Jefferson City's Airport Advisory Committee is encouraging locals to try flying lessons at the Jefferson City Memorial Airport as a way to promote the airport.
People can take flight instructions and earn a private pilot license, instrument rating on a pilot license or a commercial pilot license. Participants must be 17 years old to earn a private pilot license. People have to be at least 16 years old to fly an airplane by themselves, but committee member Grant Shorthose said people could start learning to fly even before they are 16.
It could cost $9,000-10,000 for a private pilot license, and expenses for a commercial license or an instrument rating on a license vary. While that might sound like a lot, Shorthose said, some people spend that much on other hobbies.
Even though the lessons have been offered for decades, most of the community is unaware of them, Shorthose said.
With the aviation industry in need of pilots, he said, offering flight instructions can provide flying experience and a possible career path for students.
"A lot of people look at (becoming a pilot) as an amazing accomplishment, a career path that only a few can do, and it's actually just really the opposite - almost anybody can do it," Shorthose said. "The average person can go out and become a pilot, and the average person can take those skill sets and go into the industry and in a matter of years. They're flying airlines all over the world. It's an amazing thing for a young person in Jefferson City, Missouri, within 10 years of graduating high school could be flying a jumbo jet in Asia."
Anyone interested in flight instructions can contact Chief Flight Instructor Scott McDonald at [email protected].