Ephrata gets airborne

EPHRATA — The days start early - breakfast at 5 a.m. — are filled with classes, and in the middle of summer, too. But nobody cares. They get to fly.

That’s the point of the National Flight Academy sponsored by the Civil Air Patrol. It gives young people the chance to get in the air. Cadets from throughout Washington and the West are attending the annual “Desert Eagle” academy at the CAP facility at the Ephrata Municipal Airport.

Kathy Maxwell of the local CAP chapter said it’s one of 10 in the United States. About 400 cadets applied for the 20 positions available, Maxwell said. The two-week course ends this weekend.

The course includes ground school instruction as well as flight training, and in fact, the participants spend most of their time in the classroom when they’re not in the air. Students receive about 10 hours in the air, Maxwell said.

The two weeks are all about flying and flight, although not all of the cadets want to pursue careers in aviation.

“This is mainly for fun,” said Mia Mayachar, Seattle, as she and classmate Meredith Buonerba, Issaquah, quizzed each other on emergency procedures Saturday morning.

Medical restrictions will keep Buonerba from applying for the service academies, she said, which was her original goal.

“Flying is what I’ve always been interested in,” she said.

The lessons she’s learning will apply to other careers, she said; she’s considering cybersecurity as an option. And she’s enjoying two weeks of immersion in aviation.

“It’s very fun,” Buonerba said.

“That’s why I came back,” Mayachar said.

Caroline Shepherd, Spokane, is a two-time alumnus of the program and returned for 2023 as the cadet director.

“I’ve definitely enjoyed this program,” she said.

Her interests have evolved from gliders to powered flight to aerospace, and she’s enrolled at the University of Alabama with the goal of becoming an aerospace engineer, she said. Her Civil Air Patrol experience helped her make up her mind, she said.

“It really opens your mind to all career fields out there and how they work together,” she said.

Garrett Johnson, Tacoma. was checking the screen that keeps track of flights in the air Saturday morning, waiting for his ride. He’s been interested in aviation most of his life, he said, and his goal is a military career. But he wants to fly regardless.

“To me, I think it’s freeing,” he said. “For almost all of history, we couldn’t get up in the air — we were bound to the ground. But when humanity achieved heavier-than-air flight, that was one of the biggest scientific steps we’ve ever taken. I feel like I’m conquering gravity when I’m flying.”

Luna Mattke, Spokane, agreed.

“It’s very freeing to be able to get off the ground and have that fourth plane of existence under you,” she said.

Mattke has attended the Ephrata academy twice, returning in 2023 to be the public information officer. She’s looking at a career as a cargo pilot, or air traffic control, or both, she said.

It’s also important to her to show other girls what’s possible, she said.

“It was a very male-dominated industry - it still is,” she said. “And just getting out there and being like, ‘I’m a girl, a teenage girl, I can do it.’ And if I can do it, hopefully, I can inspire other young women who don’t have pilot’s licenses to also get out there and go for it.”

Civil Air Patrol has provided more than flight training, she said.

“I feel I got experience, and not just aviation, but also leadership positions. A lot of leadership. I learned how to work within a team, and how to lead a team, and I gained a lot of confidence and a lot of lifelong friendships,” she said.

Maxwell said the connections between the cadets often last long after they leave CAP. Graduates of the Desert Eagle program have come back as instructors and supporters.

“It’s very easy to make friends because we’re all here for a reason,” Mattke said.

Like Buonerba, Mitchell Natale probably can’t pursue a career in the air due to medical restrictions. That held him back from attending a CAP flight academy previously, he said.

“But I’m here now,” he said. He was working in the classroom after engine difficulties cut short his flight lesson.

Learning how to deal with flight emergencies is part of the training, Maxwell said.

“We try to give them weather, and smoke and all the mechanical issues,” she said.

Johnson said the experience at the flight academy has confirmed his belief that aviation is his career choice.

“The more I learn, the more interested I get,” he said. “The complexities of it — it’s something that, to me, feels like a craft that has to be mastered because of all those complexities. So I get more excited knowing I’m doing this thing that not many people are even able to do. And I’m doing it well.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.