Despite being only 15 years old, Chloe Higgins can already fly a plane.
The year 10 student at Nagle College earned her pilot licence earlier this year after a lot of preparation, including numerous hours studying textbooks and flying a P92 Echo Super.
Following a three-hour flight test, Chloe was granted her licence, enabling her to fly a plane by herself, remarkably before she is legally allowed to drive a car on a learner’s permit.
Chloe’s father, Martin, who is the chief flight instructor at Riviera Aeronautics, was very proud of his daughter.
“At 15 they haven’t even got their learner’s permit, but here they are flying airplanes that are worth a couple hundred thousands dollars,” he said.
“It seems crazy.
“A lot of adults struggle. They can’t even cut it. These guys, their brains are like little sponges. They haven’t got the fear of something going wrong.”
While Chloe’s grandfather was also a pilot, she felt no pressure to take to the sky, saying the decision was all her own.
“I learned out at Bairnsdale Aerodrome because my dad has the flying school there. It was my choice to actually do it though,” she said.
“I had the opportunity to do it and I took it. It opens a lot of opportunities and career paths when I get older.
“The younger I could get it done the more it opens up paths for me in my future, whether I keep going with flying and go after my commercial licence.
“As people know, it is hard to get your pilot licence.
“If you are capable of something like that it shows that you can achieve a lot.”
Chloe is glad her hard work has paid off and now hopes to take passengers with her into the air.
“It is nice going out and having a look around and seeing what’s going on. Hopefully I get my passengers’ endorsement so I can take people,” she said.
“When I did my training I flew several times a week, but now that I have my licence we are still figuring out how many times I go up so that I can get my passengers’ endorsement.
“To complete my licence I had to do a minimum of five hours solo and a minimum of 15 hours dual. I had to read a full textbook and do about three exams.”
In comparison, to earn a probationary driver license for a car, you must complete 120 hours of learner permit driving.
Chloe’s first solo flight is something she will remember forever.
“Dad didn’t even tell me. He was just like ‘it is your turn by yourself’ and I was in shock,” she said.
“When I did it I actually found it easier because I didn’t have the pressure of my dad looking at me.
“I was able to think clearer. It wasn’t as hard as I expected because I had trained to have the ability to fly by myself.”
Chloe said flying a plane was easier than what people think, but admitted it can get difficult.
“Lots of people think it’s hard to fly, but once you get the idea and gist of it, it gets easier,” she said.
“It is not the actual flying the airplane that’s hard, it is more the checks and being ahead of time. You do everything beforehand so you don’t get into a situation where people can ask ‘why didn’t you do that earlier?’.
“When you get into a busy situation it can get hard. You can have a quiet airport and it will be very easy or you can have a very busy airport, meaning you have to look around, do radio calls and check your airplane while still having to fly.”
IMAGE: At 15 years of age, Chloe Higgins earned her pilot licence, enabling her to fly a plane before she is allowed to drive a car.
