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Teen of the Week: Ravenswood High School junior takes to the skies in pursuit of pilot’s license

By Tyler Bennett 3 min read

RAVENSWOOD -- Ever since getting the idea of taking flight when she was just a fifth-grader, Ravenswood High School junior Katie Balis has been a frequent visitor to the skies for the past couple of years.

Inspired to fly in the fifth grade by reading "The Hatchet" and having her teacher start her private pilot's lessons at the same time, Balis also found out through her mother that she has two uncles who have experience piloting. One was a student pilot before joining the military and the other had a private license.

Balis would spend the next couple of years researching flying and the rules before reaching the minimum age of 14 to take lessons.

Finally being able to take her first flight, Balis said she barely did anything inside the flight deck when starting out, but was gradually introduced the more she had lessons. She went from splitting duties with her instructor to doing everything herself with no help whatsoever.

"The first time I went up, I barely did anything and then my instructor helped me out. It got to the point where I'm doing everything and he's kind of just sitting there," Balis said. "Especially the first landing I did completely by myself. He said 'Oh, my gosh, you did that by yourself.' I think he was more supportive than I was. It made me realize, I just did that by myself, that's crazy."

Balis plans to get her private pilot licenses during the summer. To receive it she has to have 40 hours of flight time, 10 hours of solo flight and pass the checkride, oral and written tests.

Balis said the next step after private would be starting the instrument rating training, allowing her to fly in rougher weather and through the clouds, saying planes can get turned around easily in harsh weather.

She first started with lessons at Jackson County and now travels to Wood County for flights. Balis does the majority of her flying during the summer, going at least once a week. The hardest part is not the flying aspect, but getting out to the airport instead of pushing it aside, she said.

A National Honor Society member and secretary of the school FFA while carrying a grade point average over 4.0, Balis hopes to attend college and major in commercial airline.

"Whenever I first started doing it, I thought it would just be a fun hobby, something to do. But then as I've gotten more into it and learned more about it," Balis said. "All the career opportunities in aviation, I've kind of started thinking I should do this. I really like it, might as well make it something you can make money off of."

Tyler Bennett can be reached at tbennett@newsandsentinel.com.

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