Most teenagers on their birthdays want to celebrate with friends, visit an amusement park or eat decadent cake, but 14-year-old Lucien Distler wanted to fly – solo, for the first time.
“It felt natural and so uplifting to be in the aircraft by myself without anyone else there to help me or point things out, and I was responsible [for it all[,” said Distler, an Oakville, Ont. native.
Distler stood next to the Cessna aircraft, which he operated on June 9th, his 14th birthday, for his first solo-manned flight out of Brampton Flight Centre and Flying Club. Distler isn’t eligible to drive, but he can man a vehicle thousands of feet off the ground — and comfortably.
The age to fly an aircraft solo in Canada is 14, and there’s training required before you can eventually take off. But despite the hurdles and investment of time, Distler thinks more young people his age could accomplish the feat.
“I think it’s very much a plausible achievement,” he said. “It just has to do with how determined you are to get that goal. I really think a lot of people could do what I did.”
Distler’s love of aviation came when he and his father, Marco, another aviation lover, regularly travelled to local and national airshows. Lucien would be able to get into an aircraft, with the duo sometimes sitting in an aircraft with a pilot.
“You could actually pay to go up with someone else flying, but you could sit in the seat, and it felt amazing,” he said.
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However, it wasn’t until their most recent trip to Wisconsin for the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh event that the two started to hatch the plan.
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“A lot of kilometres to drive on the way, that is where that idea sprouted. We thought, ‘Wow. in Canada, you can become a solo pilot of 14,’ and from that point, we decided to move forward,” he said.
When the duo returned, they started taking lessons and advancing through flight school, but the younger Distler caught on a bit more quickly.
“I’m very close to my solo flight, but he actually did it. We have the same amount of flight hours, but he did better in the written exam. I still have to catch up to him,” Marco said.
While Marco was an avid aviation fan, he never pushed it on Lucien, allowing him to enjoy it naturally. In fact, Lucien wanted to set out to fly, and for Marco, sharing the ride with his son has been a journey.
“It’s incredible. Sitting in a classroom with your child in the same lecture is just a thrilling feeling,” he said.
Then, on June 9th, Lucien turned 14. It was unclear, though, if he’d even get a chance to fly, as the skies had been filled with haze and smoke blanketing the Greater Toronto Area from wildfires in Northeastern Ontario and Southern Quebec. But on that Friday, there was a chance for them to do what they set out to do.
“We only got a two-hour window and took it,” he said.
After taking a few trips with his flight instructor and getting a sense of comfort in his tiny aircraft, Lucien was ready to go solo. Despite it feeling like a major task for many, the teenager said he had put in the time.
“With that practice comes that insurance in your head that I am prepared for any situation,” Lucien said. “I wasn’t really that nervous. I felt calm, like I was supposed to.”
With nerves of steel as he launched into the sky, his father, Marco, was battling more nerves.
“It is incredibly fulfilling to see as your child takes off and continues to climb alone in an airplane, but you trust the process. You know that he knows what he’s doing, and he’s very mature, and it was also a relief seeing him landing safely,” he said.
That maturity and composure remained displayed when Lucien finally touched down after a flawless flight.
“Cool, first solo trip is done,” he said.
And while Lucien still can’t legally drive, he loves to fly and foresees it being a big part of his future.
“I would like to go for a degree first…I need to have a good plan B, So first I’ll go for my degree and then after, let’s see (with flying),” he said.
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