Then-third-grader Aaron Ralston felt mesmerized. He watched the plane’s wings glide through the air and the engines turn as he stretched his neck so he could see out the window. While on his first ever commercial flight headed to Disneyland, Aaron was infatuated with every part of it — specifically the clip-on wings pilot’s wear on their blazers.
That was the moment he became obsessed with everything about planes. He went to flying camps and had flying lessons, dreaming of becoming a pilot someday.
Ten years later, that dream is now a reality as Aaron will be attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to major in aeronautical science, fly for the Air Force after college and then eventually fly commercially.
Ralston’s love for flying only grew since his first flight. His summer going into eighth grade was spent at a flying camp at Kansas State University learning the plane’s controls and mechanics. And for his birthday that same year, he was gifted with a private flying lesson where he learned to perform take-offs and landings. These experiences solidified his goals for him, driving him to decide to pursue flying — goals that have now come true.
However, it wasn’t until his sophomore year that the career aspect became more real. After obtaining his pilot’s license that year, a comment from his father made him realize that he had the confidence to follow through with his passion.
“Honestly my dad really planted the idea,” Ralston said. “He said he wasn’t paying for a hobby, and he wanted to pay for a career. So that really initiated looking for aviation schools and things like that.”
He began flying with a private instructor Chris Hope, and joined The Flying Club of Kansas City. Hope recognized Ralston’s natural talent for flying planes, saying it’s something he’s meant to do.
“My instructor told me I was one of his fastest learning students,” Ralston said. “He said I just got it naturally.”
Ralston has a total of 150 hours of flying time, almost double the hours required to get a license. His dedication and love for flying is clear, having taken multiple written and verbal tests through the past year and spending this past summer flying six hours a week to obtain his license, and he’ll continue to fly six hours a week this summer too.
But Ralston’s pilot license wasn’t just his endgame, through the next couple of years he began looking into aviation schools and programs for the next four years, specifically the University of North Dakota and Embry-Riddle. After touring both campuses, he chose Embry-Riddle for its more hands-on experience.
And just like the 10-year-old dream he had of one day flying planes, he now has dreams for the rest of his life figured out. He believes his dedication that’s brought him this far, will help them come true.
After graduating from Embry-Riddle, Ralston plans on joining the Air Force and flying for exactly 20 years before continuing his flying career corporately to “fly around all the rich dudes” — a decision, according to Ralston, that gives you better pay opportunity, a stronger entry level position and better experiences overall.
He hopes to one day pass out clip-on wings to little kids, like himself, on his own flights.
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