Eagles' Wings Flight Training
Serving the Beautiful Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia since 1984
Serving the Beautiful Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia since 1984
I have always said that flight instruction is a good job, if you like to see other people's dreams come true! It has been a privilege and a pleasure to share in the dreams of so many people. Below is a table of student pilots I've soloed, beginning in February 1985.
All of these flights have taken place at either Hinton-Alderson Airport (WV77, formerly W59), at Pence Springs, West Virginia, or Greenbrier Valley Airport, at Lewisburg (LWB). So the listing uses these airport identifiers.
Pilot's names marked with an asterisk (*) actually accomplished their very first solo flights somewhere else, usually at a much earlier date. Maybe because of a long time lapse, (sometimes decades) or using a different aircraft, regulations, and prudence, required a fresh solo, and the review leading up to it.
You'll also find a few other notes of local aviation history here.
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| Doyle (Butch) Boothe | February 11, 1985 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | WV77 |
| John Dowdy | June 29,1985 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | LWB |
| Bob Jagodzinsky | September 16, 1985 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | WV77 |
| Robert E. Sheppard | October 26, 1985 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | WV77 |
| Terry Fleshman | December 11, 1985 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | LWB |
| Jack D. Nelson | December 30, 1985 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | LWB |
| Jeff A. Ming | April 30, 1986 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | LWB |
| *Edward W. Breit | May 28, 1986 | Cessna 206 | N5EA | LWB |
| Delbert L. Kerns | June 21, 1986 | Cessna150 | N5964E | LWB |
| Ronald S. Wojieck | July 24, 1986 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | LWB |
| Kieth A. Holliday | October 1, 1986 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Paulmer (Junior) Weikle | November 11, 1986 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Chuck Bradac | November 11, 1986 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Dr. Stephen Sebert | February 11, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Walter W. Breeden | February 25, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| Judson Howard | May 1, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| *Charles W. Bates | May 2, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Dave Fisher | May 8, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| *William T. (Bill) Mauzy | June 11, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Lonnie Burns | June 11, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Gary Dove | July 28, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | WV77 |
| Doug Harold | July 31, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Randy Scott | August 21, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Elizabeth (LIz) Wickline | September 21, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Richard Derby | October 5, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Templeton (Tempie) Stone | October 17, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| *Robert Burdeaux | October 24, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| *Tom Briers | October 24, 1987 | Cessna 150 | N5964E | WV77 |
| Bob Ausband | March 11, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Mike Francis | May 13, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| Paul Armentrout | June 3, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| *Lee Dowdy | June 15, 1988 | Aeronca Chief 11-AC | N9513E | LWB |
| David B. Snyder | July 11, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Victoria Faith Hersman | July 16, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB | Jesse Groseclose | August 31, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Emily Peltier | September 6, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| David Arritt | November 1, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Allen Redden | November 3, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Kent Hersman | November 3, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB | Kent went on to become an US Army pilot flying both helicopters and fixed wing. He retired from the Army in 2011. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Carpenter | December 10, 1988 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Kent Redden | January 21, 1989 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Mary Kent | February 17, 1989 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| David Hall, Sr. | March 8, 1989 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Kevan Fitzgerald | May 22, 1989 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| Lori Faris | July 15, 1989 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | WV77 |
| Phillip Surface | September 18, 1989 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Alan Ferris | February 26, 1990 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Gary Munsey | February 26, 1990 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Melanie Humprey | August 20,, 1990 | Cessna 172 | N35388 | WV77 |
| Charles Lewis | September 6, 1990 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| Joe Meredith | September 18, 1990 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Annie Durrett | December 1, 1990 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | WV77 |
| Joe Allen | February 1, 1991 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Rod Strong | April 6, 1991 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Charles Brown | May 14, 1991 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Rick Brownlie | July 5, 1991 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Ben Reynolds | September 3, 1991 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Robert Morgan | October 16, 1991 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | WV77 | Robert soloed on his 16th birthday! |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Friday | September 1, 1992 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Tom Cullen | September 15, 1992 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Zeke Lanek | September 7, 1993 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Jerry Cook | June 16, 1994 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Benjamin Hersman | November 26, 1994 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB | Ben soloed the day after his 16th birthday! |
| John Garrison | February 27, 1995 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | WV77 |
| Ron Pettrey | May 8, 1995 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Dave Mayo | May 22, 1995 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Larry Kemper | August 23, 1995 | Cessna 150 | N2659J | LWB | At this point we spent two years as educational missionaries in Papua New Guinea! Flight training resumed early in 1998. |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| *Alan Williams | June 22, 1998 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Jack Roark | June 23, 1998 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Terry Lusher | July 18, 1998 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Donna Nickell | September 12, 1998 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Hannah Keru | December 15, 1998 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB | Hannah is a citizen of Papua New Guinea, and one of the few PNG women to ever have a pilot's license. There is much interest in aviation among PNG young people. Hannah is now married to Ken Siminji, lives in the capital city of Port Morseby. She has five children, and is the administrator of Lighthouse Christian Academy. |
| Pete Franken | August 2, 2001 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Troy McCoy | September 4, 2001 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Mike McClure | September 4, 2001 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Lydia Joseph | January 2, 2004 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB | Lydia is also a Papua New Guinea citizen. She is now married to Pastor Titus Tauliebu, and has 2 chidlren. She is the administrator of Ufeto Christian Academy, and teaches aviation ground school in PNG. |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| John Gibson, Jr. | October 11, 2004 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Tim Sheppard | December 18, 2004 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Lloyd H. (Sam) Gwinn | Septmber 7, 2010 | 1941 Taylorcraft | NC-34042 | WV77 |
| *Gary Morris | September 15, 2010 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Kourosh Kahkeshani | November 12, 2010 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Charles Bradley | January 29, 2011 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Tiffany R. Jagger | June 29, 2011 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Xenophon (Xeny) Mucciarone | February 6, 2012 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| John Stockie | June 8, 2012 | CTLS | N939CT | WV77 |
| N. Joel Thomas | October 5, 2013 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Harry Humphreys | July 22, 2015 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Andrew Dowdy | September 1, 2015 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB | Andrew soloed on his 16th birthday. He is the son of John Dowdy who was my second solo student 30 years earlier. When Andrew soloed his Dad was operating the control tower at LWB. |
| Name | Date | Airplane Model | Airplane License | Airport |
| Adam Haymond | November 23, 2015 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Patrick Pastrana | August 4, 2016 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Danielle Price | May 15, 2017 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Rudy Swatzyna | August 22, 2017 | Cessna 172 | N4310Q | LWB |
| Damani Mitchell | September 30, 2017 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Malachi Kratz | October 26, 2017 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Emma Grant | April 26, 2018 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Kalab Hughart | March 19, 2019 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Jackson Croy | July 21, 2020 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Justin Douglas | September 11, 2020 | Cessna 172 | N4310Q | LWB |
| *Bob Neff | October 14, 2020 | Cessna 172 | N73502 | LWB |
| Patrick Henry Tilley | December 30, 2020 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
| Joelle Heilemann | April 7, 2021 | Cessna 150 | N22648 | LWB |
Pictured above, is our son Benji in Tate Mauzy's Piper Cub about 1980. Why is this kid on a page about soloing? Well, first of all, it's a cute picture, and I did actually solo this boy, about 14 years or so after this picture was taken. Ben soloed on the day after his 16th birthday, in November 1994. That day he accomplished his first successful deer hunt in the early morning, and his first solo flights in the afternoon. You can see a picture of his own son near the bottom of the page.
My first solo flights were on March 19, 1977, at Greenbrier Valley Airport (LWB) under the supervision of my instructor Ruth Tolley Gwinn. Later, nine of the first 10 people I soloed were in this same 1959 Cessna 150, N5964E.
First Solo, March 19, 1977. I did most of my student solo flying in this airplane, including my longest cross-country flights. Back then, you had to have at least 20 hours of solo experience, including 10 hours of cross-country time, in preparation for a Private Pilot's License. A 300-nautical mile cross-country was required. Mine was from Lewisburg, West Virginia (LWB) to Bristol, Tennessee (TRI), over the remote mountains to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, (INT) and back to Lewisburg. It really amazes me how quickly a small airplane can put you into an environment, or vicinity, so far away, and often so different from your home area.
This is Patrick Pastrana after his first solo flights. Greenbrier Valley Airport, August 4, 2016.
Danielle Price is all smiles after her first solo flights, May 16, 2017, before the new paint job on the fuselage.
David Hersman with Kalab Hughart after Kalab's first solo flights in Cessna 150, N22648, March 19, 2019, the 42nd Anniversary of my own first solo, and at this same airport.
This is our grandson, Levi Hersman, the son of Ben who is pictued in the Piper Cub at the top of the page. He was about 3 years old at the time of this photo, fall 2015.
Here I am giving an airplane ride to Carter Higginbotham, the great-grandson of a local legendary pilot, Don Hill, who passed away in 2000. It was an honor to share this flight in remembrance of Don. October 3, 2018.
Our first great-grandchild, Isabelle Snoe, turned 16 in December. I've gotta get back from Papua New Guinea, and teach these kids to fly. Photo June 2018.
"Pilots take no special joy in walking. Pilots like flying."