Watching from the skies of Princeton

When Ted Price ’10 was flying back from a trip to the Hamptons to attend Reunions in June 2010, just before his graduation, he encountered a huge storm.

Price was at the controls of the single-engine plane, carrying his friend Clayton Sachs ’10 and Clayton’s father, and had to use all of the skills he had learned taking lessons at Princeton Airport to make sure they returned safely.

Price, who grew up around a family that loved flying, began taking flying lessons at Princeton Airport in fall 2009. Once a week during the school year, and more often during school breaks, Price would borrow a friend’s car and make the 15-minute drive to Princeton Airport, located down Route 206.

The airport is small, lacking a control tower or a large parking lot, Price explained. A couple of hangars, private airplanes and rental aircraft sit near a small runway where planes depart and land.

According to Princeton Flight School instructor Robert Argila, flight students typically begin with an introductory lesson where the instructor takes a student into the sky and instructs the student on the basics of the aircraft. In this introductory flight, prospective flight students assist in taking off and are allowed to decide where the instructor flies. Popular sights include the New York skyline, the beaches of New Jersey and aerial views of the University.

Argila said because of the University’s proximity to the airport, pilots will often fly over the school before landing at the airport’s runway.

“It is a pretty incredible sight because Princeton is such a beautiful campus,” Adrien Porter ’11 said. “The airspace there is very unrestricted, so you can fly within 1,000 feet of the school.”

Porter recalled that on one morning as he flew over the school he could read the word “Princeton” in both endzones of the stadium where the lacrosse team practiced.

But Porter was atypical as he had already received his flying license in England prior to taking lessons at Princeton Flight School. Typically, according to Princeton Flight School flight coordinator Chris Almonte, students participate in an instructional program that includes classroom and flight experience components.

In order to obtain their licenses, students must complete 40 hours of logged flying before testing, though most students log at least 50 to 60 hours of flight time. One of the flights must be a “cross-country” flight, meaning to a point 50 miles away or farther.

Price said his cross-country flight took him to a small airport in Reading, Pennsylvania. After landing, he had a quick lunch, then flew back to Princeton.

After a student has completed 40 hours and obtained instructor approval, they must complete a 60-question written test followed by a flight test with a Federal Aviation Administration examiner. If the student successfully maneuvers out of steep turns, stalls and correctly performs emergency procedures for landing, the student receives a private pilot license. With the private license, pilots can fly with individuals who are not instructors.

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Price received his license in December 2010. In spring 2011, Price offered to fly members of Ivy Club to the Atlantic coast before taking a route around the University airspace. He said he completed seven of these flights in the spring of his senior year.

“It was really cool because you could get so low,” Price said. “Everyone loved seeing the football field, the track and all of the eating clubs.”

Both Price and Porter said they wished for more University support of flight lessons at the airport.

When Porter walked through the mechanical and aerospace engineering wing when first visiting the University, he saw a poster featuring two students in a plane. Porter asked the tour guide about the poster, and his guide replied that the school used to sponsor introductory flights for members of the department.

But when Porter eventually entered the department, he said the department had stopped performing this service. Now he said he thinks the University should reconsider and try to bring it back because his pilot experience informed his academic work, especially when it came to learning how to design planes.

Similarly, Price said he believes someone should create a fund to sponsor students who would like to take lessons at the local airport. He added that if he were to earn enough money in the future, he would try to help out.

"I would recommend flying lessons to any Princeton student," Price said. "People do it for various reasons, but it really does suit people like Princeton students who are process-driven and goal-oriented and like challenges."