Like many teenagers, OVS junior Corbin Muller can’t wait to get his license. But it’s not what you think.
Since the start of the school year, the 17-year-old has been waking up early on Sunday mornings, getting dressed and driving 30 minutes over the mountain to the Santa Paula Airport. There, he meets his instructor, loads into a red Cessna 150, taxis onto the runway and takes off into the wide open sky.
His goal is to earn his private pilot’s license by the time he graduates. But his aim is to be unbound, to soar in a way few teenagers get to do.
“My favorite part about flying is getting to see the world from an entirely different perspective,” Corbin said. “It is so peaceful up there, the rumble of the engine and the vast expanse of the sky.”
Corbin has loved everything about planes and flying since he was five years old, when he and his dad would play with model airplanes together.
When Corbin got into high school, he was also a dedicated member of the Flight Club, where he and a few other students would spend Friday afternoons flying drones over the campus.
But it wasn’t until last September, when he was watching flight videos on YouTube, that he decided he wanted to seriously pursue getting his pilot’s license.
“I was excited for him,” said his mom, OVS alum Jen Muller, about the first time Corbin asked to get his license. “It’s cool that he was showing excitement for something. His dad and I enjoy and appreciate that.”
At the end of October, Corbin began studying for a written exam and is now working to log 10 hours of flying to receive his license.
The first steps he had to take were fairly simple: he called the airport and scheduled his first lesson.
But, he needed to have some background information before he could start flying
The book that Corbin reads in preparation for flight is called FAR/AIM (Federal Aviation Regulations and Airmen’s Information Manual), which is essentially an overview of all FAA regulations and contains helpful information for prospective pilots.
On top of reading the entire FAR/AIM, Corbin has to read and study everything about the specific plane he is training in, and balance all of that with keeping up his schoolwork.
“I’d have to say that my least favorite parts of flying is probably the studying and memorization that is involved,” Corbin said. “But, in the end, it’s all worth it.”
When the time came for Corbin to actually fly the plane for the first time, he said he wasn’t scared.
“I wasn’t all that nervous,” Corbin explained. “I knew what to expect and I trusted the instructor, it is their job after all. I took control of the airplane on my first lesson and it was exhilarating!”
His mom, on the other hand, didn’t exactly share the same sentiment.
“I’m still, to this day, a little nervous about him flying up in the air,” Ms. Muller explained. “But then I have to remember it’s probably more dangerous to drive than it is to fly, so I just put it into perspective that way.”
A typical lesson for Corbin and his instructor is about two hours long: one hour on the ground and one in the sky. At an average airspeed of 95 miles per hour, they usually fly out over Ventura, practicing turns, stalls, and more.
“It’s nothing fast,” Corbin said of his flying speed, “but it sure beats driving.”
Now, Corbin has logged about 4 hours in the air, which means he still has several hours of training to complete before he can take the written test.
But once he passes the written test, he will be able to fly solo. He then has to log 40 hours of solo flying, take a practical exam, and if he passes that, he will earn his private pilot’s license.
If it sounds like this endeavor involves quite a bit of work, it’s because it does. But Corbin is dedicated to earning his license, mainly because it’s fun for him, but also because it could give him opportunities for future careers in aviation.
An avid nature photographer, Corbin someday hopes to be able to use his pilot’s license to help contribute to his photography.
“It’d be pretty darn cool if he had his own pilot’s license… and found really cool remote places that you sometimes can’t get to you unless you have a plane,” Ms. Muller said. “And then taking pictures or potentially doing stories for National Geographic or Patagonia maybe… the options are limitless at that point for photos.”
Though this endeavor requires lots of studying and dedication, Corbin knows that in the end it will all pay off.
After Corbin passes his test and is able to fly solo, his possibilities are almost endless.
So, once he earns his license, where is the first place he will head?
“The first place I want to go when I get my license is all the way up to small town (in Northern California) where my dad lives,” Corbin said. “That has always been a dream of mine.”