Cross country by plane

WAUPACA – That time after high school can be overwhelming when faced with making a decision that will affect the future. For two Waupaca County residents the decision was simple, they took to the skies.
Aaron Wehrman, 25, and Jordan Zastrow, 20, have wanted to be pilots since childhood and with both young men receiving their commercial license in the last year they have managed to conquer their goals.
Zastow started flying when he was 18 years old, taking his first solo flight and also receiving his private pilot license along with his commercial license when he was 19 years old.
He went to school in Weyauwega-Fremont and was encouraged to try a STEM program to get into flying, also taking a tour at Fox Valley Technical College to start an aeronautical program.
“I didn’t know it was that doable … it always seemed like a farfetched thing,” Zastrow said. “I just fell in love with it and I’m still doing it and probably will for the rest of my life.”

Wehrman grew up in Hawaii but moved to Wisconsin last year, moving in with his grandmother who is a Waupaca resident.
Wehrman’s goal was to go to flight school which he said is significantly less expensive here in Wisconsin than what it was in Hawaii.
“As a kindergartner they were like, ‘What do you want to be?’ And I was like, pilot or an astronaut,” Wehrman said. “Then I got older and I was like, ‘astronaut? That’s a little much.’”
Wehrman said when he graduated from high school it was required that pilots obtain a college degree, which is no longer the case, because pilots were at such a shortage they dropped the requirement to recruit more.
Wehrman said he went to school for environmental science and he also has a master’s degree in natural resources and environmental management.
Wehrman said with the costs exceptionally lower in Wisconsin he was able to afford flight school, as well as taking shifts at the Wheelhouse Restaurant to help curb his costs.
With the amount of hours they have under their belt, which is right around 500 for both of them, Wehrman said there is a lag time after a pilot receives their commercial license because most companies will not hire you until you are over 1,500 hours.

Pilots for hire
With the licenses that they have there are still a number of things that they are able to do, one of which is ferrying planes across the country which is what Wehrman and Zastrow are currently doing under their company, iFly LLC Ferry Pilot Service.
“When people buy a plane, or sell a plane or just need a plane moved from one place to another, sometimes people don’t want to do it all themselves because it’s kind of a trek or they’re not rated to fly it. They’ll hire us to fly the plane for them,” Wehrman said.

Wehrman said the longest flight to deliver a plane, since starting the company last December, was from Ohio to Modesto, California.
The plane they were delivering went 100 miles an hour and could not fly very high, which meant that they could not go over the Rocky Mountains.
Wehrman said they instead had to go down through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona then up through California, a trip that took them three flights a day for two days.
The plane they were flying could go about four hours at a time, so they had to stop frequently to refuel.
Wehrman said about 25% of the planes that are scheduled to deliver actually happen, being that the amount prep work that needs to be completed, namely assuring documentation that shows the plane is safe to make the trip.
There is also insurance, obtaining a ferry permit, lists of completed inspections and annual inspection paperwork, which can take time and if the plane doesn’t pass or they deem the plane unsafe to fly than the job is cancelled.
Wehrman said they have been to about 12 states so far since starting the company five months ago.
Zastrow said these planes that they deliver are most often bought by retirees looking for a new hobby, or people that may not have obtained the medical clearance to fly, which the Federal Aviation Administration requires in order to maintain a license.
It also could be as simple as the person that bought the plane simply doesn’t want to do the leg work of bringing the plane home.
“It’s a really fun thing to do,” Zastrow said. “You feel freer than you ever will when you’re flying a plane around.”

On the horizon
Zastrow currently has a fourth ownership in the plane he learned to fly in.
Zastrow said he is interested in becoming a private jet pilot in the future, not wanting to venture into the commercial airline world.
Currently he works at Appleton Flight Center, which is a hub for private jets in eastern Wisconsin.
Wehrman said he does also not want to go to commercial airlines, instead wanting to work for places like CAL-FIRE, who help to put out wildfires in California or work for the Department of Natural Resources, who need pilots for various environmental tasks.

For now Wehrman and Zastrow are still building on their flight hours, as well as ferrying planes and starting a new aerial photography job next month.
The Waupaca Airport has almost 50 planes, as Wehrman said, it may not always look like it is active but the Waupaca Airport is very much alive.
Wehrman and Zastrow both agree that Waupaca Airport managers Mat and Britney Klatt have been integral in their aviation journey, with support and encouragement, both say they would not be where they are today without their help.