Personal Essay submitted for the Doug Yost Scholarship by Heather McNevin in 2004

I remember sitting along the flight line at Oshkosh and looking up at the planes doing aerobatics and wondering, "how do they do that". I thought the very same thing when I got my first look at the 2004 Sportsman Known.

About 9 years ago I saw the movie Top Gun and wanted to fly fighter jets. I wanted nothing to do with little planes; they didn't have jet engines, they didn't fly fast, and they didn't even have guns! I was still excited as I took my first flight lesson in a beat up old Cherokee 140 with Steve Kurtz out at Aitkin. That was it; I was in love. Over the years, Steve's love for his profession has made me appreciate it even more. I would love to be a general aviation flight instructor. Ever since I started flying in 1996,1 wanted to fly upside-down. I saw an opportunity at University of North Dakota; they were putting together an aerobatic team. I think I called Tony, the coach, about every other day until he said "yes, you're on the team." He probably said yes so I'd leave him alone!

While at UND, I got some good training, but I can see where it was lacking. We didn't spend much time on spins and botched maneuvers. We also had a young team, so we all learned about competition together so I didn't have the benefit of teachers with competition experience. While my training was progressing quite well, my flight instructor, Adam, had to leave. Along with his departure, one of our Decathalons (half the fleet) was in the shop for extensive repairs. After that it was nearly impossible to get time in before competition. I flew about 3 hours in the month before my 1st competition.

I love flying and aerobatic flying is what I love best. It's something I will continue to do for as long as I am able. I find it exhilarating, challenging, and rewarding. I want to be good at it, and do it safely. To do that, I believe I need more training. I would like to get a few more hours of emergency maneuver training, which is useful in all types of flying, not just aerobatics. In a couple months, I will slowly begin working on my CFI rating. It is my intention to have all of my students well versed in spin recovery techniques. I can do a basic spin just fine, but have little to no experience in other spins, entries, and recovery techniques. What I learn will not only benefit me, but all my future students.

I realize I need more training, but to do this I also need more money. I spent most of my money on college. I went to a community college for 2 years and UND for 1 year. At UND I took a heavy course load to try and move through school a bit quicker and hopefully cheaper. While 12 credits is considered a full time student, my first semester I took 15 credits, and fall of '03 I took 30. I also went to the summer session where none credits is a full time student; I took 25. During summer session I ended up with a 3.78 semester GPA (on a 4.0 scale).

I will graduate in May with my degree in Air Traffic Control. I hope to be a controller in the Great Lakes region. Since few controllers have pilot training, and few pilots have controller training, I want to act a s a liaison between the two groups. I will give seminars to each on how to deal with the other group better and be more understanding of what they do.

I believe there is no doubt that when I put my mind to something, I will succeed. I paid for college largely on my own, and not drawing up a staggering amount of debt in the process. I come from a single parent family so where my mother may have wanted to help me, she wasn't able. I take many opportunities to learn something at little or no cost, including every FAA Wings seminar and AOPA Air Safety Foundation program I can find. I study a lot and hangar fly even more. I'm not sure how you could meet any pilots who secretly don't believe they are the best. I know I'm good, but I'm definitely not above learning a lot more, and asking for help to do it. I know how much some good emergency maneuver training would benefit me in my future flying, both aerobatics and teaching.

Thank you for your consideration.