Up in the air Master instructor finds inspiration in flight Posted: Sunday, November 2, 2014 11:00 pm | Updated: 5:57 am, Mon Nov 3, 2014. By Jacob Klopfenstein jklopfenstein@kpcmedia AUBURN — One day, after Lara Gaerte already had been flying people up to jump out of planes for Skydive Fort Wayne, she got a call from a woman who wanted to take a flying lesson. Gaerte said the woman knew her, but she didn’t know the woman. She wanted to work on grass field landings with Gaerte. The woman told Gaerte the first plane ride she ever took was to jump out of one of the planes Gaerte was flying. “I said, ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’ ” Gaerte said. “She said, ‘No, the cool part is, I thought the only way I would ever get to go in an airplane was to jump out of it, but when I saw you flying I knew if you could do it I could do it.’” The woman started taking flying lessons after that first skydiving plane ride. “You never know who you reach or why and when it happens sometimes,” Gaerte said. Gaerte’s philosophy as an aviation professional is to be open and accessible. She’s co-owner of Century Aviation, the fixed-base operator at DeKalb County Airport, with her husband Tony. Century provides service needs for airport customers, from rental cars and hotel rooms to aircraft fueling and maintenance. Gaerte said it’s her job with Century to make sure people want to come back to the airport. She’s also a master flight instructor and said she logs about 400 hours per year in the air teaching. The average pilot might log 50 to 100 hours of flight per year. She’s current president of the Air Race Classic, a cross-country race for female pilots that started in 1929. In addition, she’s a member of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and two other female aviation groups, the Three Rivers chapter of the 99s and Women In Aviation. She said her roles as a flight instructor and co-owner of Century add up to the equivalent of two full-time jobs. She’s at the airport 65 to 70 hours every week. “I’m out of time after all those things,” Gaerte said. Gaerte’s inspiration was her grandmother, who took a Piper Cub airplane for a solo flight in the 1940s. In high school, Gaerte joined an aviation Exploring post, a program of the Boy Scouts that both boys and girls could join. She said joining the group gave her a way to start taking lessons. Before she graduated high school, she had her pilot’s license. “My grandma got it started,” Gaerte said. “She was my first passenger after I got my license.” Gaerte attended Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and got a degree in geology as a backup plan, but said she had decided aviation was the way she wanted to go from the start. It’s been a good year for Century’s flight school. So far in 2014, seven pilots have earned certificates or ratings through lessons with Gaerte. Some years she doesn’t have any, and most years just two or three. Teaching is challenging and interesting for Gaerte. Her students have varied levels of skills and experience, so lessons can be focused on very different areas of aviation. Gaerte said few skills necessary for flying have anything similar to any other life skill. Most of her students struggle with the addition of a third dimension — up and down — to flight. “Most people don’t have anything in their life to prepare them for landing a plane at highway speed on a small piece of concrete,” Gaerte said. The training is rigorous, but Gaerte said the hardest thing most people do is walk through the door at the airport to ask for lessons. Once a pilot gets started, they’ll find a welcoming, tight community that is rooting for them, she said. Every pilot, even if they’re flying huge commercial jets, went through the same training and has been there before, she said. She said coming back from her first successful solo flight was one of the top five moments in her life, and she sees the same look of elation from her students when they get back on the ground. “Everybody out there flying big, heavy iron started in the same place,” she said. “That sense of community is just a really big deal.” She said she doesn’t know how to make flying less expensive, but if you have the commitment and can find a way to fund it, you’re welcome to join. She and Tony are working on diversifying Century Aviation. They recently purchased a biplane and hope to start offering rides in the spring. “(Flying) is an activity that allows you to feel challenged and accomplished when you get back on the ground,” she said. “At the end of the day, this is what I want to do and where I want to be. I would much rather be here than behind a desk wishing I was at an airport.” Image 1 Lara Gaerte stands with her recently purchased open-air biplane. She hopes to offer rides in the plane in the spring. Image 2 Gaerte’s aviation inspiration was her grandmother, who flew a Piper Cub solo in the 1940s and was Gaerte’s first passenger after she got her license. Gaerte and her husband purchased their own Cub in remembrance of her grandmother. Image 3 The tail section of Gaerte’s Piper Cub, featuring the classic “Cub” logo. Save for the motor and propeller sections, the entire plane is made out of wood and cloth.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:37:27 +0000
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