Sandusky County teen pilot Allyssa Metz flies solo on 16th birthday

SANDUSKY COUNTY, Ohio — While most 16-year-olds are learning how to drive, one is learning how to fly.

Allyssa Metz has been logging flight hours since she was nine. Just last month, the sophomore from Clyde High School completed her first solo flight.

Metz may not have a driver’s license yet, but she’s got the next best thing after receiving her pilot’s license this summer. On Sept. 3, she gave herself a special birthday present: her first solo flight.

“It was on my 16th birthday. We went to Sandusky County Regional Airport, kind of surprised because I didn’t think I was gonna do it,” said Metz. “But then I ended up soloing because he said I was ready. I was completely nervous doing that, but it was awesome. Definitely really cool to do.”

Metz said her passion for flying was inspired by her dad at an early age. Her father was in the Air Force and also has a pilot’s license.

“I got my first flight when I was nine, like 2018, and I started getting my training like three years ago,” said Metz.

Rex Damschroder is her flight instructor at Fremont Airport.

“Allyssa came out here when she was nine with her dad. And I took her and her sisters out for an airplane ride. And her dad said, ‘Well, put Allyssa in the front seat, because she wants to fly.’”

He’s been teaching for a half-century but said Metz is special.

“You only get one chance to solo on your sixteenth birthday. And to have somebody like Allyssa right there — she did the training, she’s been through the ground school,” said Damschroder. “You know, less than 7% of airline pilots are women. And to have a student like that coming up — can’t be any better,” he added.

As for Metz moving forward? Turning her hobby into a career.

“I think I might want to be either an instructor, like a CFI, or I might take supplies from companies, transport them,” said Metz.

And of course, maybe coming back down to the ground and eventually getting licensed for the road.