If you board an aircraft in the future, Olds resident Zachary Taylor could be your captain.
Taylor, 16 and a member of the 185 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Olds, got his glider wings after completing a seven-week course in Gimli, Man. this summer.
He sees that as a stepping stone to one day becoming a commercial pilot. There's a chance he might become a military pilot — Taylor is not ruling anything out at this stage — but he thinks he'd rather be a civilian pilot.
Taylor attended the summer training via a glider pilot scholarship he obtained through cadets.
"I was one of the 10 people who actually finished in seven weeks," he said during an interview with the Albertan. "I really loved it. It was an amazingly rewarding experience; a lot of hard work, but a lot of great stuff came out of it."
He especially loved doing solo flights.
"I did 20 solo flights and about five instructed flights in between those just to check, to make sure that I didn't teach myself anything bad," Taylor said. "Never had to redo it."
Taylor was asked if he was scared to look down the first time he went up in a glider.
"I found it amazing," he said. "It was certainly cool, just to be able to look down and see the world below me. I wouldn't say it was scary. I found it enthralling, actually, it was a beautiful experience.
"And it was kind of at that moment that I was, like, 'I think I want to do this. As a cadet, I think I want to be able to be the person flying this glider.'"
Taylor is grateful to all those who made it possible to get as far as he has in glider training, including the 185 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron — and of course his mom for encouraging and supporting him.
