Aviation student Guillaume Chevrier ‘19 earns solo endorsement
Please join the Aviation Department in congratulating Guillaume Chevrier ‘19 on earning his solo pilot endorsement. Guillaume flew solo for the first time on October 31st, 2018, at Albert Whitted airport in a Cessna 172 N61925 on runway 7.
Guillaume, a 7-day boarder from Saint Lucia, has been in aviation classes since he started at Farragut two years ago.
“I’ve wanted to be a pilot since I was young,” he said. “Flying has always excited me.”
It was a surprise to Guillaume when his teacher, Aviation Director Rob Ewing, gave him his solo endorsement.
“I was shaking,” he joked. “We landed and he told me that we’re gonna taxi back and stop, and we had a bunch of time left so I figured we were gonna go back. He told me that he needed all my information for my solo, but I didn’t realize he was gonna let me solo right then. But then he signed the papers and got out of the plane and told me to do two or three landings and come back.”
“It was lonely, but also exciting,” he continued. “Lonely because normally there is conversation while you’re up there, but when you’re solo there’s nobody to talk to. But really, you’re so occupied and excited that you don’t really even notice. It feels like everything is going faster. I circled the airport a few times and then came back down.”
Taking aviation at Farragut has only intensified Guillaume’s love for the craft.
“It’s a great feeling when you realize you’re flying this piece of technology, and you’re able to do it because not a lot of people are eligible to fly,” he said. “The fact that you understand how to do it and know what you’re doing makes you feel so advanced.”
Guillaume, a senior, also wrestles for Farragut. He has three choices for college: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Lynn University in Boca Raton, and Purdue University in Indiana. He will be majoring in aeronautical science with the goal of becoming a commercial airline pilot.
“It’s so peaceful and it’s so extraordinary to have the ability to fly an aircraft,” he said. “It’s magical.”
