Flying is second nature to Wadsworth, who soars toward her career in the skies
Lizzie Wadsworth became hooked on the thrill of flying when she was just 12.
Her father, Robert, a pilot, helped her lift the plane from the runway and into the clouds. Sporting a pair of rainbow leopard print sunglasses and balancing on her dad’s knee, she fell in love with the sky.
Later, as a junior at Oglethorpe County High School, Wadsworth began thinking seriously about her future, rifling through potential career paths.
“I don’t really want to do any of this,” she recalled thinking.
Her father, who flies for Southwest Airlines, offered a suggestion.
“Why don’t you take an intro flight?” he asked, hopeful his daughter might follow in his footsteps.
And she did.
Wadsworth, who is now a junior at the University of Georgia, earned her private pilot’s license within the first few weeks of her freshman year at UGA, juggling coursework, sorority recruitment and flight training.
“The feeling of finishing the first (license) was just so motivating,” Wadsworth said.
Each license level requires a written, oral and practical test, and the training process is lengthy and rigorous. The pressure nearly pushed Wadsworth to quit.
She nearly walked away after her third lesson.
The turbulence, wacky maneuvers and stomach-dropping sensations were overwhelming, but one thing never changed: The airplane stayed in the air.
Flying at 10,000 feet above Sanford Stadium in Athens, Wadsworth realized that flying is what she wanted to do.
She now has nearly 200 flight hours and is working toward her instrument pilot’s license, which allows those in the cockpit to operate with precision in low-visibility and harsh weather conditions.
The next step, which is a commercial pilot’s license, is one Lizzie hopes to complete as soon as the end of next summer. Her studies began just days ago at her kitchen table, dedicating about five hours per session.
“I know it seems like all fun, learning how to fly, but it’s a lot of knowledge,” she said. “It’s definitely a lot of work. You don’t just get there by knowing somebody in the field. You have to put in all the work.”
For the past two months, Robert Wadsworth has served as both father and flight instructor, taking routine training flights out of Athens-Ben Epps Airport in a friend’s 1967 Piper Cherokee.
“He taught me how to drive and made me cry,” she said, laughing. “But he says I know more in a small plane than he does.”
Though the Wadsworth family has always enjoyed traveling, Winterville remains their home base. Lizzie also is vice president of the UGA Aviation Club.
“It’s really exciting to see other parts of the world, but it also makes me see how thankful I am to have my slice of Georgia to myself,” Lizzie said. “Being out in the country — there’s nothing like it.”
Most pilots climb a similar career ladder: paying to fly, getting paid to fly and eventually getting paid not to fly. Wadsworth hopes to experience all three.
When asked what he hopes his daughter gains from a career in aviation, Robert Wadsworth didn’t hesitate.
“How to be grateful,” Robert said. “She gets something special. Doing this is not everybody’s job.”