Growing up in Norway, a small Sondre Senderud would gaze up at the sky, full of admiration for his uncle, who flew both seaplanes and helicopters. "He used to wave the wings of his seaplane as he passed over our house on the way to and from the fjords with passengers. That was a big part of what lit the spark for me."
"Aviation is one of those industries where the highs and lows are super exaggerated. You can go from hero to zero in the blink of an eye; all it takes is one small mistake or slip-up."
Tobi actually always wanted to become a farmer, but as no one in his family was into farming, he chose the academic route and went to high school and university. Nearing the end of a Bachelor of Business and Administration, he felt the urge to pursue a career that would be connected to a passion rather than just making a living. "At some point, I asked myself what got my attention, aside from tractors, when I was a child – and that's how helicopters came back into the picture!"
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a helicopter pilot. Justin Pedersen was 11 years old, at a friend's house for an afternoon in the summer. The friend's older brother had embarked on a career as a helicopter pilot, but at that age, it didn't really click what that meant. [...]
Leigh Coate's first flight was in southern California at age 15, when her stepdad, a private pilot, took her up for a spin in a Cessna 172. "That feeling, when we were 1000 feet up looking down at all the cars on the freeway stuck in slow-moving traffic, was mind-blowing. It was absolute freedom – up above it all."
All Mylène Marionvalle ever wanted was to be able to help people from the sky. As a child growing up in northern France, she dreamt of joining the Service d’aide médicale urgente (Urgent Medical Aid Service) as a helicopter pilot.
"When asked how I became a heli pilot I often reply, half-jokingly, 'It was the only option left for me – I was bad at everything else,'" Maxim laughs. "But there Is some truth in it. I didn't perform well in high school, let alone university." "The school benches totally lost me, so I started [...]
