FMA Update: Scott Lutte

By Scott Lutte

My Name is Scott Lutte, one of two 2019 Flying Musicians Association Solo Scholarship recipients, and I am currently a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha majoring in professional flight here at their Aviation Institute. I was born and raised in Montgomery, Texas and moved to Nebraska for school.

Since I am a third-generation pilot in my family, I have been flying since before I can remember and it was always my favorite thing to do. When I was younger, I always had an ongoing battle with motion sickness every time I went flying in GA airplanes, but that never stopped me. Flying was always the coolest thing I could ever dream of doing, but it didn’t become a reality until I went to college and pursued my dreams.

Thankfully, the great team at the Flying Musicians Association allowed me to take my first step into flight training by paying for my training until my first solo and showed me the support and camaraderie of the flying community. In my first semester of college, I flew my first solo flight. This was single-handedly the most extraordinary thing I had ever done in life and, at the same time, the scariest. There I was, 18 years old, 1000 feet AGL in a left downwind, tightening my seatbelt in fear of the hardest landing in my life. But of course, everything went smoothly and I continued on with my training.

Because of the pandemics’ initial outbreak, I was forced to go home and quit flight training when only weeks away from my check ride. It was a long summer without flying any 172’s that were twice, some three, times my age. Nevertheless, I finished up the rest of my training on July 31st of 2020, and earned my Private Pilot License. Needless to say, I was very excited. All my life, I had been looking forward to that moment.

From there, I took the rest of August off until school started and then began my instrument training. After waiting several months for an instrument instructor, I began instrument training in late October of 2020. Through countless below-freezing pre-flights and ILS approaches, I eventually earned my instrument rating in May of 2021. I immediately jumped into commercial training. My goal was to complete my commercial certificate by the beginning of school in late August.

Flying every day, sometimes even twice, I managed to rack up 100 hours in one summer, and the heftiest rental bill I had ever seen. When school started back up in August, I decided to try to push myself and graduate in May of 2022. This meant I would have to take several senior-level aviation classes which were, by no means, easy. Because of this, my flight training was put on pause as I was swamped with homework. I had gone from flying every day to barely flying once a month.

The shining light of last summer (2021) was being selected to perform Taps at the EAA Memorial Wall Ceremony during AirVenture 2021. An FMA member is selected each year to perform this ceremonial duty. Thank you FMA and EAA for the honor.

Come winter break, I was ready to get back in the saddle and finish what I had started. It took me a while to knock the rust off and get back into the swing of things, but now I have my knowledge test completed, a check ride scheduled, and a mountain of books to read through before my practical and oral exam.

As part of Part 141 commercial training, I am required to do what we call a “long cross-country”. This is a flight that consists of one 250nm leg with no stops in between and then stopping at two other airports. All of this is done solo as well. For my cross country I flew down to Stearman field in Wichita, Kansas. I started at KCBF and flew down to KWLD, then to 3AU, and finally stopped at 1K1 for some dinner before heading back to KCBF. In case you don’t know about 1K1, it is an airport with a restaurant right on the field. In my opinion, it is the best on-airport restaurant in the Midwest. Everything is pilot-themed and the service/ food is phenomenal. I logged a total of 4.8 hours that day and it was a blast!

I would also like to add that I’m nearing the end of my commercial training as I have my check ride scheduled for early Spring. The one thing I tend to struggle with is the power-off 180, so if any of you have any advice, I’m all ears!

Over my winter break from school, I also went down to St. Augustine, Florida, and got my spin endorsement with Patty Wagstaff. This was arguably the coolest flying experience I’ve ever had in my life as I got to not only fly an Extra 300L but also fly it with Patty Wagstaff. I also had upset recovery training that day with Spencer Suderman in a Super Decathlon. For that flight, I learned how to do aileron rolls, recover from different flight attitudes, and even did a loop! (but by the time we did loops I was ready to get back on the ground). It was VERY beneficial to my confidence in the airplane. Now, I feel like I can recover from just about anything in an airplane. If you are thinking about doing upset recovery training or aerobatic training, I highly recommend going to Patty.

Still to this day, I have that same passion I had as a kid flying, and that same feeling every time I rotate at 55 knots. Like most pilots, I’m grinning every time I’m up in the air and can’t wait to fire up the old 172 again when we land and shut down.

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