By: Reagan Anderson
For our second featured student we will be highlighting senior, Izabella Zieba, who went for her first solo flight on May 26, 2026. Izabella’s flight journey started in the summer of 2025 where she walked into the classroom with an open mind and excelled from the start of her training. As opposed to some other WASA students, Izabella completed her first solo at Cherry Ridge (N30) airport in Honesdale. This is a small airport that presents many challenges for seasoned pilots, but Izabella handled each of those challenges with ease. From a small runway, a difficult approach, and much more, Izabella conquered a huge milestone in her aviation career.
Izabella states that her favorite part of her flight training up to her solo was seeing all that she learned pay off and her being able to execute her knowledge. She loves the feeling when she fully understands and can show her understanding through her solo flying. Having the opportunity to fly solo brings Izabella a huge amount of confidence not only in herself but also her piloting skills. “I was so scared! For your solo you’re required to land 3 times, so on the first landing I think I was still too focused on everything at hand to really realize I was doing it all myself, but once I was setting up for the second landing it hit me. Even thought I was nervous, I knew that I had practiced and trained enough for this, and that made me able to do it. Once I completed my solo and parked the plane, I was able to enjoy the relief and sense of accomplishment I felt,” Izabella said about her flight
The aviation community always has a way of celebrating each other and their successes because as Izabella was flying in the pattern, another aircraft in the pattern heard it was her first solo and wished her luck and congratulated her!
