Weather kept delaying 16-year-old Graye Parnell’s dream of flying by himself for the first time, but on this day it all came together for him. His instructor, who brings the curriculum and the plane from Bellingham, had scheduled dual instruction in preparation for Parnell’s first night cross-county flight. It was overcast, but with light winds.

After two practice flights in the pattern at Orcas Airport, the instructor asked Parnell to drop him off at the terminal for a coffee and “make a few flights around the pattern”.

“[During] my freshman and sophomore years at Orcas Christian School I’ve taken the aviation prep courses they have offered and decided this year I would do something with it,” Parnell said. “I was pretty nervous but also felt I was prepared.”

Parnell is working to accumulate the hours he needs to qualify for his Private Pilot Certificate.