Going for the Trifecta!

by Jim Fremont

Like so many young children, Frankie was enamored with airplanes from the very beginning. In fact, he had a couple large plastic airplane models as toys that were played with and repaired so many times that there was an unmistakable amount of scotch tape holding the bodies of these aircraft together. He would also fly his small fleet of die-cast airliners throughout the house, with a seriousness that just couldn’t be overlooked. As a result, various family members would eventually cater to his natural love of aviation by taking him to watch planes at either the North Las Vegas Airport or McCarran International Airport. Before long, somehow Frankie’s routine even included following the planes on the Flight Radar app and listening with the Live ATC app. In one instance, he even chose plane-watching at LAX over going to Disneyland!

In addition to his love for aviation, Frankie also spent a considerable amount of time playing baseball and at one point, he was even receiving invitations to attend events with USA Baseball. On a couple of occasions, this even turned into the ideal combination – which for Frankie, involved getting on an airplane to go play baseball. Frankie was definitely living a dream, until at 14 years-old, he broke his elbow while throwing.

Once things were healed up enough for everyday activities it was time to put that same drive and determination that had brought him success in baseball into another sort of activity. Aviation seemed like the obvious outlet, so Frankie and his parents began visiting local flight schools to see what opportunities might be available for someone his age. Thanks to some much appreciated advice Frankie learned that he was old enough to work towards soloing in a glider, so a new mission had been found. Unfortunately, the only glider club near Las Vegas was booked up and wasn’t taking new students. The best option became a glider port in Southern California, which involved a drive of nearly four hours each way. The family decided to give it a try and when Frankie immediately showed some natural stick and rudder skills, the decision was quickly made to continue. The travel involved certainly made the situation a challenge, but on 11/24/18, Frankie made his first solo glider flight—meaning he was on his own, with no instructor – while he was still 14 years old.

For his Christmas gift that year, his parents got Frankie an orientation flight in a helicopter with a local business that offered helicopter tours as well as flight training in both rotary and fixed wing. Once again the flight instructor expressed that a certain amount of airmanship seemed to be coming naturally and some kidding started about the idea that if he could take to this variety of aircraft so easily, maybe Frankie should try to solo a helicopter, solo a Cessna and get his private pilot license in the glider as soon as it was allowed by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) on his 16th birthday.

Although those jokes were easily dismissed, there was a legitimate need to find a good private pilot ground school. During that search Frankie learned about the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Dual Enrollment Program. The idea of getting started on some college-level aviation coursework that could also satisfy high school credits sounded too good to be true. As a result, although it was a whole lot more than just ground school, Frankie dove in with both feet and has loved the program and its format. In fact, he was thrilled to be able to talk to a NASA engineer at the Oshkosh airshow last July about recent developments in supersonic flight – due to the fact that he had written a paper on the subject as part of an ERAU Aeronautical Sciences course.

The overall Oshkosh experience had inspired Frankie and suddenly talk started in earnest about the goal of taking the next step with all three aircraft (rotary, fixed wing and gliders) on his 16th birthday. As he looked for the right training facility, Frankie encountered a great deal of skepticism. Common reactions were things like, “that’s a little too much pressure to put on a young person” or “well, don’t be disappointed if that doesn’t work out, since those are all very different aircraft”. Eventually the right location was found and wouldn’t you know it – it was the same place that Frankie had taken that very first helicopter orientation ride. As a result, he had found a home and the training in the two powered aircraft soon began.

Scheduling was tough however. Trying to balance trips to Southern California for the glider work, with various different instructors in Las Vegas for the powered work – all while still keeping up with the first semester of his sophomore year in high school. Many times it seemed like things just weren’t going to work out, due to problems such as weather-related cancelations or scheduling conflicts with instructors, but Frankie wouldn’t hear of the word ‘quit’. Eventually, it even became clear that the staff at the glider port wasn’t necessarily in support of his goals and it took some convincing to get them on board. Once over that hurdle, it was on to the task of preparing for the glider private pilot check-ride.

When his first semester finals were completed, Frankie immediately dove into his aviation subjects full-time, seven days a week. Each day involved flying in the morning, formal ground training in the afternoon and being quizzed by his parents in the evening. Thanks to some incredible instructors – who are obviously greatly appreciated – Frankie kept up this pace for the entire holiday break and even flew on Christmas Day.

When his 16th birthday finally arrived, Frankie had a very serious tone about him. When asked if he was doing OK, his answer centered on the idea that so many people had done so much to help him get to this point and he didn’t want to disappoint anyone. He felt that succeeding with all three aircraft was the best ‘Thank You’ he could provide.

In total, six months had been thoroughly dedicated to the preparations for this day. That included over 80 hours of total flight time, 150+ hours studying for

the glider private pilot written exam, 100+ hours preparing for the glider private pilot check ride, roughly 20 hours of helicopter ground training and roughly 20 hours of fixed wing ground training.

As one would imagine, any endeavor of this magnitude necessitates finding ways to get over a multitude of obstacles and challenges. Frankie had a remarkable role model in Captain Tammie Jo Shults, the Southwest Airlines pilot who managed to land a crippled Boeing 737 in April of 2018. Frankie had the opportunity to meet Capt. Shults at the Oshkosh Airshow and one of her most impressive personal traits was how open she was about sharing her faith and her reliance on God. Capt. Shults had even sent a

copy of her book, “Nerves of Steel”, with a personal inspirational note for Frankie. His parents held it until one of those challenging days we all have that brings self-doubt and questioning. After receiving Capt. Shults’ book and reading her messages to him, Frankie was more than just motivated again. He was seemingly limitless in his resolve and stamina – proving once again that there’s nothing more powerful than faith.

And so it was – within a 24 hour span of his 16th birthday, Frankie took a helicopter through four solo patterns, a Cessna through three solo patterns and a glider through his first check-ride – all successfully. As far as we can tell, there doesn’t seem to be a record of this combination of events being done before on a 16th birthday. As a result, until proven differently, we’re going with the idea that this all marked a first in aviation history.

When asked about the future, Frankie isn’t exactly sure what challenges he’ll attempt to conquer next, but he’s hoping his aviation journey includes participating in the new Aviation program starting next year at his high school. In fact, as luck would have it, the organization that’s recently been chosen to provide training for this new program, 702 Helicopters, is the same group that’s already been providing Frankie with his flight training in the two powered aircraft. Frankie gives 702 Helicopters a great deal of credit in helping him to achieve these latest goals. Long term, Frankie hopes to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott Campus, where he would like to study Aeronautical Sciences and become a professional pilot.