Durango High School senior Benjamin Williams is well on his way to becoming a licensed private pilot – thanks in part to the school’s new Career and Technical Education aviation course.
Benjamin said he has been interested in flying since elementary school but could not pursue his passion until this year, when the DHS aviation course was introduced.
“I’ve never really (been able to take a) class for it because we’re in a smaller town (and there weren’t) the tools for that,” he said. “So having an aviation class is awesome. I remember when our academic adviser was telling us that there might be one, and I was like pleading with her to actually add it.”
The yearlong Aviation Flight Pathway class, which meets twice a week at the Impact Career Innovation Center on the high school campus, was created in response to student interest, Principal Jon Hoerl said in a district news release.
“We knew from our data and the information gathered during one-on-one meetings with our academic advisers that there was a strong interest in the aviation industry,” he said in the release. “We are extremely grateful to our aviation instructors and excited about the outpouring of community support for this program. Having everyone step up and provide this opportunity for our kids is amazing.”
Certified flight instructors Jaden Mankins and Michael D’Anna have taught Benjamin and 21 other juniors and seniors the basics of aviation since August.
Mankins, a former DHS student, earned his private pilot’s license in February 2023 and his Certified Flight Instructor credentials in July. D’Anna has flown for 14 years and taught for six, and instructed Mankins.
Last week, the Aviation Flight Pathway class covered gyroscopic properties and their relationship to airplane controls, and differentiated between cockpit instruments such as the altimeter, RPM gauge, attitude indicator, heading indicator and turn coordinator.
Benjamin is currently the only student in the course also doing in-flight training. Mankins has given private in-air lessons to other DHS students who were not in the ground-school portion this year.
Passing the Federal Aviation Administration written test – which Mankins and D’Anna will administer at the end of the school year – is one step toward becoming a certified pilot.
Pilots in training must log a minimum of 40 flight hours before the practical flight test for a private pilot’s license. But most students log closer to 70 hours to be fully ready, D’Anna said.
Aspiring pilots also must complete three hours of night flight, three hours of simulated instrument flight (when visibility is blocked and navigation is done solely via instruments), five hours of solo flight and five hours of cross-country flight before they are eligible for the in-flight test, he said.
How quickly a student completes flight training depends on how dedicated he or she is, D’Anna said.
“It’s no different than calculus or anything else you learn – driving a car, riding a dirt bike, anything,” he said. “The more you get into it, the more you’re going to get out of it.”
An aspiring pilot must be at least 16 to fly solo and 17 to take the practical flight test for a private pilot’s license.
Aspiring pilots will need about $18,000 for lessons, plane rental costs and other costs, D’Anna said.
After ground-school lessons on Oct. 16, Benjamin made his way to Gregg Flying Services at Animas Air Park for a roughly two-hour in-flight lesson with Mankins. They worked on steep turns, stalls, slow flight and pattern work. Benjamin has been taking to the sky with Mankins for about a month and a half.
“It’s so much fun,” Benjamin said of piloting the small Cessna 172 Skyhawk under Mankins’ watchful eye. “It’s a little stressful, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of information.”
For steep-turn practice, Benjamin worked to maintain a predetermined heading and altitude while flying 360-degree turns at 45-degree bank angles.
Mankins simulated a stall – which can occur when an aircraft’s wings stop producing enough lift because the nose tips too high – causing it to lose altitude. The lesson teaches students how to respond safely in a real stall.
Slow flight practice involved Benjamin flying just above stall speed, which required him to work hard to maintain altitude and heading. He also shifted the plane into a high-power setting to offset drag – the force that opposes an aircraft’s forward motion.
Pattern work – practiced at Animas Air Park and Durango-La Plata County Airport – involved Benjamin flying a standard rectangular traffic pattern during takeoff, landing and approach. He also practiced radio communication with air traffic control and other pilots.
The lesson also covered preflight, run-up, before-landing and postflight checklists – all necessary safety measures followed before, during and after each flight.
Mankins said teaching Benjamin and his classmates has been an exciting new mentorship opportunity.
“The class has been so fun,” he said. “It’s been different, because all of my other teaching is one-on-one with a student in the airplane, whereas this is 22 kids. It’s definitely different than what I’m used to, but it’s been really good.”
The class has been wildly successful, Mankins and D’Anna said.
They hope to continue the course so more DHS students can pursue personal or professional interests in aviation.
“There’s so many people that want to do it,” D’Anna said. “I think this class is going to be awesome for years to come.”
epond@durangoherald.com
