The sky really is the limit for Faith Lutheran High School student Eliana Rau, who recently earned her commercial pilot’s license and Certified Flight Instructor rating.
Rau, a senior, trained for 230 hours in air and 30 hours with aviation simulators to receive her commercial pilot’s license, 10 more hours than the Federal Aviation Administration requires.
Rau is now rated to fly any single-engine airplane; this designation means Rau can now be paid for commercial flight jobs, ranging from flying tourists for a scenic tour company, to piloting photographers for aerial photography, to flying the plane for those interested in sky diving.
Rau earned her private pilot’s license, a precursor to the commercial license, in May 2022. She also completed training to be a certified advanced ground instructor and an instrument ground instructor.
To become a ground instructor, prospective pilots must pass one or more multiple-choice ground instructor 2.5-hour knowledge tests. The advanced ground instructor test has 100 questions; the instrument ground instructor test has 50. Passage requires a 70% score.
Beyond the test, applicants must fly a required number of hours, learn ground knowledge, master maneuvers to commercial standards and pass a check ride with an examiner. The ride includes a scenario-based test comprising an oral quiz and flight demonstration.
With her licenses, Rau’s can teach lessons at ground school, a classroom-learning academy that covers airport rules, aircraft instruments, aerodynamics and weather. Instrument ground instructors teach students to read and master planes’ instruments.
Rau began flight training in October, working with ground instructor Bianca Lorenz at 702 Aviation. She flew out of the North Las Vegas airport.
By heading for the skies, Rau continued a family tradition.
“My grandpa, dad and uncle are all pilots, but when I was younger, I was not interested in flying at all,” she said.
Even through her first year of a flight elective class at Faith Lutheran, Rau said she wasn’t sure she wanted to pursue flight training. But after taking the FAA private pilot written test, she took a discovery flight that changed everything.
“After that, I knew I would be flying the rest of my life,” she said.
Rau isn’t the only Faith Lutheran aviation student flying high. The school’s Oder Flight Academy has helped train several other high school students in piloting.
“Six of our students are drone pilots, 15 students have flown solo, nine students earned their Private Pilots rating, two students have earned their Instrument Rating, and one other student, besides Rau, has received their Commercial Pilot rating,” said Faith Lutheran Oder Aviation Academy instructor Bianca Lorenz.
“We are immensely proud of the Flight Academy at Faith Lutheran,” said Dr. Steve Buuck, CEO, Faith Lutheran High School. “Seeing students become fixed wing and drone pilots is inspiring. Eliana has set the bar extremely high for others in the Academy.”
Rau is certainly going places. As she earned her ratings, Rau maintained a near-perfect GPA while enrolled in both Faith Lutheran’s Aviation Academy and Honors Institute. She plans to pursue a college degree.
About the Oder Family Flight Academy at Faith Lutheran
The Oder Family Flight Academy at Faith Lutheran was launched in the 2020-21 school year to extend students’ learning about aviation and connect with aviation professionals to spark lifelong interest in aviation. The program started with one Aviation class – Flight 1 – and has since expanded offerings to include Flight 2 and Flight 3 classes, and drone classes. The Academy will add Avionics and Maintenance for the 2023-24 academic year.
The Academy’s lab-classroom features two five-screen flight simulators and eight Redbird TD2 flight simulators with three viewing screens. The table-mounted Redbird simulators, approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, mimic flying in a single-engine piston aircraft. The stations place the yoke, switches, gauges and visuals in realistic positions for the pilot, who can “fly” with or without retractable landing gear, constant speed propeller or high-performance engines.
About Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School
Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School is Nevada’s largest private school and the largest Lutheran school in the United States, serving more than 2,033 students from the Las Vegas Valley and abroad.
The school, headquartered on a 50-acre state-of-the-art campus near Downtown Summerlin, offers advanced middle school and high school college preparatory curriculum and extensive athletic, fine arts, and after-school activities in a distinctively Christian environment.
The school is dedicated to its mission statement of Everyone Prepared! Everyone Saved! and is fueled by its core values of Family, Academics, Innovation, Truth and High Achievement.
Faith Lutheran is accredited by AdvancED and the National Lutheran Schools Accreditation. Learn more at www.faithlutheranlv.org.