If you happen to look up and see a white and red plane circling above Leominster, that just may be LHS’s own Matthew Dietz.
LHS and CTEi Senior Matthew Dietz is working towards college and commercial piloting and is currently in lessons through the Fitchburg Municipal Airport.
Matthew has had a passion for flying ever since he was little.
“My dad got me a book when I was younger” that had pictures of different types of planes, Matthew explained.
He said, “anytime a plane flew over the sky, we would pull out the book and identify it”.
Now, Matthew is learning how to fly the planes he used to have so much fun identifying.
Matthew flies with an instructor 2 times a week at the Fitchburg Municipal Airport where he used to go with his family to have brunch every Sunday.
When he arrives for his lesson, he works with his instructor to go through a process of steps to make sure the plane is ready to enter the sky.
They make sure there are “no cracks or dents,” said Matthew.
Once the plane is ready to go, they take off and practice different maneuvers.
Matthew said they practice “flying around a point” and flying really slow.
He said “driving really slow helps me recognize when the plane is driving slow because there is a problem”.
Matthew ends every lesson with a debrief with his instructor on what he did well and what he could do better with next time.
There are a multitude of different piloting licenses that must be acquired for certain jobs as well as hours in the air.
Matthew’s ultimate goal is to fly for smaller “feeder airlines for the bigger companies” said Matthew.
Matthew’s goal for this year is to have his private license by the time he graduates, and after that, he plans to go to college and get the rest of his licenses.
In order to fly for the smaller commercial airlines, Matthew will have to get his instructor license and commercial license as well as accumulate 1,000 hours of flying time as an instructor.
He will have the opportunity to become an instructor in college by late junior year and the instructing can become part of his course work.
For college, Matthew is looking at Western Michigan University, Purdue University, and Bowling Green State University.
He said, “the Midwest has the best flight schools because there is tons of flat ground.”
Unfortunately there are not a lot of flight programs in New England, but that has not been a factor in Matthew achieving his goals.
