The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Sisters High School aviation program has produced many licensed pilots over the years, but a “school record” was established recently when junior Corbin Fredland became the youngest Outlaw to achieve the goal.

Fredland, 17, moved with his family from Bend as a freshman primarily to access the aviation program. “It had been a move my parents had been thinking about for quite a while,” he says.

Fredland first became interested when a friend of his father started talking about what learning to fly is like.

“That’s when it really started,” he said.

Flying is in Fredland’s family background.

“Both of my uncles were bomber pilots and my grandfather was a navy carrier fighter pilot flying A4s and F4s,” he said.

And flying is becoming a family affair as both his parents are working on obtaining their licenses as well.

Cheryl Yeager, Sisters High School teacher of the “ground school” courses, said that Fredland worked very hard to complete the process. He took “Introduction to Aviation,” and then moved on to “Private Pilot Preparation,” which he took more than once in order to be ready for the exam.

“Seventeen is the earliest age to earn a pilot’s license and Corbin just worked really, really hard to make that happen,” she said. “Now we will begin working on his instrument reading, which we have never done with a student before. It’s pretty intense work, but allows pilots to learn to fly solely by instruments.”

The instructors at Outlaw Aviation provide the flight instruction for Fredland, according to Yeager.

“I’d really like to thank Ms. Yeager and Reed Dixon for making this a reality,” he said.

When not working on piloting, Fredland is also active in other ways. He competes for the high school alpine ski team and is also involved in an ultimate frisbee team in Bend.

“Corbin stands out in his willingness to keep pressing forward on this goal,” said Yeager. “He has shown tremendous motivation and dedication. There is no easy way to accomplish what Corbin has done.”

When asked what advice he would give to other students thinking about flying, Fredland said, “Get to know pilots in the community and make friends with them. There is more knowledge out there than you might think.”

Fredland says he is considering aviation as a career in his future, but said, “I don’t know yet what that will look like.”