Taking flight

Spring athletes were left without much to do after sports were canceled in March.

One baseball player saw his free time as an opportunity, and he soared.

Sam Dunlavy, 17, went on his first solo flight June 30, a milestone in his months-long trek to secure his pilot’s license.

“It was a good feeling,” said Dunlavy, who could secure his pilot license as soon as November.

Dunlavy, a junior at Jay County High School who was the Patriot football team’s leading passer in 2019, began learning how to fly under the tutelage of Sonrise Aviation’s Matt Short in March.

A solo flight usually marks the halfway point for someone trying to get their license, Short said. They have traveled as far as Hagerstown with Dunlavy as the pilot.

When flying, Dunlavy captains a Piper Cherokee Cruiser that is more than 40 years old. Its red and brown stripes along the body of the plane is a plain indicator of its ’70s origins.

“(Flying) has been a thing for me since I was a little kid,” said Dunlavy, who hopes to study commercial aviation or something aviation related in college. He said he doesn't know what sparked his interest in aviation but he knew when the opportunity arose he had to take advantage of it.

Short said it can be a lot cheaper to learn how to fly before college. Purdue and Indiana State, two of the top flying schools in the state, recommend learning how to fly before studying aviation, he added.

There is no age requirement to begin to learn how to fly but you have to be 16 years old to go on a solo flight and at least 17 to earn a pilot license.

Short said it’s not uncommon for him to train a high schooler like Dunlavy, who usually flies twice a week.

In the coming weeks they’ll focus on flying longer distances and securing the hours needed to become a licensed pilot.