Sitting in his home dugout, senior Kyle McClure stares out onto the turf he has spent all four years of high school on. McClure has been working toward receiving his private pilot certificate throughout high school, and said baseball has helped him learn the leadership skills needed to be a pilot. “I’m really big on how baseball’s helped me grow not only as a player, but as a person,” McClure said. “When it comes to flying, as a pilot, you have to have leadership skills. You don’t want to just let someone else do it because 150 people, 200 people are relying on you to fly that plane. I think being a part of baseball and being a part of the team is really going to help me in my future.” Photo Courtesy of Kyle McClure

One night he’s approaching the batter’s box, staring down the pitcher, trying to predict his next move. The next he’s in the sky, flying over an unrecognizable Austin suburb. For senior Kyle McClure, this is just another normal week in a packed schedule. 

Throughout high school, McClure has been working toward receiving his private pilot certificate, a pilot license that allows one to fly an aircraft for personal use, but not for hire. While working his way through the process, McClure also served as one of three seniors on the baseball team and held a capitancy position. 

“[Getting the pilot certificate] has taken a little while because of school and baseball and everything,” McClure said. “Hopefully by the end of school and three or four weeks into the summer I will have obtained my certificate.”

McClure began his journey doing ground school at Pilot Choice Aviation in Georgetown, the closest aviation school in the area. Once he completed ground school, he took a Federal Aviation Administration exam and had to pass with a 70 or above. Currently, McClure is working on completing his flying time, which consists of 20 hours of instruction from a certified flight instructor and 10 hours of solo time. The solo time consists of three hours of flying at night, three hours of cross country and three hours of instrument flying. 

“I would say the actual flying and learning, for me, wasn’t the hardest part of it,” McClure said. “I would say getting up in the air and just finding the time to do it is the hardest part just because I’m in baseball, I’m in clubs, ultimately, I’m doing high school.” 

McClure is also studying to complete the “mock orals” and the “practical orals” process before obtaining his certification. McClure must sit and talk with a certified tester for a couple of hours and answer questions regarding being a pilot and flying. 

“You’re not looking for perfection,” McClure said. “But, if you do not know anything, you have to state that, and then hope that it’s not a major thing, because if it is and you don’t know it, it doesn’t look good.” 

McClure has served as a three-year varsity starter for the baseball team, playing both infield utility and pitching. McClure said baseball has taught him the leadership skills needed to run a cockpit as a pilot. 

“I’m really big on how baseball’s helped me grow not only as a player, but as a person,” McClure said. “When it comes to flying, as a pilot, you have to have leadership skills. You don’t want to just let someone else do it because 150 people, 200 people are relying on you to fly that plane. I think being a part of baseball and being a part of the team is really going to help me in my future.” 

Along with working towards his certification and holding a leadership role for the baseball team, McClure is vice president and one of the founders of the new Aviation Club along with junior Reid Cummins and freshman Carson Wingate. 

“At first, I was kind of apprehensive just because of everything I was in,” McClure said. “I was like ‘dude, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to balance a flight club and being vice president’. But, to be honest, it hasn’t been as taxing as I thought it was going to be, and actually, has been kind of fun.”
McClure said his favorite part of the club has been introducing aviation topics to students who may not be familiar with it. 

“I think I’m pretty far along into just private pilot training, so I could give a little bit of an idea to students of what it may look like to do that type of stuff,” McClure said. “I definitely have been able to show students that, and it’s been really cool.”
For McClure, being a pilot runs in his DNA. His father is a professional pilot and, according to McClure, has contributed heavily to his ability to reach his certification goal. 

“My dad never really pushed me into flying,” McClure said. “It’s always kind of interested me since I was little. I always wanted to go up to the cockpit, say hi to the pilots, look at all the buttons, look at all the lights. Him being there alongside me through my training definitely really helped me out. He’s paid for all my training so far, and I hope one day, I can pay him back for that.” 

McClure will be attending Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana to study engineering. He plans to pursue his passion for flying and obtain all the pilot ratings he needs to be hired by a regional or major airline either after he graduates or while he is in college. 

“I loved high school,” McClure said. “I loved every minute of it, but it is time to move on and start a new chapter in my life. I think going to Purdue is going to be a great step in doing so. I really am looking forward to it and I’m looking forward to the opportunities it’s going to give me for future chapters of my life. “