Kensie Hewson is the youngest member of the Vernon Flying Club. She is 16 years old (2020) and has lived in Vernon her entire life. She attends high school and is already the proud holder of her Recreational Pilot Permit. The Private Pilot License is her next step. She must wait until age 17 to get that! It seems strange, but she is allowed to fly solo, but is too young to drive a car by herself!

Kensie began flying lessons at 13 years old, just ahead of when her father, Mike signed up for private license training. Most of the work she did followed her 15th birthday. One week before she turned 16, Kensie passed her flight test, and was awarded the Recreational Permit to fly on her 16th birthday, the minimum age in Canada to legally fly as a pilot.

She trained at Aurora Flying Academy at the Vernon Airport. Most of her flight time in on a Cessna 172, but now she flies her dad’s new Vans RV9A aircraft.

Kensie is a member of the Canadian Rockies 99’s, an aviation association of women pilots. She has also been involved with another womens flying advocacy group called ELEVATE AVIATION.

There is a huge resource of knowledge and experience in the Vernon Flying Club. Kensie joined to take advantage of what she can learn from members, to contribute what she can, and for the flying she enjoys.