Getting to Know Gunner Rogers: Ray Scholarship Recipient

Ever since I can remember I have been intrigued by the wonderful world of aviation. I went on my first flight when I was less than a year old. Every year my family and I would fly to go visit our family and the more I flew the more I wanted to know about flying. When I was six years old I began asking the pilots about how the plane flew, and I would get frustrated when they didn’t want to explain to a six year old the aerodynamics of the plane. This caused me to have a longing to find out more on my own. When I was eight years old I got to fly a plane for the first time. My grandparents had a friend who had a Piper Cub, and he took me up in it and then gave me the controls to fly around. That was when I truly fell in love with flying, when I got to experience the effortlessness and elegance of soaring through the sky, and getting to see all the wonderful and amazing sights. After this day I began looking for any and every opportunity to be able to fly again. That was when I found Young Eagles and where I got to meet Ray. Ray along with Young Eagles helped me to start my aviation journey by beginning flight lessons. Throughout my lessons I have been able to experience all the amazing things every pilot goes through. When I started flying, everyone said how great that first solo would feel. All the nervousness, anxiousness turned to pure happiness when I felt the wheels leap off the runway for the first time with no one else with me. From that point on I have only been able to make more memories such as my first solo cross country where I was able to fly over my home town of Forks. As I chase my dream of becoming a commercial pilot I look forward to the numerous adventures and memories ahead of me.