While most high school students are practicing parallel parking, junior Jacob Savage is practicing landing at Palo Alto Municipal Airport.

Despite the stress of school, Savage goes to the airport almost every weekend, and he enjoys spending entire weekends hanging out around the runway. “It’s a lot more fun in the airways instead of the highways,” Savage said. “On a highway, all you get to do is go in a straight line. However, in the air, you don’t have to stick to a specific route, and there aren’t cops flying around to enforce the rules. I feel that driving is a chore, but flying is a privilege.”

Despite the increased responsibilities of flying, age requirements for flying are similar to those for driving. Savage woke up early on his sixteenth birthday to take his driving test but failed it. Later that day he went to the airport to pass his flying test. “I passed that, and I was a lot happier that I passed it, too,” Savage said.

“I love flying because it gives you freedom,” he said. “It also gives you a whole new perspective on things. Looking down at Palo Alto from an altitude of 3,000 feet is really exciting. I can point out Stanford University and Gunn. Sometimes I can get lucky and I can find my house.”

While Savage has been fascinated by flight since an early age, he did not start flying until two years ago. His father, Sam Savage, was certified to fly gliders, and when Savage was old enough to fly gliders, he received certification as well. The similarities between a glider and engine powered plane led him to receive a Visual Flying Rules (VFR) license. “I was really nervous before my first solo flight,” Savage said. “I thought it would be my last, but once I started flying, I got too busy to be nervous anymore and I just flew the plane.”

Flying airplanes requires more training than driving. A knowledge of weather, aerodynamics, navigation and the controls is crucial in the air. Few people find the time to get a pilot’s license, but at the same time those who have one find enjoyment during every takeoff. “I enjoy it so much, and I never stop learning and getting better,” Savage said.

The array of responsibilities put on a pilot is a lot for a 16-year-old, but Savage’s parents are not nervous when he flies. “I trust him in the air, but I can’t always trust him when he isn’t,” Daryl, his mother said.

Savage’s dad always encouraged him to fly. “Since he started flying he has become a lot more responsible and disciplined,” he said. In the future, Savage hopes to join the Air Force as a pilot or fly commercially.