Lots of learning at Northern Air
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| Monica Johnson, 16, Bonners Ferry, is all smiles after making her first solo flight just four days after her birthday! |
Spring is in the air. The crocuses are sprouting and so are the new pilots! Monica Johnson, Bonners Ferry, took her first solo flight in a Cessna 172 on February 28, just four days after her 16th birthday (the minimum age to solo). Her solo was right on the heels of her older sister Ericka, who soloed in October of last year on her 16th birthday.
Ericka and Monica are continuing their flight training in their family’s Cessna 150 and hope to get their pilots licenses when they turn 17!
It is a beautiful thing to watch a person grow up and follow their dream, and even more so when you can be a part of that process.
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| Tammy Blanford |
Tammy learned to fly with Dave Parker when he first opened for business as Northern Air in 1997. She then attended the University of North Dakota, where she earned her commercial license, instrument rating, multi-engine rating, Certified Flight Instructor certificate, and Certified Flight Instructor for Instruments Certificate.
She graduated summa cum laude in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics and a major in commercial aviation. After graduation, she returned to Northern Air as a flight instructor and spent five years teaching others the joy of aviation and helping them achieve lifelong dreams of learning to fly.
Becoming a flight instructor is a great way for new commercial pilots to gain the hours and experience needed before being hired on to other commercial flying operations.
With all that new experience under her belt, she followed her dream and was hired to fly for Piedmont Airlines and then Horizon Airlines as a first officer.
In February, Tammy passed her ATP exam.
In the past, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only required airline captains to have their ATP certificate, and first officers only needed a commercial license. In September of this year, the FAA will implement a new rule to require all airline pilots, captains and first officers, to have the ATP Certificate.
Tammy is now only one step away from being an airline captain. Congratulations from all of us at Northern Air!
Northern Air’s new Citabria tailwheel airplane has been put to work already with several pilots working on their tailwheel endorsements, or just getting refreshed on the tailwheel.
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| Joel Cook |
He continued on to earn his instrument rating in 2011 and now his tailwheel.
He is currently in Kelowna, BC, earning his float plane rating and getting some good mountain flying experience.
His goal is to come back to Northern Air to earn his commercial pilot license and eventually start working as a bush pilot somewhere in British Columbia or the Yukon.
Roman Oberemok came to us from Spokane with a new-to-him Cessna 337, which is an in-line twin engine airplane (one engine in front and one in the rear instead of one on each wing).
Northern Air instructor Wayne Sommers worked with him to earn his twin engine rating on February 28.
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| Kevin Breneman |
Northern Air has made a lot of changes lately, the latest of which is the addition of a PSI-LaserGrade computer testing center.
The center is authorized to administer FAA knowledge exams for aviation fields as well as other exams for government and state licensing, professional associations and IT certification.
This is a benefit to all the aviation students here as well as those in Sandpoint and other neighboring areas, as the closest testing facilities were historically located in Spokane and Kalispell.
To register for an FAA or other exam go to www.lasergrade.com, visit http://northernair.biz or call Northern Air at (208) 267-4359.