Mariemont’s first in flight

BY OLIVER MAUK

For many students, getting a driver’s license is an important and exciting day, but Junior Adam Theye received a permit that is much different: a pilot’s license. Theye passed his first flying test on January 21, earning a recreational license. This was the first step towards what he hopes will be his future career.

Theye takes his lessons at Clermont County Airport with his instructor, Tom Baresel. (THEYE)

“I had to take two tests. The first was a written multiple-choice test with an oral exam afterward,” explains Theye. “The most important test was the check-ride where you go up in the plane with an examiner and he tells you what to do.” If the pilot exceeds the altitude or airspeed limits, they fail the test and are forced to retake it.

This license allows Theye to fly on his own, but there are a few restrictions.

“You can fly for recreation only. You cannot make money with it and you may only take one passenger,” explains Theye. The next step up from a recreational pilot is a private pilot, which would allow him to make money towing banners, hauling cargo, or transporting passengers.

He first got interested in flying planes when he would sit in the cockpit of his grandfather’s small private plane.

“We would always fly to my grandparents resort in Florida, and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a pilot,” says Theye.  After he began lessons, he was hooked.

Theye began taking his lessons at Clermont County Airport in Batavia. He currently flies a Cessna 172 S, which is a small airplane mostly used for recreational purposes.

Theye’s flying experience in high school has influenced him to continue on the path to pilothood.

“I want to go to college, but I want to go to an aeronautical school,” says Theye. After graduating, he wants to fly commercial planes for a living.

“My dream would be to fly either a Boeing 787 Dreamliner or a Boeing 747,” he says.  Both of these are large, powerful passenger planes.

Whether he achieves his goal or not, he wants to be as successful as possible in the pilot industry, but more importantly, he wants to have fun getting there.

“It’s a journey and I love it because it’s different, it’s really different,” he says.