A licensed pilot at 17, Newark teen enjoys 'the freedom of flight'

For Ryan Rubin, nothing beats the feeling of sitting in the cockpit of a small plane, taxiing down the runway and taking off into the wild blue yonder.

“You feel the freedom of flight. You feel like you can just do anything in the world,” the Newark teen explained. “It’s really cool.”

At just 17 years old, Rubin recently became a licensed pilot.

After two years of lessons at New Garden Airport in Pennsylvania, he took his final evaluation flight on his 17th birthday to earn his license as early as allowed by law. That means that, at least for a short while, he was the youngest pilot in America.

“Most people are just so surprised,” Rubin said “It feels like something that is only for older people, richer people. But you show people you don’t have to be any of that; anybody can go out and do it.”

Rubin has been fascinated by flight since he was 2 or 3 years old.

“He’d always just talk about airplanes,” his father, Andrew, recalled. “I would take him up to Philly airport and we would sit at the end of the runway and watch planes land. As he got a little bit older, he started recognizing the difference between a 737 and a 757.”

Rubin took his first flight in a small plane at age 7, part of a kids’ aviation camp at New Garden. He attended that camp for several years, as well as another camp sponsored by the The Delaware AeroSpace Education Foundation and held at Clayton Hall.

He was also a regular participant in the Young Eagles program, in which volunteer pilots take kids up for a plane ride and even let them try their hand at controlling the plane.

“It’s just something that he showed an interest in, and we’ve always encouraged all our kids, whatever they’re interested in, to find a passion and continue with it,” his father added.

Rubin is a rising senior at Appoquinimink High School. He is still deciding on colleges but hopes to go to a school with an aviation major.

He is also a licensed drone pilot and shares his aerial photography on his Instagram page, @delaware.aerial.imagery.

After graduating college, Rubin’s goal is to work as a pilot for an airline.

For now, though, he is enjoying being able to take solo flights this summer, noting he is looking forward to taking a sunset flight and flying off the Delaware coast. He also gets a kick out of being able to take family members and friends up for a flight.

“For them to trust me, it’s a really cool thing,” he said.

Though it might seem counterintuitive, Andrew Rubin said he prefers his son to be behind the yoke of a plane rather than behind the wheel of a car.

“Seeing what people are like out on the roads, I actually feel safer with him in the air than on the road, because on the road, you’re worried about what everyone else is doing or not doing when they’re driving and that makes it dangerous on the roads for anybody,” he said. “Whereas up in the air, there’s a lot less airplanes in the air, and I’m confident in his skills.”

For his part, Ryan enjoys getting to experience something most people his age aren’t able to.

“It’s just being in control of something so advanced that makes it cool and how you stand out from other people,” he said.

However, he did admit that some of his friends do a double take when he regales them with stories from the air.

“First they think I’m lying to them because I’m so young,” he said, laughing. “But then they’re like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool, you should take me up sometime.’”