north up the coast to Captiva before bearing east again to the airport, where more experienced hands took over and guided us to our landing.
Individuals who wish to obtain their pilot’s license must log a minimum of 40 hours of flight time with an instructor (along with other book and simulator instruction) — and can solo as young as 16 years old. Stay with it another year and pass a “check ride” with a Federal Aviation Administration instructor (along with a variety of other tests), and you’re good to go — flying with passengers at the ripe old age of 17. Rather leave the driving to someone else? Paragon Flight Charter offers flight services for both leisure and business travelers too. If you’d enjoy a scenic flight over the islands and coastal communities, up to three passengers can partake of these breathtaking journeys, with sunset flights available. For business commutes, the charter company flies from the Keys to points north in Florida, carrying up to four passengers. “Flying is unique, beautiful, peaceful, serene. It never gets old.” — Chris Schoensee But flight instruction is where Paragon Flight Training excels, as witnessed by its 60 to 80 active students at any given time, and approximately 300 graduate pilots annually. Those who graduate are rewarded by being able to autograph a “Wall of Fame” at the school, along with their date of graduation.
That was it. Thirty minutes among the clouds. And just maybe, a young man’s destiny was discovered, as he’s now pursuing his private pilot’s license, researching colleges and universities specializing in aviation, and contemplating a profession. “That’s the bug,” Brynn Polonitza says. “The people who are bitten, it captures you and holds you forever. When you fly a plane, you never really look down again. You spend the rest of your life looking up at the sound of an engine.” “The third dimension is wild,” Chris Schoensee adds. “Once you fly, driving a car is so boring. On one of my first flights, I opened the window and touched a cloud. Flying is unique, beautiful, peaceful, serene. It never gets old.”
As for our birthday boy, once airborne our instructor relinquished control of the yoke to my son — with the assurance toworrynot, because “you really can’t do anything I can’t fix” — and like that, Jackson was a pilot, flying us westward across Fort Myers, over the Sanibel Causeway,
COASTE | ADVENTURES 27
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