By KATE POSS

Special to The Record

A young man whose lifelong fascination with airplanes led him to start a flying club at South Whidbey High School is back on the island and closer to his goal of becoming a professional pilot.

Rowen Stephens has nearly completed training at an Arizona Aeronautical University, nailed a commercial pilot’s license and recently earned his flight instructor’s license as well.

When Stephens was in eighth grade at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, he reached out to a trio of mentors who got him started in flying planes: local pilots Fred Lundahl, Aaron Simpson and Peter Morton. The South Whidbey Record ran a story about Stephens’ class project in April 2017.

In a recent email, Rowen explained that he’s been interested in flying as long as he can remember and has “never stopped running outside to look up at airplanes.”

“I would say my first serious start would be with my eighth grade project at the Waldorf school,” he wrote. “There, Peter Morton, Fred Lundahl and Aaron Simpson mentored me and gave me the most inspirational and welcoming introduction to the aviation world anyone could ever ask for. After that mentorship I was hooked. Peter, Fred and Aaron showed me that my dreams were possible with a little elbow grease and a lot of support.”

At the time, 31-year-old Simpson co-owned a Cessna 150 Aerobat plane named Scarlett with Lundahl, a Langley businessman who teaches folks to fly from Whidbey Airpark. Lundahl is the founder of the South Whidbey Flying Club.

“From first meeting Rowen, it was obvious that he had an aptitude for aviation,” Simpson noted in an email. “Not many of us are blessed with the twin fortunes of knowing what we love and being naturally talented at it. Early in his journey it was clear he was one of the lucky ones.”

Morton, a consultant in aviation training and leadership, a retired Boeing executive and former Langley city council member, has connections with Boeing. He introduced Stephens to Boeing 737 flight simulations and spent time taking him flying.

“Rowen is a remarkable young man,” Morton said. “He is a young man who learns quickly, accepts responsibility seriously and pays it forward to others.”

During the 2017 summer prior to attending high school, Stephens enrolled in a free ground school training program sponsored by the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

“An example of Rowen’s resourcefulness, independence and dedication,” Morton wrote in a scholarship recommendation letter for Stephens, “before entering high school, he attended the Museum of Flight Private Pilot Ground School. His performance in the program was excellent and he caught the attention of the museum staff.”

After graduating from the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, Stephens attended South Whidbey High School, but his passion for aviation never waned. To help fund the cost of paying for gas to fly, Morton asked Bill Leeds of Rotary Club of Whidbey Westside for scholarship help.

Leeds had wanted to resurrect a Rotary program called Interact, which provided community service options for high school students. In Stephens’ case, the community service was starting a flight club at the high school.

Leeds explained that Stephens taught ground school in a classroom and had a knack for keeping kids’ attention. The club grew from one to 15 students in a few months.

In exchange for the flight club’s community service, the Rotary’s Interact program paid for half the cost of gas of flying. Lundahl donated his time teaching the students to fly.

Stephens remembers that forming the new flight club was an uphill battle in the beginning.

“But with persistence and a lot, and I mean, a lot of back and forth with the Rotary Club, we prevailed and we created the flight club,” Stephens said.

The final pieces of the puzzle, he recalled, were finding a faculty mentor and a space to meet at the high school. Spanish teacher Jenny Gochenauer stepped forward and solved the problems.

“She showed me and helped me realize that I could not only live my aviation dreams but share them with the world,” Stephens said.

Following four years at the high school, Stephens graduated and was accepted to a university specializing in flight education.

“Rowen’s going to the Cadillac of aeronautical schools,” Leeds noted.

Now with 75% of his studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona complete, Stephens is back on Whidbey Island working at Chase Bank and teaching folks how to fly Scarlett. He will complete the remainder of his studies online and plans to earn a BS in aeronautics and a minor in security and intelligence studies.

While Stephens said he enjoys teaching at the South Whidbey Flying Club, he said his ultimate goal is to become an airline transport pilot.

“Without amazing mentors and leaders I would not be on the path I am on,” he said. “All I can say is that hometown heroes are what makes this place special. And I am surrounded by them.”