MY FIRST Solo FLIGHT My name is John Robert Farrell Humphreys. I developed a great interest in flying on a discovery flight with the Young Eagles when I was 13. It was at KCLW Clearwater Air Park in a PA-28 tail number N9749J with the pilot Christopher Noth on October 16, 2021. My aspirations are to attend the US Naval Academy or the US Merchant Marine Academy and fly as a Naval Aviator in the F/A-18E, flying off aircraft carriers. In my time in service, I hope to get the chance to go to TOP GUN, be a Blue Angel, and fly as a Test Pilot all in the US Navy. I plan to use this to meet the requirements to be an astronaut and be the first man on Mars. Some of the coolest people in aviation that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting are Lt. Amanda “Stalin” Lee, who is now the first female F/A-18 pilot for the Blue Angels; Lt. Ryan “Peaches” Garcia a Rhino Demo Team pilot, PS1 Elizabeth Glassmen, a pay and personnel subject matter expert for the Blue Angels, and LSC Justin Delacruz, a Chief for the Blue Angels. I spoke with them and asked all the questions I could imagine as well as getting to touch an F/A-18.
I began to join multiple programs including Boy Scouts, Sea Scouts, 4-H, and Naval Sea Cadet Corps. The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps had an opportunity to do some recruiting and volunteering at MacDill AirFest. It was there when many aviation projects started to roll in the right direction for me, like finding out about the Civil Air Patrol. Most importantly, I ran into LCDR Ricardo Foster, USN (ret.) President/CEO Infinity Aero Club. I had met him once 4 years before. Back then, he told me he had a plane and said one day he would take me up in it. He informed me that he had started an aero club and I said “Where can I sign up?! I joined at the age of 13. I learned about the different branches of aviation, gliders, helicopters, gyro-planes, gyrocopters, and jets. I started to take ground school, and began flying with Mr. Phil Mednick. I was also 13 when I heard from a girl in Sea Cadets who soloed in a glider at 14. Her name, Ava Rian Shelly. When I heard from her I knew that was what I wanted to do. Mr. Ricardo introduced me to an instructor by the name of Mr. Rand Vollmer CFIG, LSRM, COL USAR (Ret.). I started to fly with Mr. Vollmer. He told me it was possible I could meet my goal of soloing while I was 14 if I worked hard and didn’t give up. Let me tell you, I did. I worked at chair-flying at home, studying ground-school to pass the pre-solo test, and flying as much as I could to solo before my birthday. I passed the pre-solo test, perfected my landings, radio calls, and got my student pilot certificate to solo. I was all set to solo, but I had no idea it would be on the day it was. I hadn’t been flying for almost two weeks, due to the weather. I wasn’t expecting to solo after that gap, but that’s when I realized you just have to rely on your training. I’ll never forget the day, March 22, 2023, when I had my first solo. I woke up, got dressed and put on my Chuck Yeager “The Right Stuff” shirt. I checked my phone for weather, wind, and other such conditions. They
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