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Show A 4 iv, 4 i I '.:."'' - -j t ' ' ""I,, ' "IK-""-" " '' I 1 I On his 16th birthday Alex Cox is ready to take off for his solo flight in this Bell 206B Jet Ranger III to become the fifth 16-year-old in the nation to solo a helicopter, and , BRYCE On the morning of Apr. 15, at 6:30 a.m., Alex Cox ventured out on his first solo flight. Alex took off from Bryce Canyon Airport for three full traffic patterns, landing between each. This was Alex's 16th birthday, birth-day, making him the first student stu-dent pilot to solo on his birthday in a jet-powered helicopter, a Bell 206B Jet Ranger III. Alex now joins the elite group of stu- dent pilots to qualify on their 16th birthday in a helicopter. He is ranked nationally as the fifth to achieve this goal an d the only one to accomplish this feat in a jet-powered helicopter. Alex has grown up in the industry as his father, Paul Cox, has owned and operated Bryce Canyon Helicopters, based at the Rubys Inn Heliport, for 27 years. Paul is also Alex's Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and has now passed the torch on to his son. Glen Cox, Alex's grandfather, came out to proudly proud-ly watch his grandson solo. Glen the first to do it in a jet. Family and friends were on hand to cheer him on Thursday, Apr. 15 shown in front of the historic his-toric hanger at Bryce Canyon Airport. 16-Year-Old Celebrates His Birthday; Solos Jet Helicopter was a former CAAFAA inspector. inspec-tor. This makes three generations genera-tions of pilots in the Cox family. While Alex was on his second sec-ond landing approach another helicopter pilot came onto the radio to request landing information. infor-mation. This was a unique experience expe-rience for another helicopter to approach Bryce Canyon Airport at this time of day while a student stu-dent helicopter pilot was on his first solo flight. As it turned out, they were friends from St. George who joined in the celebration. cele-bration. The setting for Alex's first solo flight was magnificent. Skies were partly cloudy, with the rising morning sun casting an amber hue over the Escalante Mountain in the distance. A silver sil-ver sliver of a moon still shone in the morning sky, a fitting and memorable scene for such a special spe-cial occasion. Following his memorable flight, family and friends joined in celebration at Rubys Inn to congratulate Alex and acknowl- edge his accomplishments. Gifts included a senior log book, flight certificate, brass wings, and a flight jacket. The traditional tradi-tional shirt-cutting was performed per-formed by pilot friends to commemorate com-memorate and record the event it will be framed and hung with pictures in the Bryce Canyon Airport terminal. Alex is a sophomore at Pine View High School in St. George. He is the son of Paul G. and Rebecca Cox. Glen Cox, his grandfather: Louise Cox, grandmother; Phyllis Woodbury, Wood-bury, grandmother; Angi Cox, sister; Peso, the grandparents' dog; along with friends Chris McCormick, Blaine Anderson, Robin Venuti, Steve Winters, Darron Mathews, and Lance Jaggar were among those congratulating con-gratulating Alex on his helicopter helicop-ter feat and wishing him Happy Birthday. Alex will spend the next year as a student pilot and receive his official pilot's license, hopefully, hopeful-ly, on his 17th birthday. Alex has also been licensed by the National Hot Rod Association as a Junior Drag Racer for three years and will be getting his Utah driver's license next week. Watch Out! It was reported that Alex said his own version of Alan Shepherd's Prayer (the first man in space) before take-off: "Dear God, please don't let me screw up!" Obviously, God was listening lis-tening and his prayer was answered because everyone agreed he did a great job. |
