Calvin Swartzendruber is this month’s Teacher Feature. Outside of teaching Chemistry 1, Chemistry 2, Physics, as well as a summer Physics program, he likes to fly a couple thousand feet in the air. Calvin has been flying for 12 years after getting his pilot’s license in 1992. He decided to take a ten year break while he was finishing school and starting a career, but continued after that. He joined a group called Wings for Witness in 2006 to gain regular access to a plane and has made some friends along the way.
Wings for Witness is a group that was dedicated to flying for mission work. This included “angel flights” which included flying sick children to more equipped hospitals than what would be available in their hometown. Since the creation of Wings for Witness, it has lost it’s original mission because of death in the group and others leaving. Now, it is a group that flies for fun. There are ten members including Calvin, who share in renting a hanger and paying for basic maintenance. Their plane is a four-seater Cessna 172, made in 1975. Planes aren’t cheap, so a new one would cost too much. The yearly maintenance alone costs anywhere from 800 to 1000 dollars.
Calvin was captivated by planes and flying when he was a kid. He grew up next to the Goshen airport, and loved to watch the planes take off and land. Now that he himself is flying, he loves being in the air at dusk, watching the sun set beneath the horizon. He joy rides a lot of the time, but he also uses the little Cessna to get from place to place.
Along with dusk time flying, Calvin also really enjoys being able to get a different perspective on the world. While he is driving, he has one set path he must take, with little vantage points to see the landscape. While he is flying, Calvin can see everything laid out in front of him. It is also different because he can’t see anything but the tops of buildings. He can’t use them as landmarks like you can while driving. It is a whole new world up in the air.
To plan for a flight, Calvin usually just checks the weather to make sure he isn’t flying into a tornado. For his longer flights though, it can take up to an hour to plan the route and check distant weather forecasts. “You have to be totally aware of all the aspects that affect the flight. Always have a plan ‘B’” Because he doesn’t travel on six hour flights, it is less of a problem with things like air traffic control, but weather is still an issue.
Another issue, apparently, are fighter jets. Calvin recalls a time while earning his pilot’s license when he and his instructor were “buzzed” by two F-16s. The fighters usually travel much higher than small planes like a Cessna, but not always. “They like to mess around with the smaller planes,” remarked Calvin.
Flying isn’t something everyone is familiar with, and it’s something that sets Calvin apart from the other teachers at Bethany. Teachers have a life outside of teaching, and Calvin’s just happens to be in the air.
~Corey Hostetler