Elite Aviation Maintenance Technician On Quest to Obtain Private Pilot's Certificate

By Carmelo Turdo

Elite Aviation is helping one of their own fulfill a life-long dream: earning a Private Pilot Certificate. Joshua Rouse, an A&P/IA at Elite Aviation, can regularly be seen flying patterns over Spirit of St. Louis Airport in one of the Cessna 172s in the fleet that he and his colleagues maintain. Elite Aviation is proud of his progress, and his March 11 solo flight was a major step forward. He is now more determined than ever to continue flight training around his regular work schedule as warmer weather moves into the area.

Joshua Rouse (R) with CFI Corey
Redington, after March 11 solo
(Elite Aviation photo)

Joshua Rouse dreamed of becoming a military pilot since he was a boy growing up on U.S. Air Force bases around the world and attending airshows. The influence of military life, and the drive to achieve personal and professional goals, were instilled in him from an early age.

"My dad was in the Air Force as a Combat Search and Rescueman flying helicopters - UH-60 Pave Hawks," Rouse told The Aero Experience. "So growing up I got to go sit on the flight line and watch the helicopters take off...That's where my love [for flying] came from, the Air Force and seeing those planes going to airshows." He fondly remembers the time when his dad flew over his neighborhood at Nellis AFB, NV waving from the open side door of his helicopter. 

Rouse planned to join the U.S. Army after high school and train to fly helicopters. In his senior year, a close friend was killed fighting in Iraq, and that spurred him to join the service early and take the quickest route to combat - the infantry. He took well to his new career, and served eight years as an infantry soldier.  

Another decision point along the path to aviation came following his Army infantry service. Rouse decided to pick up where he left off, this time enrolling in an Airframe and Powerplant  (A&P) Mechanic course while serving another two years in the U.S. Army Reserves as a Blackhawk helicopter mechanic. He then worked as an A&P Mechanic in Colorado before coming to St. Louis to work in airline maintenance. From there he came to Elite Aviation where he could get a more well-rounded experience in aviation maintenance working on all aspects of the Cessna 172S fleet. Working for Elite Aviation also provided the inspiration to revive the dream of flight with a real plan of action.

 

"I've always strove to want to fly, but I wanted to be a military aviator and after ten years it never happened," Rouse reflected. "But I still wanted to do it. But in my opinion, the route I wanted to take was at least a really good base of knowledge of what these aircraft can do internally, how to fix them, take care of it myself. So I went that route first and I figured well, it'll come when I set myself a goal for in five years, when I started to do this, and be at least a licensed pilot. I'm on track, and that's the goal. I'll keep pushing on that goal and I'm not going to let myself get sidetracked from it anymore."

We pick up the flight training again on the morning of March 19, when Joshua Rouse is scheduled for more pattern work with CFI Corey Redington and a second solo opportunity. The photo essay below shows Rouse and Redington at Elite Aviation for their briefing, aircraft pre-flight inspection, taxi and takeoff. CFI Redington is then seen exiting the aircraft, leaving Joshua Rouse to do his solo patterns. Post-flight debriefing and logbook signoffs are then completed. 

The Aero Experience congratulates Joshua Rouse on the progress he has made toward obtaining his Private Pilot Certificate even since this story was recorded. We will provide periodic updates on his journey to flight in the coming months. For more on his inspiring story, check out the video featured below: