By Susan Gifford from The Puyallup School District:
As a student 10 years ago in Emerald Ridge High School’s aviation program, Nick Villani remembers the unique opportunity of being one of four passengers on a cross-country flight to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
From his seat at the back of a small twin-engine monoplane, Villani put his classroom skills to the test by reading navigation charts and helping with trip planning as the plane headed east for a centennial celebration of the first human-powered flight.
A decade later, Villani is now at the flight controls himself, having made a career out of a childhood dream that first took flight in high school.
The 2005 Emerald Ridge High graduate was hired last year as a first officer with CommutAir, a regional airline that operates under the name “United Express” for United Airlines. The company flies to destinations mainly in the Northeast and Midwest.
Villani flies about 90 hours a month and is co-pilot for up to six flights a day, each one averaging 40 to 50 minutes from takeoff to landing. He flies up and down the East Coast to destinations as far north as Manchester, Mass., and as far south as Fayetteville, North Carolina, with stops in between at cities including Cleveland, Indianapolis, New York, and Toronto.
While his home base is in western Washington, Villani’s work base is at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
High school key to his success
Villani gives high marks to the Emerald Ridge High aviation program, as well as to the program’s former instructor Jeff Coleman, for helping to prepare him for success in a career he set out to achieve when he was 10 years old and a student at Pope Elementary.
“I was flying as an unaccompanied minor to my grandparents’ house in New Mexico, and the pilot invited me into the cockpit, gave me my pilot wings, and had me flick on the fasten seatbelt light,” Villani said. “I had always been interested in transportation and thought about being a train conductor, but at that moment I knew I wanted to be a pilot.”
In ninth grade at Stahl Junior High, Villani heard about a curriculum night at Emerald Ridge High School and showed up to learn about its aviation program.
Aviation is a magnet program in the district, which means it is the only one of its kind in Puyallup and is open to any of the district’s high school students. Other magnet programs include culinary arts at Puyallup High and Architecture, Construction, and Engineering at Rogers High.
In the aviation program, students take courses that give them an introduction to flight and, through the use of flight simulators and other modern technology, learn skills and knowledge about the physics of flight. A class is also offered in aircraft systems and structures.
In addition to his required coursework, Villani served on the school’s Aviation Advisory Committee and participated in its Aviation Club. The club provides educational experiences and information related to the various career fields in the aviation industry and helps students develop leadership, teamwork, and citizenship.
Only the teen didn’t stop there.
After returning from Kitty Hawk, he signed up for flying lessons at Pierce County Airport and, in his senior year, received his private pilot’s license — a rare achievement for someone in high school and one that requires “a great deal of motivation,” said Jeff Coleman, his former aviation teacher and flight instructor.
Coleman, who with a retired airline captain accompanied Villani and another student on the flight to Kitty Hawk in 2003, left his Emerald Ridge High teaching job last year to become chief pilot with Kenmore Air. The airline operates scheduled and charter seaplane and land plane service throughout western Washington, southwestern British Columbia, the San Juan Islands, and other destinations.
As Villani’s flight instructor years ago at Pierce County Airport, Coleman vividly remembers the teen’s first solo flight.
“It’s nerve-wracking as an instructor seeing a student taxiing away from you on the runway and then taking off without you next to them. As I stood there with his parents, it was definitely like I was a hovering mother that day, but I was extremely proud of him.”
Villani said he did everything possible to learn as much as he could at school and, with Coleman’s help, made as many contacts as possible within the aviation industry. That included a job shadow with the chief pilot of a company that flew the Seattle Seahawks on private jets from Boeing Field.
Coleman describes Villani as “one of those students who stands tall in my teaching career.”
“He’s one of those kids who really brings a smile to my face and makes me extremely proud to have been involved in his learning,” he said. “I never had a doubt he would be successful because he has always had a lot of knowledge and determination. When he flew to Kitty Hawk, I remember being impressed with his maturity and his ability to adapt to the real world.”
Post-high school education
After graduating high school, Villani enrolled at Green River Community College and spent two years taking aviation, math, and science courses before transferring to University of North Dakota.
Villani graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in commercial aviation, married his high school sweetheart (Emerald Ridge High graduate Heather Boykin, who is an attorney in Benton County, Wash.), and spent two years as a flight instructor before being hired at CommutAir.
While much of flying is automated and based on instrumentation, Villani said he enjoys all aspects of piloting a plane, including communication with the control tower, takeoffs and landings, and chatting with passengers. He said he enjoys working for a small company, but also looks forward one day to being a pilot for a larger airline.
“I have always focused on flying as a career,” he said. “I love what I do.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
