Lorien Rhoad's Story

Hi, I’m Lorien Rhoads, and I am a 22-year-old private pilot. I’ve loved aviation for as long as I can remember and airports have always felt so magical to me. The first time I ever held the controls of an aircraft was when I was 6 years old. After that I fell in love with aviation. I’ve always been enamored with planes so some of my best memories were going to air shows. After high school I went to college like everyone else and I studied marketing, but I quickly realized I didn’t want to spend my life at a desk. At 19, I joined a college flight club where I met several inspiring female pilots who encouraged me to pursue flying.
Getting my first-class medical took over a year, but the day I received it I called every local CFI and began flight training that summer. Flight school has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my life, and earning my certificate remains my proudest moment. The hardest part of my flying journey was steep turns and overcoming my check ride nerves. My favorite memory is spotting a bald eagle on my first ever cross-country flight.
My dream is simple: to be paid to fly an airplane with air conditioning. Once I get to that point I will definitely feel like I have made it! Beyond that, I’d love to restore an old haunted Victorian home, fill it with cats, surround it with an huge garden, and mow a backyard landing strip so I can take off into the sunset everyday in my own personal SR-71.
I owe much of my success in becoming a private pilot to my instructor, Daniel. Every lesson with him was demanding but invaluable, and I always left knowing I got my money’s worth. His dedication to making sure his students truly understand their aircraft, along with the way he prays with them before solo flights, has left a lasting impact on me. I am deeply grateful to have been able to learn from such a professional.  


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