FHS senior enjoys life among the clouds

FAIRFIELD — Like a lot of other high school seniors, Aiden Lyons has a license.

But unlike his classmates, Aiden can use his license to go 180 miles an hour … in a plane.

Lyons is just 17 years old, and has already secured his single-engine private pilot’s license, which is no small feat. The Fairfield High School senior said he’s the only member of his class to do so, not surprising given the immense amount of studying required, not to mention the flight-time. But Aiden has been determined to fly since he turned 14, and hopes to have a career in aviation.

Aiden is the son of Randy Lyons and Amber Mattis. He comes from a family of pilots. His grandfather Richard Lyons founded the Fairfield Municipal Airport, and his uncle Bob Lyons is the airport manager. In fact, Bob has been his instructor, helping him learn the ins and outs of a plane, and getting him to feel comfortable flying on his own.

Aiden spent his childhood in Lake Mary, Florida, and moved to Fairfield in 2016 at the age of 10. That’s when he got to go on an airplane ride with Uncle Bob.

“I’ve pretty much loved it ever since,” Aiden said.

To get a license, potential pilots need to log a certain number of hours of flight time, and Aiden was able to start doing that from a young age. Bob said he would let Aiden take over the plane once in flight to get him acclimated to the dials and the feel of the controls. Once Aiden turned 16, he was able to fly on his own.

“When I first soloed, I got a little sink in my stomach,” Aiden said. “Uncle Bob hopped out of the plane, and he told me to go. Then I did two landings by myself. It was awesome.”

Aiden went on a few solo “cross-country” flights, visiting airports in Cedar Rapids, Burlington, Ottumwa and back to Fairfield all in one morning. In fact, Aiden said he frequently flies to other towns early in the morning and is back in time to go to school.

Aiden said he’s normally flying at about 115 miles per hour, but with a tail wind he can go up to 180 mph.

On Nov. 21, Aiden was ready to put his skills and knowledge to the test. He and Bob flew from Fairfield to Cedar Rapids, where Aiden completed the oral and flight tests necessary to get his pilot’s license.

Bob said learning to fly in the Midwest is difficult compared to Arizona or California because of the inclement weather.

“People don’t realize how difficult it is to get your license,” Bob said. “It’s very time-consuming and expensive. It requires an immense amount of reading and understanding. There’s more studying than there is flying.”

Aiden estimated that he studied at least 60 hours for the written portion of the test.

When Aiden is not up in the air, he’s busy with other extracurricular activities such as wrestling, football and track. He plans to attend the University of Dubuque next fall, where he will study aviation and run on its track team. He said he’d like to manage an airport one day like Uncle Bob, or be a cargo pilot for a company like FedEx.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com