AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 38
PILOTBRIEFING
For breaking news see AOPA Online (www.aopa.org) aylor De Ley of Yorba Linda, California, may be only 17, but he has already focused on a professional pilot career and completed a 10,492-nautical-mile solo flight to the four corners of the nation. He now has 340 total flying hours. He dedicated the flight to giving fellow teens who are “stuck playing video games” a taste of the flying adventure through his reports on Facebook, and through the news reports written about him. He also spoke to Experimental Aircraft Association chapters at several stops on the multiweek trip. The trip took 71.9 flying hours, nearly the exact number he planned. Planning started four years ago after he read Stephen Coonts’ The Cannibal Queen. He and his father, Luc, also a pilot, completed a Van’s RV–4 airplane kit bought for $38,000, equipped it with a Superior XP-360 180-horsepower engine, and never looked back. His mother, Inger, may have rethought the decision over and over, but allowed the trip. The family is originally from Belgium. De Ley made some airline career contacts at his home airport where he waxed airplanes to pay for the trip, Corona Municipal, but airline jobs tie for first place with flying for FedEx or United Parcel Service. He has chosen to study accounting in college as a fallback career, if needed. The contacts he made at Corona included his flight instructor, Dave Stevenson, who helped him experience a Boeing Stearman, a Piper Super Cub, and 40 other models. He began his career in gliders while too young to become a private pilot. The trip went without problems from weather, airspace, or mechanical
AOPA PILOT •
BY ALTON K. MARSH
17-year-old circles the United States
T
Taylor De Lay circles the Space Needle in Seattle in his Van’s RV–4.
issues. All he did was change the oil twice. While he had contingency plans for weather, he needed them only once for his one-day weather delay in Maine. Flying friends across the country let him stay at their homes. As for airspace, he handled it like a pro, although he found the airspace around Washington, D.C., to be “intimidating.” It took a great deal of maturity to make the trip, and that’s not a problem for De Ley. “He’s 17, going on 45,” his father,
Luc, told several news outlets. “I’m just me,” De Ley countered when asked about his father’s comment. “It is what it is.” Yet, listen to this from the youngster: “Seniors in high school have no idea what they want to do. It’s ridiculous.” It may come as no surprise that his friends can’t relate to such a strong and focused passion for flying. “My friends are not interested in it,” he said. If it is up to him, he’ll do what he can to change that. He has a head start on the goal.
38 • NOVEMBER 2011
http://www.aopa.org
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011
Contents
President’s Position
Hangar Talk
AOPA Media
AOPA Action
Letters
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Safety Pilot
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
Pilot Briefing
Rally GA: The Doctor Doesn’t Need to Be In
Where Flying is ‘Still Fun
At the Controls
Walking Back On
Rally GA: Flight for Survival
AOPA Aviation Summit 2011: Happy in Hartford
We Have a Winner!
2012 Tougher Than a Tornado Sweepstakes: Hard Work in Wild Places
AOPA in the States: The 5-Percent Solution
Challenges: Powerless Flight
Technique: Pilots Are Pessimists...and Optimists
Avionics: Garmin’s aera
Dogfight: NDB Approaches
Never Again
Fly-Outs
Fly by Wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Hangar Talk
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - AOPA Media
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - AOPA Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Safety Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Pilot Briefing
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Rally GA: The Doctor Doesn’t Need to Be In
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Where Flying is ‘Still Fun
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - At the Controls
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Walking Back On
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Rally GA: Flight for Survival
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - AOPA Aviation Summit 2011: Happy in Hartford
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - We Have a Winner!
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 2012 Tougher Than a Tornado Sweepstakes: Hard Work in Wild Places
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - AOPA in the States: The 5-Percent Solution
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Challenges: Powerless Flight
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Technique: Pilots Are Pessimists...and Optimists
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Avionics: Garmin’s aera
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - I2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Dogfight: NDB Approaches
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Never Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Fly-Outs
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Fly by Wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - Cover4
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