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BOCANEWSPAPER.COM
NOVEMBER | 2019
Boca high schooler pilots own birthday flight By: Marisa Herman Associate Editor Andy Traficante wanted to fly for his 16th birthday— and not on a commercial flight, but in a plane he was piloting himself.
are days he could teach us. He loves learning and it makes it so enjoyable to teach him as an instructor.”
His wish came true thanks to his participation in a dual-enrollment program with his Saint Andrew’s High School and Lynn University’s College of Aeronautics.
Jeff Johnson, the Dean of the College of Aeronautics, said the only other person he knows who flew solo on their 16th birthday is himself.
Now, a junior, Traficante enrolled in the program with Lynn when he was 15 and a half. To take a solo flight, which he did on his 16th birthday, you have to be 16-yearsold and pass multiple tests.
“It’s really something that is extremely rare,” Johnson said. “He’s a gifted, young man.”
“It was a great experience,” he said. “It’s something I will never forget.” He also said it almost didn’t happen due to the weather. “It was pretty crazy honestly,” he said, adding his instructor was so determined to make his birthday wish come true that they waited out the weather to make the flight possible. To prepare for the solo flight, Traficante took lessons twice a week for several months at the Boca Raton Airport. “It’s a huge accomplishment to make it on a solo flight at 16,” flight instructor for the College of Aeronautics Lance Blank said. Blank called his student one of the most dedicated people he knows. “He is always prepared,” Blank said. “There
Traficante said first became interested in flying after he took a ride in a hot air balloon when he was 8. He said he will spend the next year working on obtaining his private pilot license, which he can’t receive until he is 17. Since the solo flight, other students at Saint Andrew’s have expressed interest in flying. High schoolers aren’t the only ones learning how to take flight. College students at Lynn of course take classes and the courses are also open to the public. “It’s quite an eclectic group,” Johnson said. Those in training include people changing their careers to become a pilot, people with a passion for flying and people who want to learn more about careers in aviation. Johnson said the program places high school students in the same classroom with CEOs of big businesses. The student who flies in the time slot before Traficante on
Andy Traficante took his first solo flight on his 16th birthday. Submitted photo.
Saturdays is a neurosurgeon. “It’s student pilot and student pilot,” he said. “They are both in the same spot. It’s very much an equalizer.” Traficante said flying is definitely a profession he wants to get into. He said his solo
flight was just the beginning of a commitment. He plans to major in Aerospace Engineering in college and hopes to one day contribute to the design and testing of new aircraft and avionics.
No tax rate hike or Ocean Strand sale to fund Boca National By: Diane Emeott Korzen Contributing Writer The good news for the roughly 125,000 residents of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District -- which includes the smaller 93,235 population of residents who live within City of Boca boundaries -- is the District’s millage rate for Fiscal Year 2020 did not go up, as it was tentatively proposed to. The District’s final millage rate for this fiscal year is the same as it was for one that just ended, 0.9147 mills. The bad news is, as of press time, it is still unknown how the district will fund the cost of building Boca National golf course on the site of the old Ocean Breeze in Boca Teeca. The topic has caused controversy between the district and city council. City council members have balked over
the proposed price tag of the course. City council members have also offered to take over the project from the district. The decision to hold the tax rate steady came after the final hearing on Sept. 25 was postponed to Oct. 1 and moved to a larger venue due to a large turnout of folks complaining about the proposed increase. “Over the past couple weeks members of our community voiced their desire to keep the tax rate stable – at least for one more year,” Commission Chair Susan Vogelgesang said. “We encourage that kind of involvement from the community and try whenever possible to be responsive to community desires.”
Wall to wall people at Willow Theater for Beach and Parks District millage rate hearing. Photo by Diane Emeott Korzen.
Then, a week later, the district ruled out the possibility
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