Craig Fischer
George Mason High School
Craig Fischer has a fond childhood memory of family outings to Gravelly Point Park near Reagan National Airport—a prime viewing spot to watch planes take off and land. They sparked his early love of aviation.
Hoping to become a commercial pilot, the Falls Church teen has spent 18 months flying and taking classes to earn his pilot’s license. A volunteer writer and photographer for the website Airline
Geeks.com, he recently returned from his first overseas trip, paid by Qatar Airways, to Doha, where he covered a convention of ground-services employees such as baggage handlers and ramp maintenance crews. His plane-spotting Instagram account (@dc.aviation) has 8,500 followers, and he volunteers as a Travelers Aid representative at National and Dulles airports, answering questions from harried airline customers.
Fischer flies a Cessna out of Leesburg Executive Airport, relishing his time in the air. “You’re doing something not many people do,” he says. “When I’m up there, I’m speechless because of the views. The clouds, the landscape—you’re watching the world work from above.”
Down on the ground, he’s a three-season athlete, playing varsity tennis and baseball, and swimming for his high school teams. He holds a black belt in tae kwon do and founded a lawn-care business as a way to help pay for flying lessons. He also umpired Falls Church Kiwanis Little League games.
As he prepares for his first year at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, he has already mapped out a life plan: Graduate a year early (having taken honors, AP, IB and college classes in high school, he expects to enter college as a sophomore); start flying for a regional airline when he turns 21; and then work his way up to a national carrier.