Oklahoma teen earns private pilot license before high school graduation

In eighth grade, Brenton Stidham found his passion, but unlike most kids, it wasn’t with video games or sports; it was flying airplanes.

“I think they’re fascinating, I like the science behind how they fly, they’re very interesting to me,” said 17-year-old Brenton Stidham.

Spend any amount of time around planes with Stidham and you quickly realize he knows his stuff.

“Slight difference in the throttles, the 262 you have to push the throttle in and out, the 264 is more of a lever,” said Stidham.

His love for flying came immediately on his first flight,

“The bottom line is I like planes. I think they are very interesting, I think they are very cool, very pretty,” said Stidham. 

Initially, however, didn’t think he would like flying.

“Actually, I thought it would be a little more scared, because I’m afraid of heights,” said Stidham.

But once in the air, he was hooked.

“Well, obviously it’s a really cool feeling, because look at all those people down there, I’m up here and they’re not. It’s a very freeing feeling, you can go anywhere you want, you can do anything you want,” said Stidham.

It was the moment that he realized he wanted to pursue getting his private pilot’s license.

“20 hours with an instructor. 10 of which must be cross country and another 10 must be solo,” said Stidham. 

Along with many other requirements, but his determination was there and earlier this month he successfully received his private pilot’s license.

“I’ve been working hard at this for months, studying, preparing, testing, trying to prove to everyone that this is something that I can do, and I finally have the piece of paper to prove it,” said Stidham.

Stidham will next pursue his Commercial Pilot License after graduating from high school next year.