Coronado High School incoming senior Connor Gray will spend his summer doing something that looks a little different than his classmates’. It won’t be spent soaking up the San Diego summer sun, enjoying the Fourth of July fireworks off of the bay, or savoring a break from tests and homework. Instead, he’ll be learning how to fly planes for the U.S. Navy.
Gray was selected as one of 28 students in the country to partake in an intensive eight-week U.S. Navy Summer Flight Academy aviation program at Delaware University where, upon completion, he will receive his Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) private pilot’s license.
Gray selected as high performing applicant
The U.S. Navy Summer Flight Academy looks for high performing students who are involved in Navy or Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), exemplify physical fitness and are engaged in leadership activities.
Gray was the ideal candidate, according to Tamara Graham, program manager of the CNAF (Commander, Naval Air Forces) Flight Academy.
“He’s a phenomenal student,” said Graham. “He’s got a 4.0 average, he’s fully engaged in the NJROTC program, he’s done some aviation activities outside of that to demonstrate his interest, and he’s certainly physically fit. He’s hitting across the board which made him stand out.”
Among those qualifications, Gray is a member of the varsity water polo and swim teams, participates in CHS’s mock trial team and is a National Honor Society student.
His interest in joining the program came from his future career aspirations.
“I’d like to go into either naval aviation or be an aviator for the Air Force, so I thought it’d be a good idea to take a look into it and see if I actually like even just some aspects of it before I fully commit,” said Gray.
Two months of flying and ground school
From June 9 to Aug. 2, Gray will reside at Delaware State University with the other program participants, taking on 10-16 hour days of cycling between intensive ground school and hands-on flying experience. He will receive a minimum of 32 hours of classroom aviation academics and over 40 hours of flight training in either a Vulcanair V.10 single engine aircraft or Piper Warrior (PA-28). Before receiving his pilot’s license, he will also be required to complete 17 hours of solo flights.
While the program costs around $28,000 per student to put on, it is offered free of cost due to a grant funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
“ONR has a STEM program where they look for opportunities to inspire kids into the science, technology, engineering and math fields that will better support our national security talent base,” said Graham. “They sponsor us because this program helps get kids into aerospace engineering, the aviation field and the military.”
On top of the students receiving their FAA private pilot’s license, they will also receive five college credits for their academic ground school courses.
Flight academy created to broaden aviation interest
Established in 2021, the U.S. Navy Summer Flight Academy was created to broaden the reach of students interested in going into naval aviation.
“I’d say over 80% is the current stat of people that fly for the Navy that come from military families,” said Graham. “With the small number of people who serve today, we don’t want to neck down our talent to just kids or neighbors of folks that are already doing this job. We’re trying to highlight the opportunities and also recognize that learning to fly is very expensive. The idea is to lower those barriers, get kids to see what they’re capable of, expose them to aviation and opportunities to do the coolest job in the Navy – which is to be a naval aviator.”
While the program hasn’t been around long enough to see a naval aviator come out of it, Graham estimates a 70-78% draw rate of students who have done the program and gone on to military service, whether that’s an ROTC scholarship in college or joining a service academy.
While she expects to see naval aviators come out of the program in the future, her main focus is on the next incoming class of future pilots.
“The kids get really excited and it’s just amazing to see what they can accomplish because many of them have never left home,” said Graham. “Now they’re going to be spending eight weeks in a dorm and flying a plane by themselves. It’s pretty incredible the level of accomplishment they can achieve in a short period of time.”
As for Gray, he’s most excited to get his hands behind the wheel.
“I’m really excited to fly,” said Gray. “I think it’ll be a great experience and just being able to meet all of the people in the program from around the country will be cool too.”
