Brett Easter, a 14-year-old student pilot living in Covington, has a grand goal. This summer he hopes to become the youngest person to fly solo across Washington. Easter has been taking flying lessons at Crest Airpark in Covington since he was 11. His passion for flying no doubt was embedded by his dad, Bill, a former pilot himself.
“(My dad) always talked about it,” Easter said.
Another part of Easter’s mission is to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis, a disease his mom, Kyna Lawless, was diagnosed with in 2006.
Easter said his mom is coping well with her disease, but endures flare ups once in a while.
Easter started a GoFundMe page a couple months ago to help him both buy the plane he needs to make the trip across Washington and raise money for National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
His goal is to raise $10,000.
About $4,000 of that will be put toward the purchase of the plane, which is called an ultralight.
An ultralight aircraft, under Federal Aviation Regulation 103, can be legally flown solo by someone who is 14 years old or older. Any other aircraft requires the pilot to be at least 16 years old to fly it.
After fuel expenses and storage fees for the aircraft are paid, the rest will be donated to the MS society, Easter said.
The trip Easter plans to take is 270 miles from Westport to Spokane. In all, the trip will take him six to seven hours he said because the plane goes about 48 knots, or 55 mph.
Easter said he’s not nervous about making the journey, although his dad has a different view.
“I would be (nervous) if he were leaving today,” Bill said.
He said the aircrafts his son has been training with for the last three years have been very different from the ultralight he wants to use for the trip.
Instead of a yoke steering mechanism, it’s the older style stick, and instead of having flight instruments to aid him, Easter will only have visual aids. He’ll have a radio that he will use to keep in contact with his family on the ground, who will be driving to Spokane at the same time he is flying.
Easter said he wants to make the trip during the summer because the weather will be nicer flying over the Cascades and school won’t be in session.
If all goes according to plan, Easter could start his ninth grade year as the youngest person to fly solo across Washington.
He said he wants to be a professional pilot once he’s done with school, but whether he’s going to be a military pilot or a commercial airline pilot is still up in the air.
