New BHS grad takes to the skies

Graduation brings new beginnings and opens all kinds of doors for young adults, and for recent Bigfork High School graduate Christina Thompson one of those doors includes the door to the cockpit of an airplane.

Thompson is just a little more than a week away from taking her check flight to receive her pilot's license. She has been working towards getting her license since last July, but has been interested in flying since her dad Chuck took her on her first plane ride when she was 5 years old.

"Flying gives you freedom," she said. "When you're in the air you can do whatever you want pretty much."

Her family moved to Montana when she was 7 years old and after living in Bigfork for a couple of years they purchased a home a little further north in Lower Valley in a development called Sky Ranch that has a private grass airstrip. Chuck also bought a plane, a Cherokee 235 high-performance aircraft, to take full advantage of their new backyard. After that the Thompson family began flying often, and frequently flew to their cabin near Sandpoint, Idaho. As young as 12 years old Christina remembers being given the opportunity to pilot the plane. Her dad would do the taking-off and landing, but Christina was in charge of the mid-flight from the co-pilot's seat.

Now that she'll be able to fly on her own Christina said her dad is very excited for her, but her mom, Sheila, is a little more protective.

"My mom is really nervous because I'm her baby, but she's okay with it," Christina said. "It is going to be kind of my life so she's going to have to get over it."

By "kind of my life" Christina is referring to her choice in a major in college and her future occupation. In the fall she is attending Arizona State University to get her degree in air transportation management and has signed up to be part of the Air Force ROTC. Her goal is to get into the Air Force's flight school, which students attend during the summer between their junior and senior year. However, only 30 students get into the training school each year from across the country, and that number is set to decrease due to budget cuts. If she does get in, she will also go to another two years of flight training after college

The next two summers will be difficult as well. Christina has to get eye surgery to correct her nearsighted vision, which makes her have to wear contacts. In order to go to flight school she must have perfect vision, so she is planning on having the surgery during the summer between freshman and sophomore year. The following summer she will be attending basic training.

However, the hard work is worth it for Christina, especially if she lands her dream gig. Two out of the 30 students in flight school are selected to attend fighter jet pilot training school.

Christina chose to go to ASU over Montana State University, where her older brother Jonathan attends, because although both schools have an Air Force ROTC program, MSU does not offer her desired major. Also, ASU put 10 students into flight school last year.

"They say 99 percent of getting into flight school is on the student," Christina said. "Every kid dreams of doing that type of flying. My neighbor took me on my first aerobatic flight and that's pretty much what fighter jets do. I love aerobatic flying. Shooting stuff is just a bonus."

While she is dreaming of being in the pilot seat, Christina's friends just want to know if they can ride along when she gets her pilot's license, and if she becomes a jet fighter where on the list they are for an aerobatic ride.

"I'm kind of nervous about taking someone up for the first time," she said. "I just don't want them to critique everything I do too much."

Although this is all her dream plan, Christina has some backups as well. If she doesn't get into flight school her major will allow her to run a fixed based operator (FBO) similar to Red Eagle Aviation in Kalispell, where she rents the plane from she has been practicing on and pays an instructor to prepare her for the test. Her degree will also qualify her to run an airport. If she does get into flight school, but not the fighter jet portion, she will be flying cargo planes, bombers and other larger planes for the Air Force. If she gets into flight school she is required to serve 10 years in the military, if not she will have to serve four years.

Christina doesn't mind giving up some of her time to be in the military, in fact, she almost just enlisted straight in rather than going through ROTC.

"I've always seen it as an honor to be in the military," she said. "The military takes precedence over going to college for me. I don't have to fly planes in the military either. That part is just a dream for me, but I don't know what else I'd do. I really like the physical part of the military too. I really like working out and being in shape. ROTC is also a great way to meet people in college. For awhile I thought about just enlisting in the military and going back to college when I'm done, but I don't think it's worth the risk of not going back to school because I don't know if I'd have the motivation to go back later on. I figure I might as well get a degree while I'm in the military because nowadays you need a degree to get any type of good job."

Christina has her future planned out, but right now she is focused on the present, and her upcoming test. In order to get her license she must pass three separate sections. She passed the first part, a written test, three months ago. Next Saturday she will take an oral test which will cover similar material, but she will have to apply her knowledge to potential real life scenarios. If she passes her oral then she will be allowed to advance to the final portion, a check ride with an unfamiliar instructor who will not only ask her more problem solving questions, but also put her into dangerous situations she could encounter while flying, such as killing the planes power. Christina will use the Cessna 172 that she has been renting form Red Eagle for her test.

"I can't wait for the day that I can wake up and just say 'I'm going to go flying today' and I'm going to fly the whole entire day," Christina said of getting her license.