he said.
He started researching how to have a career as a helicopter pilot and learned he could get his private pilot’s license at age 17. Then 16, he thought it was the perfect time to start training, not realizing that most people pursue their license when they are several years older.
“I think that naivete is kind of what made it successful,” he said.
Schulz accomplished his goal and got his private helicopter pilot’s license on his 17th birthday, April 2.
That made him one of only three 17-year-olds in the country who have private helicopter pilot’s licenses, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“It’s the hardest and most important thing I’ve ever had to work for,” Schulz said. “It was fulfilling. I loved every minute of it.”
He learned to fly even as he doubled down on classes at school. He will be the first student to graduate a year early from All Saints’ Academy, and he has already been accepted to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
“He’s just that kind of student,” said Ryan Walsh, academic dean at All Saints.
“He has a strong plan, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and he had his parents’ support.”
To make it easier to continue training while in school, Schulz worked with Walsh and others to create an independent study that he called “The Art of Flight.”
If Schulz hadn’t earned his license, he would have failed his independent study.
“I think that’s the coolest high school customization you could ever do,” he said.
The curriculum he designed allows him to go to Winter Haven Municipal Airport at noon every Wednesday to continue his training. In addition, he practiced photography from the air and pieced together a video from footage captured by attaching a GoPro camera to the helicopter as he flew.
“I was flabbergasted at the production quality of it. It’s like something you’d see on the Discovery Channel,” said his father, Paul Schulz, who is a local artist. “I don’t know what he’s going to eventually do (for a living) but he’s already coming up with commercial skills.”
The expense of training for a private license makes it difficult to pursue.
“He’s very fortunate that his parents have the means to financially give him this opportunity because, quite frankly, it’s very expensive,” Paul Schulz said. “But for him to take it and excel at it like he has, he has made his own way and just been so studious and committed to it.”
Schulz is training with TC Helicopters, which moved to Winter Haven in September. Before it even opened, Schulz said, he was asking about flight training. He became the first student and got a lot of opportunities from it, such as flying with his instructor to Arizona and Michigan.
The company has 12 students now. Mike Terfehr, the owner of TC Helicopters and Schulz’s flight instructor, said he has worked with a handful of other teenagers during his career and is impressed by Schulz.
“He’s been fantastic. He’s a highly motivated, extremely talented pilot,” Terfehr said. “He’s hooked, for sure.”
To get his private license, Schulz had to fly a minimum of 40 hours (he has flown about 115 hours) and learn basic aircraft control, how to handle emergencies, how to navigate and some academics, such as airspace, weather and aircraft systems.
“It’s a lot to learn, and it’s kind of scary at times,” Schulz said.
It is more common for flight students to learn to fly airplanes before they learn helicopters, but Schulz was captivated by helicopters.
He said he is attracted to helicopters because of the extra challenge and mystique of rotorcraft. The views don’t hurt, either.
Schulz has spent time flying in the area, dipping over his school “to let them know I’m flying and in class,” but he has also been able to make some long flights, including to Arizona and Traverse City, Mich. He got to fly at 100 mph inside Arizona’s Meteor Crater and passed over mountains in Kentucky. As he flew to Traverse City, he had to make sure the blades didn’t ice over from the cold, rough weather of the “polar vortex.”
Surrounded by glass, it’s the “best thing you can do,” he said. “It’s a beautiful way to see the country.”
Embry-Riddle will help Schulz on his way to being a career pilot, but there are several career steps ahead.
First, he wants to earn his commercial pilot’s license when he becomes eligible at 18.
Additional steps include building up hours as a certified flight instructor and giving helicopter tours. Once he has enough hours, one possible job opportunity would be as a pilot on retainer for companies.
For now, Schulz is about to take finals, but after that, he wants to buckle down and focus on training.
“I just really want to fly all summer,” he said.
___
Information from: News Chief (Winter Haven, Fla.), https://www.polkonline.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.