(WACO, Texas) – The rush of soaring high and finding yourself among the clouds is a feeling of unburdened euphoria.
For aspiring pilots, the discovery flight is typically the start in determining whether a life in the skies can make for a fruitful career.
Texas State Technical College’s Aircraft Pilot Training program offers discovery flights each semester, with the days and time blocks contingent on training schedules and weather. The flights are for prospective students and are primarily flown by Elaine Porterfield, an instructor in TSTC”s pilot program, along with certified flight instructors and faculty members, at TSTC in Waco’s airport.
Porterfield said sometimes during flights she will let guests take the controls for take off, but she handles all landings. Post-flight activities include a debrief and, if time allows, a program tour.
Porterfield said good times to fly are in the heat of summer and cold of winter because the weather will not be aviation-perfect at all times.
“You are working outside, not in the air conditioning,” she said.
Porterfield said while the program has flight simulators used by the Aircraft Pilot Training students, prospective students would not get the same realistic experience of feeling freedom in the air.
Justin Bragg, a fourth-semester Aircraft Pilot Training student from Waco, took his discovery flight with Porterfield while he was a student at Midway High School.
“I got to do the takeoff,” he said. “We went up in the air and did some basic turns and did a stall. It felt like a roller coaster.”
Bragg said his goal is to be a certified flight instructor and later work for Japan Airlines because he still has relatives in Japan where he was born.
Some of the program’s staff members were able to reminisce about the fun they had during their discovery flights.
Walker Gilbert, of Buda, is a graduate of TSTC’s Aircraft Pilot Training program and a certified flight instructor at the college. He took his discovery flight in San Marcos when he was in high school. He said during that flight, he and the pilot flew over his house and high school.
“I did not really know what I wanted to do with my future (at the time),” he said. “My stepfather is a pilot for FedEx. It (the flight) was really cool. I would not say it was a life-altering moment, but it convinced me I could do this.”
Gilbert advised students interested in aviation to take the opportunity to take a discovery flight.
“You need to determine if you are afraid of heights or get sick in the air,” he said.
Brandon Houston, of Livingston, began work in early 2024 as a certified flight instructor at the college. He graduated from the Aircraft Pilot Training program in fall 2023.
Houston said his discovery flight was at Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport while he was still in high school.
“I showed up and it was quick,” he said. “They got me in and out. The flight had already been inspected by an instructor. We pretty much took off and exited the airport area, made a loop around Lake Conroe and came back in.”
Houston said the discovery flight can help determine the comfort level of students being in the tightly enclosed cockpit.
Brandon Jaco, of Lake Jackson, graduated from TSTC’s Aircraft Pilot Training program in fall 2024 and was hired as a certified flight instructor at the college in summer 2025. The discovery flight he took in Austin while he was in high school started Jaco off on the flight path to his career.
“I remember just chatting with the certified flight instructor a little beforehand,” Jaco said. “We went out to the plane and did the preflight together. It was cool doing it out of Austin and seeing the big jets flying at the same time. It was a half-hour flight and we flew to the east some. That is when I decided I wanted to be a pilot.”
TSTC’s discovery flights are $50 for a 30-minute flight at the campus airport. Prospective students can schedule discovery flights by filling out the online form at tstc.edu/discoveryflight.
For more information, go to tstc.edu.