A North Carolina teenager is the youngest African-American to earn his private aviation license in the state. WSOCTV reports Ryan Garner is the youngest person in the city of Concord to earn his certification at age 17.
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North Carolina Teen Is Youngest Person to Earn Private Aviation License
The 17-year-old is now certified to fly solo. He obtained his license at Goose Creek Airport, a small airport at Indian Trail. Initially, Ryan was interested in being a ground crew member. However, after speaking with a Delta pilot, he changed his mind and set his sights on flight school.
Garner stuck to his goal and became a pilot before he turned 18. The city of Concord honored the young aviator last week. Mayor Dusch presented him with a proclamation honoring his achievement.
Thenat some point in the future when you hear, ‘That Is this your captain speaking? It could be Ryan’s voice!
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The Chicago Sun-Times reports that only 3.4% of U.S. pilots are black. White men make up over 90% of pilots. Asians make up 2.2%, and Hispanics make up 0.5%.
The imbalance began after the end of World War II. Airlines enlisted the 200,000 military-trained pilots who returned from battle. During this time, blacks were limited in their professional activities due to segregation.
African Americans were allowed to fight in the war, but they were not allowed to fly aircraft. However, the U.S. was in desperate need of pilots during the war, so they created the Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1939. This program allowed black Americans to learn to fight in fighter planes in case war broke out again.
On January 16, 1941, Secretary of the Army Henry L. Stimson gave the go-ahead for the development of an all-black pursuit squadron. This eventually led to the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen. More than 16,000 all-black men trained in Alabama, and 996 of them were pilots. More than 350 of the aviators deployed and saw combat. They flew more than 15,000 individual missions and shot down 112 enemy aircraft. planes during World War II.
The Tuskegee Airmen are credited with helping the U.S. win World War II in August 1945. While the road wasn’t easy for many, Garner is following in a great legacy of aviators.
Congrats to Ryan Garner! We see you fly, kid!
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