Tyler Gardner has earned his private pilot’s license! Tyler is the son of Murfreesboro Aviation owner Jim Gardner, and heir-apparent to the Gardner fortune (we made that whole “fortune” thing up!).
Tyler took to the air with his first flying lesson on January 22, 2013 at the tender age of 14. Tyler’s first lesson was with Mr. Ben Johnson, who is now DPE for Murfreesboro Aviation. Since the FAA requires a pilot to be 16 years of age to solo and 17 years of age to secure a private rating, Tyler has flown with many instructors over the years, gleaning the best that each had to offer. This experience has molded him into the pilot that he is today.
According to many, (including Tyler and his Mom), he has become quite a pilot. Having mastered the ability to both takeoff AND land the plane, Tyler has since moved on to more complex tasks such has eating a sandwich while flying, re-filling empty water bottles in flight, taking selfies during steep turns, talking to buddies while at the same time talking to ATC, and acting like the airport he just landed at was indeed the one he intended to land! Oh, he has come a long, long, way.
Of course, the first question that is typically asked of a new pilot is; “are you going to earn additional ratings?” We wanted to pose that question to Tyler, but he was busy studying (no, really, he was), so we just made up this response and attributed it to him; “Yes, I think I will. Thanks for asking”. We thought we would never be able to get him to stop talking!
In all seriousness, we are sincerely proud of Tyler. According to his father Jim, he truly is a wonderful and extremely bright kid (traits he no doubt inherited from his Mom!). Tyler attends Central Magnet School and will be graduating this year and attending a college of his parent’s budget, starting in the fall.
Congratulations Tyler! Great job!
