13-year-old Charleston Girdler ’ s flying adventures
By Carla Slavey
Somerset youth Charleston Girdler has gone flying in the “ wide blue yonder ” and enjoyed it so much she ’ s decided to become a pilot herself .
What ’ s odd about that , one may ask ? Possibly the fact that Charleston was only 12 when she started lessons .
The now-13-year-old is the daughter of Chris Girdler , the president and CEO of the Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority ( SPEDA ), and to hear him speak , he couldn ’ t be happier in her choice of hobbies .
Right up until he was a passenger in the plane during one of her lessons , that is .
“ I like flying ,” he said . “ It puts the world in perspective , when you get up in the air and look down . But it ’ s not as leisurely as it had been , with her doing these 45-degree turns where you ’ re literally staring down the wing of the plane , looking at the ground . I ’ m not a fan of the power-on , power-off stalls . I think when a plane ’ s running good you should just
34 • SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky august 2022