Student Achievements
The Pilot Wall-of-Fame - Solo Flights and Checkrides
When training for your Private Pilot’s license, the training is divided into two parts: Dual Flight Time (Flight with the instructor onboard) and Solo Flight Time (you are flying by yourself). Your first Solo Flight is very significant and unforgettable. There are several traditions, a kind of ‘rite of passage,’ that have developed in the United States around "soloing,’ such as cutting off and permanently displaying the back of their shirt. Pilot certificates and ratings will also require you to take both an FAA written Knowledge Exam and an FAA Practical Exam, also known as the “checkride.”
Every flight instructor re-lives their 1st solo every time they solo one of their students. Taking off in an aircraft by yourself for the first time is a moment in your life you will never forget, and the completion of your Checkride signifies you are officially a pilot! Below are photos of both Solo Flight and Checkride achievements. Are you ready to be part of the experience? CONTACT US today and Start Flying!
Congratulations to Landon Fisher for passing his Private Pilot License Checkride on 09/26/24! His CFI was Hayden Keith and his DPE was Marie Kellerman.
The traditional cutting of the shirt for Kyle Warns first SOLO flight! Taken by CFI Michael Franklin. Congratulations Kyle!
Congratulations to Sergio Buryy for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 08/08/24! Thank you to his CFI Mike Franklin and DPE Marie Kellerman.
Congratulations to Kara Vines for successfully completing her Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Marie Kellerman! Congratulations to Kara and her CFI John Rinaldi!
Congratulations to our own Johnathan Harry for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 07/18/24! His CFI was Hayden Keith and his DPE was Marie Kellerman.
Congratulations Jace Steele! Jace passed his instrument on May 28, 2024. Check included real IFR conditions, and some evaluator-induced failures to boot. Jace is a Washington state patrol trooper and is looking forward to logging some serious IFR time and beginning work on his commercial ticket. Great job, Jace! (Shown with his CFI, Mark Leingang)
The traditional cutting of the shirt for Kara Vine's first SOLO flight! By her CFI, Michael Franklin. Congratulations Kara!
The traditional cutting of the shirt for Ryan Kennedy's first SOLO flight! With his CFI, Michael Franklin. Congratulations Ryan!!
Mariah Bennett is an Army Blackhawk Pilot who has been training with her instructor Shawn Pratt, in Safety in Motion Flight Center’s Rotorcraft Transition Program (RTP). Has added both airplane single-engine land and instrument ratings to commercial rotor-wing pilot certificate and is now pursuing her Multi-engine Rating.
Congratulations to our own Chris Walling for passing his Commercial Pilot License checkride on 05/03/24! His CFI, Lauren Moorhead and DPE, Marie Kellerman.
Congratulations to Erik Landro for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 05/03/24! His CFI was Alan Pham and DPE was Marie Kellerman.
Congratulations to our student, Alyson Wolford on taking her first solo flight! Her instructor, Hayden Keith, is doing the ceremonial cutting of the back of her t-shirt!
Congratulations to our newest Private Pilot, Derek Eliason! Derek took his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Marie Kellerman and has been flying with our instructor Alan Pham. Congrats Derek!!
Congratulations to our newest Private Pilot, Ryan Gildehaus! Ryan took his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Marie Kellerman and has been flying with our instructor Alan Pham. Congrats Ryan!
The traditional cutting of the shirt for Logan Moore's first SOLO flight on April 4th! With his CFI Jesy Chartrey. Congratulations Logan!!!
Congratulations to Kylie Eastman for successfully completing her Commercial Checkride with DPE Bo Corby!! Congratulations to Kylie and her CFI Lauren Moorhead.
The traditional cutting of the shirt for Bryce Pletcher's first SOLO flight! by his CFI's Devereaux Buraxcyk and Alan Pham. Congratulations Bryce!
The traditional cutting of shirt for Joey Petak's first SOLO flight by his CFI Talon Kohler. Congratulations Joey!
Congratulations to Elijah Cruz for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 01/29/24! His CFI was Michael Franklin and DPE was Marie Kellerman.
Congratulations to our newest Private Pilot, Josh Moore! Josh took his checkride with DPE, Marie Kellerman. And has been doing all of his flight training with our instructor Hayden Keith. Congrats Josh!
Congratulations to our new Private Pilot, James Dowling! His instructor has been Alan Pham. James took his checkride with DPE, Marie Kellerman!
Congratulations to Darren Anema for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 12/20/23! His CFI John Rinaldi and DPE was Marie Kellerman.
Congratulations to our student, Elijah Cruz, on taking his first solo flight! His instructor, Mike Franklin, is doing the ceremonial cutting of the back of his t-shirt!
Congratulations to Nicholas Davis for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 10/31/23! His CFI Talon Kohler and DPE was Marie Kellerman.
Traditional cutting of shirt for Colton Zehnder's first SOLO flight on 10/27/23, by his CFI Talon Kohler. Congratulations Colton!!!!
Congratulations to Lucas Roehl for passing his Private Pilot License checkride on 10/27/23! His CFI John Rinaldi and DPE was Marie Kellerman.
Traditional cutting of shirt for Darren Anema's first SOLO flight by his CFI John Rinaldi. Congratulations Darren!!
Traditional cutting of shirt for Landon Fisher's first SOLO flight by his CFI Talon Kohler. Congratulations Landon!!
Congratulations to Jessica Wallingford who completed her checkride on October 13th. Jessica is our most recent Private Pilot out of Olympia. She has been working and studying very hard while working two jobs to help fund her goals. Her flight instructor is Matthew Knierim. Nice work Jessica!
Traditional cutting of shirt for Max Mousseau's first SOLO flight by his CFI Alan Pham. Congratulations Max!!
The traditional cutting of the shirt for Johnathan Harry's first SOLO today by his CFI Shawn Kenyon. Congratulations Johnathan!
Stephanie Hinton getting the back of her shirt cut out by her CFI Talon Kohler representing the celebration of her first solo flight!!
Congratulations to David Turner for passing his Private Pilot License checkride! His CFI is Shawn Kenyon and his DPE is Marie Kellerman.
Instructor Alan Pham (right) passed his CFII checkride with his instructor Kyle Vanderwaal (left). Congrats Alan!!
Ryan Gildehaus getting the back of his shirt cut out by his CFI Alan Pham in celebration of his first solo flight!!
Nicholas Waruszewski getting the back of his shirt cut out by his CFI Alan Pahm in celebration of his first solo flight!! Congratulations Nicholas!
Kaylan Fullerton has successfully completed his Instrument Checkride with DPE Marie Kellermann! Congratulations to Kaylan and his CFI Talon Kohler!
Scott Elliott has successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride on 08/03/23 with DPE Julie Paasch! Congratulations to Scott and his CFI John Rinaldi!!
Ashlyn Galloway getting the back of her shirt cut out by her CFI Alan Pahm in celebration of her first solo flight!!
First Solo with the ceremonial cutting of the shirt for Lucas Roehl and his instructor John Rinaldi! Congratulations Lucas!!
Koby Reid has successfully completed his Instrument Checkride with DPE Marie Kellermann! Congratulations to Koby and his DFI Shawn Kenyon!!
Kyle Crawford has successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Marie Kellermann!! Congratulations to Kyle and his CFI Hayden Keith!!
First solo with the ceremonial cutting of the shirt for Austin and his instructor Talon Kohler! Congrats, Austin!!
Randy White passed his instrument checkride with Julie Paasch. His CFI was Assistant Chief Flight Instructor Kyle VanderWaal.
Alex Garrett has successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Marie Kellermann!! Congratulations to Nick and his CFI Shawn Kenyon!!
Nicholas Gard has successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Marie Kellermann!! Congratulations to Nick and his CFI Alan Pham!!
Zacharias Derr Manuel successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Julie Paasch!! Congratulations to Zach and his CFI Hayden Keith!!
Brandon Hall successfully completed his Instrument Rating Checkride with DPE Maria Kellerman! Congratulations to Brandon and his CFI Roger Kohls!!
Steven A. Smith successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Julie Paasch!! Congratulations to Steven and his CFI John Rinaldi!!!
Matt Dehan successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride. Congratulations to Matt and his CFI Nathan Hamberg!
Dennis Heide successfully completed his Private Pilot Checkride with DPE Julie Paasch! Congratulations to Dennis and his CFI Talon Kohler!
John Rivera passed his commercial checkride with Julie Paasch today! John has been absolutely dedicated to his training, coming into the flight school almost every single day to hit the books. That dedication certainly paid off!! Congrats to John and his CFI Jacob Bonnell!
Congratulations Justin Pratt, on your Private Pilot Checkride success! With DPE Julie Paasch.
Nick Mortenson getting the back of his shirt cut out by his CFI Talon Kohler in celebration of his first solo flight on April 14, 2023!
Congratulations to Judson “Jud“ Kelly, who passed his checkride today with the FAA and is now Safety in Motion’s newest Assistant Chief Flight Instructor! As a retired Air Force Colonel and F-16 pilot, Jud also has his own Piper Tomahawk and is building a Van's RV. Judd especially loves to teach and pass along his vast aviation experience to our next generation of pilots. Please join us in congratulating Jud on his most recent aviation accomplishment, it is well deserved! Also a huge thank you to his wife Kathy, who lets this hard-working “retiree” teach our students! ~ Shawn Pratt, Director of Operations/Chief Pilot
With the sun setting in freezing temperatures, Mariah Bennett passed her Commercial Pilot-Airplane Add-on Rating checkride on February 24, 2023! Mariah is a US Army Blackhawk pilot and earned her commercial airplane rating through Safety In Motion’s Rotorcraft Transition Program (RTP), with Shawn Pratt as her flight instructor. Next will be her instrument–airplane add-on rating, followed by her multi-engine airplane rating. Her plan is to complete all her training in the next couple of months. Mariah is also part of the SkyWest Airlines cadet program and should be flying for the airline in no time. Great job, Mariah!
Congrats to Larry Yount on passing his CFI instrument check ride. Since November 2019 Larry has been busy with SIM Instructors adding his Instrument, Commercial, Multi-Engine, CFI and now CFI-I tickets to his ratings. Larry is a veteran who has taken full advantage of his VA benefits to garner these ratings. He is a jump instructor and pilot with Kapowsin Skydiving at Shelton and enjoys flying his own 172 with family and friends.
Roger Kohls passed his CFI initial Checkride on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023. Here he is pictured with his CFI Kyle VanderWaal.
Student Grant Smart, with Certified Flight Instructor, Jacob Bonnell, just after his first Solo Flight in N36JC.
Captain Brett Hamilton, US Army, Apache AH-64 Pilot after passing his Airplane Single Engine Land checkride, with Mark Leingang CFI, CFII, ME. Brett trained for 1 and a half years through deployments, weather, work conflicts and life events, and kept after it. Congratulations!
Captain Brett Hamilton, US Army, Apache AH-64 Pilot after passing his Airplane Single Engine Land checkride. Brett trained for 1 and a half years through deployments, weather, work conflicts and life events, and kept after it. Congratulations!
Student Zach Halbert, with Certified Flight Instructor, John Rinaldi, just after his First Solo flight.
Matthew Cristobal - CFI: Charles Reed - First Solo on 10/17/22 in N9824V out of Olympia
Jessica Wallingford - CFI: Scott Cutler - First Solo on 10/03/22 in N36JC out of Olympia
Skylar Pleasant - CFI: Jacob Bonnell - First Solo on 10/17/22 in N221TJ out of Olympia
Matt Dehan - CFI: Charles Reed - First Solo 9/24/22 in N221TJ out of Olympia
Brandon Lowe - CFI: Charles Reed - First Solo 9/19/22 out of Olympia