A Will To Fly
By Ted Luebbers
Have you ever known anyone with such a strong desire to fly that they will meet any challenge and keep moving forward no matter what? My wife Joan and I met such a person two years ago. Her name is Rachel St. Louis and she is a teenager. She just turned 17 and is a Junior in high school. Over the last three years we kept meeting up with Rachel and her loving and supportive parents Mike and Rose. They are from Machias, Maine but we never see them there, we always find them on an airport ramp in Florida. They are always greeting folks inside or outside a large black trailer with the name “Rachel’s Jewelry” stenciled in bright pink on the side. This trailer is generally found at air shows in Florida such as the recent DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase, SUN ‘n FUN and AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Visitors to airshows initially wonder why anybody would be selling jewelry on a flight line amongst all the airplanes on display. The answer is because this business belongs to Rachel St. Louis, the teenager from Machias, Maine and she is using it to fund the construction of a light sport Bush Cat aircraft kit. She designs and creates all the jewelry sold out of that trailer with skills taught to her by her mother, Rose. Most of the earrings, necklaces and bracelets are aviation related. Although we noticed this year, she has branched out a bit to add a professional sports theme to represent favorite teams. Her customers pilots’ else you
are pilots, aviation enthusiasts, families and just about anyone may find at an airshow.
10 www.avinationusa.com
The trailer was put together just a few years ago with the help of her Dad, Mike. Since Rachel is still in high school, he drives the jewelry display trailer to the airshow site and Rachel and her Mother fly down commercial to staff the event. On Saturday when my wife Joan and I stopped by to chat, Rachel was in the trailer studying for a test she would be taking that would be sent back to her school.
She is a Junior in High school back in Maine and her school works with her so she can travel to keep her business going. She doesn’t get any breaks on the academics, she has to pass the same exams as all the other kids. However, at her young age she could probably teach a masters program in business administration. She made a deal with the Bush Cat manufacturer to sell her small parts of the airplane kit as she was able to afford them from the profits of her Jewelry business. In past years when you visited her boutique showroom trailer you could monitor the progress she was making on the airplane because it was on display. It was not there this year because it is now too big and not easy to transport. In other words, she has finished the fuselage, wings and tail assembly and now she needs the engine and avionics. This is where she faces many challenges that have slowed her down a bit. Her father who has owned a plane for many years and can be credited for instilling her passion to fly, had a medical problem of his own this spring which means he might not be able to fly for a while. This was the reason they were not at SUN ‘n FUN last April. He is doing better now and can make sure the jewelry trailer gets to where it needs to be.
This year Rachel was not able to transport her Bush Cat to the show as it is now too large to put in the trailer to make the trip without damage to it or the showroom. She posed beside a Bush Cat like hers that was on display at the DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase.
