R-MA Senior Gordon Anderson of Front Royal Flies First Solo

2015 Mar 31

Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA) senior Gordon Anderson of Front Royal completed his first solo flight on February 9, 2015, just before inclement weather entered the area. He accomplished the solo at Front Royal-Warren County Airport under the watchful eye of R-MA Flight Instructor Ryan Koch.

Anderson began flying in the four-week R-MA Summer Flight Camp in 2013, just before his junior year. "We went a lot of different places, on a lot of long flights, to a lot of different airports," Anderson said of the summer camp.

It might seem as if Anderson was flying for a long time before he soloed, but in actuality, what he accomplished was pretty impressive. "Gordon was able to retain the skills from that summer session and only flew three times in 2014," commented Koch. "On January 25th we picked up where he left off and flew a handful of times. It was like he was riding a bike. He just picked it back up!"

That innate ability will serve him well in the future, as the 18-year-old hopes to have a career in aviation, perhaps as a commercial pilot.

"I feel like there's a sense of freedom, and it's such a calming thing sometimes," he said as to why he enjoys flying. "When you go on a really calm day, you can't even tell you're off the ground. Other days feel like there are potholes as big as the vehicle you're in."

For a first-time solo event, students typically complete three successful take-offs and landings at Front Royal-Warren County Airport, and it usually happens on runway 28. In Anderson's case, he was trying to accomplish it before the bad weather hit, and the winds favored runway 10. But he didn't allow the different runway or the impending weather to impact his focus. "I didn't start feeling nervous until I started my approach [to land]," he said. "Then I watched everything like a hawk, making sure I was on the right path, making sure I was not too slow." Once the first landing was accomplished, he said, "The next two were a lot of fun!"

This was Anderson's second major accomplishment for this school year. The first honor came at the start of the school year, when he was named Corps Commander, which is the highest-ranking position in the Air Force JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps). Anderson had been a day student at the Academy, but the position required him to board on campus for this year.

"It was an interesting transition," he said. "I brought enough stuff to survive for ten days because I expected to go home after cadre camp." The leadership position was one that he had said he would do, but not one he sought, he said. And it has been a learning and growing experience throughout this year.

"There's a lot of delegation involved. I have to make sure each person has done what I asked them to do," he said. "There are moments when someone messes up and someone comes to me and asks why they messed up." He cited the simple example of wake-ups, which are the responsibility of flight sergeants. If the flight sergeants don't do their jobs, then the flights will be late for breakfast--and it all falls to corps commander to find out the reason and hold the flight sergeants accountable.

There are other tasks as well. For example, working with the rest of the corps staff, Anderson set goals for the cadet corps at the beginning of the year. The progress they make towards those goals affects the JROTC unit's standing as a Distinguished Unit.

"The hardest part of it all is probably the pressure you feel from knowing that if you mess up, everybody is going to know," he said. "If you do something foolish as a freshman, no one is going to notice. If I do it now, there's no way it's going to go unnoticed. Overcoming that pressure was the hardest thing for me. But I learned that you don't think about it, you just do it. If you mess up, you just deal with the mistake, try to fix the mistake, and if you can't, you just move forward."

In addition to learning valuable lessons this year, Anderson has had the chance to have some fun as the corps commander this year, as well as last year when he was the command chief, which is the highest-ranking junior position. "It's fun to go out on all the parades," he said with a smile. "D.C., New York--they're always fun to do. The Strawberry Festival [in West Virginia] last year had the most appreciative audience I've ever seen at a parade."

Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA), founded in 1892, is a college-preparatory, coeducational day and boarding school for students in grades 6 through 12. Students in grades 9-12 participate in R-MA's 91st Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and have the option to participate in a flight program. R-MA is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is located in Front Royal, VA.