It’s a bird, it’s a plane … It’s Arianna at the helm

Somewhere over top Toronto’s streets scouring for traffic patterns will be 18-year-old helicopter pilot Arianna Terry and her videographers from Global News, a Canadian television network. Terry is a recent graduate from Sandpoint High School, whose academic achievements and volunteer work stood out to her peers, but counselor Jeralyn Mire said what she remembered most was her relentless spirit for flying.

“A lot of times I work with students that are just kind of all over the board,” Mire said. “She knew exactly what she wanted to do, she just was so secure and had it thought out.”

Between calling flight schools together and editing personal essays for scholarships, Mire was convinced she wouldn’t stop until she became a commercial helicopter pilot, a profession that employs only a few thousand females, making up roughly five percent of the demographic.

“From the day I met her she said she was going to be a helicopter pilot and she did,” said Ken Larson, advisor of Aerospace Center of Excellence Sandpoint. “Since she was so dead set on it, nobody ever doubted that she would do it, but we are of course, all amazed that she’s an employed helicopter pilot and she’s only 18 years old. It’s totally a rare thing.”

Larson has been building a three-point aerospace program in the Sandpoint community that engages high school students with field trips and academic advising, promotes a build-your-own plane weekend workshop with participants as young as 11-years-old and offers pilot lessons. Terry participated in all three parts of the program.

The age requirement for a pilot’s license is 17-years-old and Terry got her license as a fixed-wing pilot with Larson as soon as she was eligible to take the exam. According to him, he’s only ever seen one or two other students with the same level of focus and passion in his seven years of mentorship that he had seen in Terry.

“It is a big deal because I think young women, especially high school age at a place like Sandpoint where there is a small town, they don’t see the opportunity as obtainable,” Larson said. “We try to help them organize a plan of how to get to their goals and that sort of thing and Arianna is a perfect example, except she took the lead at setting her goals.”

Terry and Larson still keep a close relationship and send email updates across the country. Flight training forms an intimate bond, they said. Terry named Larson as one of her biggest inspirations.

“He always had amazing things to say, just someone who’s always got your back and someone who’s willing to help you through the tough times,” Terry said. “When I couldn’t pay him(for lessons) right away, he was like, “That’s OK, we will just go, don’t worry about it for now.” He was super helpful in recommending me for scholarships and stuff and helped me win one … That shows a good support system.”

Although Terry often enjoyed flights with her family for vacations as a child, she did not have a clue what she wanted to do as a career until eleventh grade. From astronaut to cowgirl to musician, all Terry knew was she wanted a career full of excitement.

“I went for my first flight in a little kit fox airplane with a pilot named Jeff and he was my first ride in a small airplane,” Terry said. “Being in a plane seeing the birds-eye view from that high up is unlike anything else ... It was almost like a smack in the head that, “Yup, this was it.”’

The choice between flying an airplane and flying a helicopter was abundantly clear to her, it was all about the adrenaline rush.

“I know this sounds ridiculous (but) it’s risker,” Terry said. “I knew that there was so much more that you can do with a helicopter, you can land pretty much almost anywhere and you can do some crazy stunts that you can’t do in a plane … Everyone was always saying helicopters are just trying to kill you and I always just said, “Well, I guess I will see if one doesn’t kill me.”’

Terry said her parents paid for a 30-minute helicopter ride as a Christmas present when she was trying to decide her career path. Her parents moved from Canada to the states when she was younger to pursue their dreams and Terry was inspired by their leap of faith.

“It’s very easy to get down on one’s self when things don’t seem to be working out completely or struggling and so they were constantly giving me encouragement,” Terry said. “It’s just always that little push that you need from somebody else.”

After graduation Terry went to flight school for six months in Calgary, Canada and passed her exam for a helicopter license. Her team consisted of seven males, whom she called “her boys.” The boys and her would take turns dousing each other with buckets of water after their first solo flights, one of Terry’s favorite moments to date.

Terry hopes to fly in the mountains one day, and move back to the United States. Her contract with Global News allows her to log as many flight hours as she can for a start-up pilot.

Larson said Terry’s confidence has grown tremendously. She said her test anxiety was the hardest thing to control.

“I will be faced with tests forever now, the career is just based around continuous testing, so that’s just something that I need to get over and keep pushing through,” Terry said.

Larson said the most important thing he tries to instill in his pilots during training is good decision making. He remembered Terry’s Federal Aviation Administration examiner saying that she had excellent judgment, which he said is a rarity for an examiner to compliment their test-takers.

One trick Terry has is to play soft alternative music in her head when she takes flight. This helps her to relax and boost her confidence.

”Confidence in myself has been a struggle and that’s something I need to build up because I will be flying alone with passengers who have no idea what’s going on and I will have to have the confidence I know what I am doing and that I can fly the helicopter,” Terry said. “I have been trained to know what I am doing and that’s the same with a lot of other pilots, they have to have the confidence to know that they have been trained to do what they can and they weren’t trained to crash.”

For more information about Larson’s aerospace program visit the school program website: highschoolaerospace.org or the flight program website pilottrainingnw.com.

Aly De Angelus can be reached by email at adeangelus@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @AlyDailyBee.