Flight Of A Lifetime
The first experience Jaxon Drezek has ever had being a pilot.
Jaxon Drezek and his partner Alexandria Hammack stand in front of the Cessna Skyhawk 172.
March 31, 2021
Our adventure begins with 15-year-old sophomore named Jaxon Drezek who wants to become a pilot. Drezek started his training on Oct. 26, 2020 and is now receiving flying lessons from his pilot/instructor First Lieutenant Joe Morris. Now that we have the basic background information out of the way, let the adventure begin.
It all started when Drezek got to the hanger and saw the small, single-engine, Cessna Skyhawk 172, he was ecstatic to fly the plane because it isn’t something that many people his age are able to do, but he was also a bit nervous because he was worried that he would make a fatal mistake. He pushed that feeling away after realizing that he would have a professional right next to him ready to take over if needed.
At the end of the day when the pilot was debriefing me, I was thinking about how happy I was to fly a plane. It certainly was a milestone in my life and now I know that I definitely want to be a pilot.
— Jaxon Drezek
Immediately, Lt. Morris got to work on the pre-flight, which is to say checking to make sure that nothing was wrong with the plane. Lt. Morris handed Drezek the checklist and told him to read it off. After that they got in the plane and started taxing to the runway, as they took off they heard ATC (Air Traffic Control) say “have a good flight”.
After getting 2,500 feet into the air Lt. Morris said “You have the plane” and Drezek thought to himself, “Here we go.” Drezek focuses on the task on hand and not freaking out with his partner in the back: Alexandria Hammack, whose rank is Cadet/Senior Airman (C/SAmn). After 5 minutes Drezek already had the hang of it.
“From there on I kept the plane nice and stable, taking a nice sharp turn with the help of the pilot and for a while we just admired the ground down below while I was flying,” Drezek said.
When it was time to land there was a delay because there were two medevacs and a Citation (Two jet engine plane) on the landing strip, so they turned left and got redirected to Eureka. They then told ATC that they could just go down to the refueling line.
“At the end of the day when the pilot was debriefing me, I was thinking about how happy I was to fly a plane. It certainly was a milestone in my life and now I know that I definitely want to be a pilot,” Drezek said.
