Flying high: Jacksonville teen earns his pilot’s license
Published 12:00 pm Thursday, July 1, 2021
- Eighteen-year-old Colton Hamilton, a recent Jacksonville High School graduate, smiles while sitting on the wing of his plane The Iron Butterfly. Hamilton began flying lessons as a freshman and received his pilot’s license before graduating earlier this year.
JACKSONVILLE — Colton Hamilton was never a huge plane enthusiast or had much interest in aviation and he wasn’t born into a family that did. In fact, flying as a child caused him tremendous fear and anxiety.
But that would all change his freshman year of high school when a friend’s flying instructor took him flying in his private airplane.
By the time the duo landed, Hamilton, who graduated from Jacksonville High School in May, had found his calling and a passion for flying he didn’t know existed.
“I went on a flight with my friend’s instructor for my friend’s graduation party and realized at that moment I wanted to fly as a career,” Hamilton said.
The process of earning a pilot’s license is a long one with many phases and obstacles. For Hamilton, it was one that was stalled several times over the years due to COVID-19 and extreme weather.
The first step involves an application process to obtain your student pilot certification, which is a “license to learn” and entails learning the plane equipment while on the ground, flight training, or knowledge test. However, this certificate is required before you can fly solo.
A student pilot license also allows future pilots to fly with an instructor, practice landing the plane, and maneuvers. Once an instructor believes a student is ready, he will allow the student to fly solo.
After passing both a written knowledge test and a flight test, having at least a third-class medical certificate, and logging a minimum of 35 flying hours, students are able to receive their private pilot license, commonly known as a PPL.
Hamilton began taking flying lessons at age 15 from a flying instructor in Jacksonville. He didn’t yet have his driver’s license so his mom would drop him off at the hanger around dawn before school.
She would work out at a local gym while he took lessons, and then pick him up on her way home to get ready for school.
“None of this would have been possible without her, both of my parents, actually. She and my dad have been so supportive and walked with me through every step of this journey,” Hamilton said. “There was a time when I got frustrated with the process and how much it involved and thought about quitting; that’s when my dad told me a story about when he and my mom would sometimes take a blanket and go up on a hill to watch planes flying over when they were younger and daydream about places they would go in the future. I feel like he was saving that story for a time when he thought I might have doubts about following through on my ambitions of flying.”
As a Mother’s Day present, Hamilton surprised his mom by flying her to Hot Springs, Arkansas for lunch.
“I told her we had to run some errands but ended up bringing her to the hanger. We hopped in the plane, flew to Hot Springs for lunch at Red Lobster then flew home,” Hamilton said. “I think she got a kick out of it and it was neat to be able to give her such a unique Mother’s Day gift.”
“The funny part about that surprise was when we landed in Hot Springs I went to go rent us a car to get to the restaurant but wasn’t old enough! My mom had to rent the vehicle,” he added.
His mother Deanna Hamilton remembers her favorite moment during her son’s more than a four-year unique flying journey.
“One of my favorite memories of Colton flying has to be the very first time he completed his solo flight. Even though I was not there in person, his instructor sent his father and I a video of Colton’s very first solo landing. What I remember the most about that moment was the smile on his face when he landed that plane all by himself,” she said. “The smile on his face was crystal clear. That was a turning point for Colton and I. In that moment he gained the confidence he needed to pursue his dream.”
His father Chance Hamilton said the idea of his son wanting to pursue flying at such a young age was definitely difficult in the beginning but after seeing his dedication, it became clear they would stand behind him for the long haul.
“We let Colton take some lessons to see how committed he was. After a while, it was obvious about his commitment. We helped him study for his written FAA exams and they are fairly tough for anyone, much less a High School kid,” his dad said.“On numerous occasions, Colton was faced with a decision about extracurricular activities or flying, he always chose to fly without any influence in his decision from us. This is what compelled us to support him along his journey.”
His father added that Colton has come a long way over the years.
“He was mowing yards on a Zero Turn Mower at age 7, operating large tractors at age 10, and also driving his truck at age 14 and 15 with his parents present. He has always seemed relaxed when it comes to operating equipment. Now he is flying over our house in his plane and all over the southern states,” he said.
Hamilton’s longest flight, so far, was a trip when he flew his grandfather to West Texas.
“Round trip was about a six-hour flight. People don’t realize it but wind plays a huge part in flight time, especially flying a private plane. The flight there was rather fast but coming home we battled a lot of wind and it took much longer,” Hamilton said.
Once the pandemic hit, Hamilton began lessons with Tyler instructor Robert Garza due to more availability.
Hamilton has been under his direction ever since. Hamilton, then a student at Jacksonville High School, would get out of school at 3:50 p.m., head straight to Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, and fly until around 7 p.m. three to four days a week.
Now that school is out and he has graduated Hamilton, who currently has a little more than 300 flying hours under his belt, plans to rack up even more. His dad bought him a plane in 2020 which he eventually named The Iron Butterfly.
Hamilton plans to attend Tyler Junior College then transfer to UT Tyler to receive his bachelor’s degree to become an airline pilot.
To reach this goal, he has to be 23 years old, hold a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating, have a first-class medical certificate, complete an airline transport pilot certification training program for a multi-engine rating, and have a minimum of 1,500 flying hours.
“I plan on continuing to work as an instructor throughout college building my flight hours, then once I meet age requirements and flight hour requirements, apply for cargo airlines,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said it’s been an incredible journey and he is proud of how far he has come.
“It feels good knowing just how much I have achieved in such a short amount of time and seeing all the progress through my training,” he said.
Later this year the family will enjoy a new family tradition, started after Hamilton got his license: flying to look at Christmas lights instead of driving.