Barry hits the paper...

In Lakeville, a classroom in and among the cloudsBy Joseph Palmersheim - Sun Newspapers(Created: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 11:46 PM CDT)
Airlake Flight Training instructor Barry Park and flight student Liza Newton, 16, look over their aircraft during a preflight check April 24. (SCOTT THEISEN
SUN NEWSPAPERS)Barry Park's students can be excused for having their heads in the clouds - with his help, that's where they can end up.Park, 26, of St. Paul, has been a flight instructor at Lakeville's Airlake Flight Training since February 2006. The Ely native let the Sun-Current follow him around on a recent rainy Thursday.It turns out that a flight instructor stays as busy on the ground as he does in the air. Park has four offices: his earthbound main office at Airlake, and the cockpits of the company's three Cessna training aircraft.Park's love of aviation goes back to when he was one of those little kids who would run around with an airplane in his hand. He always knew he wanted to fly. His first experience in an airplane came from a friend of the family who was part owner of a light airplane. After a ride of loops and dives, Park's aviation ambitions were cemented in place. During college, he took his first flight lessons at Ely Airport."It was the spring of my sophomore year," Park said. "It was pretty typical of what I would let a student do now. I'll let them do as much as they feel comfortable doing. I know the Ely area really well, and on that first flight, I knew where I was the whole time. When we landed, I was like, "Where do I sign up?'"Park continued with classes, and earned his private license in November 2002. As with any pilot, his license requirements are determined by the number of hours he has flown - it takes 60 hours for a private license and a minimum of 250 hours for a commercial license. Park said commercial airlines, until recently, required their pilots to have 1,500 hours of experience. Since he began instructing, Park has logged nearly 750 flight hours. Being a flight instructor is a way for many pilots to earn flight hours in the course of taking the next step in their careers.Before careers or instructing, all pilots begin as students - students like 16-year-old Lakeville South High School sophomore Liza Newton, who began flying lessons after her spring break. Liza, who loves to travel, is considering aviation as a possible career. After hearing stories from a family friend who used to be a Pan Am pilot, she decided to check things out for herself."My first flight was really fun," Liza said. "It was sort of weird - I thought it would be more complicated. My goal is to be a commercial pilot, or to fly in the Peace Corp, if they let people do that."Liza is strapped into the left seat of one of the school's Cessna 172 aircraft, which carries the call designation "Sierra Poppa." Low clouds hang over the field, and the plane is covered with reminders of the rainstorms that have been passing through on and off all day. Liza taxies the plane using her feet to control the brakes. When it's time to do a final check, she stops. Park goes over a series of last-minute checks."Doors closed, seatbelts on," Park says. "Instruments - check. Fuel - full mix. Mags [magnetos] - checked."He turns to Liza."Are you ready to go?"
Airlake Flight Training instructor Barry Park and flight student Liza Newton, 16, look over their aircraft during a preflight check April 24. (SCOTT THEISEN
SUN NEWSPAPERS)"Yup," she replies, nodding.Park calls control to say aircraft will be departing."Sierra Poppa, departing Runway 1-2."As she lets out the brake, Liza pushes in the throttle and the Cessna leaps to life. Airport buildings and hangars rush by as the plane gains speed; 20 seconds later, Liza and her instructor are airborne, streaking skyward. At 300 feet, the plane sways gently from side to side."This is fun," Liza says. "I love doing takeoffs.""We don't want to go much higher than this," Park says, scanning the gray horizon. "We're already losing visibility."In the next half-hour, Liza performs a few short runs around the circuit, and does a touch-and-go - landing the airplane and taking off again without stopping - before coming in for good. Park rates her landing a seven out of 10."There was a lot going on, and I tried to let her do as much as she could," he says. "It was smooth, but it was a three-point landing, meaning we came down on the nose gear, which caused us to bounce up a little bit."The lesson over, Park inspects the plane, which he just spent nearly five hours washing. He frowns when he gets to the tail section - there's mud spattered all over its upper surface."We probably picked that up on the runway," he says. "Washing an airplane is like washing a classic car - you want to make sure you don't screw it up. I spent a lot of time scrubbing winter oil grime off this plane's belly."Washing airplanes is one of many tasks Park has on the ground.In addition to making sure the company planes are taken care of (maintenance is done by trained personnel, per Federal Aviation Administration regulations), Park is a jack-of-all-trades, boxing headsets bound for factory repair one minute, and meeting with someone interested in having an event at the flight school the next. It's all part of his job description."I was brought on here as an instructor and a management guy in the office," Park said. "It's tough, because every school is on a budget. It means you have to creative when it comes to getting the word out."Future events in the works include a June fundraiser for an Apple Valley Boy Scout troop and involvement in Lakeville's Memorial Day events. Events like these cost the company nothing, and Park says the efforts are worth his time, "times five" if he can get one person interested in taking flying lessons. Park has come to enjoy teaching as well flying. Teaching isn't the end of his aviation dreams."I want to be a flying doctor," Park said. "Ideally, I would provide services to outlying communities. I know a surgeon from Crystal who flies in through here every few weeks to see patients. If that idea doesn't work, I'll be a physician who teaches people how to fly."There's a joke in the aviation world - once you get in aviation, you have to get paid to fly or make enough money to own your own plane."In November, Park will take his Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) at the University of Minnesota. His two loves, he says, are aviation and science. With changes in the aviation industry, he's "open to finding other ways to fly airplanes.""The flight school here is a way for me to get there - it's a way to help others who want to make aviation a career," he said. "Places like this are professional pilot generators."For more information on Airlake Flight Training, go to ww.flyairlake.com, or call 952-985-0475.

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