Most teenagers get their learner’s permit at 15 and then upgrade to a driver’s license at 16. Age 17 is a slow year, the year of admittance to R-rated movies, but for Adrienne Phillips – she decided the sky was the limit.

“[Completing my private pilot training] was more exciting than getting a driver’s license,” Phillips said. “[When I finally earned it], I was flying places that my mom wouldn’t even let me drive.”

The University senior grew up near Falcon Field in Peachtree City. Her grandfather and mother, though not pilots, both worked for Delta Airlines. Aviation has always been a backdrop in her life. At the time, however, she didn’t realize that flying airplanes would become her passion.

“I played soccer. It wasn’t until my mom bought me [the flight training program] Intro Flight at 17, that my interest grew,” Phillips said. “After flying for only 30 minutes, I was hooked. It was then that I knew that flying is what I wanted to do.”

Phillips’ dream is to become a corporate pilot. She said it would be ideal in comparison to commercial flying, which is more fast paced. Corporate is more personal, she said.

While her family doesn’t own any personal airplanes, Phillips has flown about 20 different aircrafts. She has steered mostly single-engines, including the Cessna 172, the Diamond 20, the J-3 Cub and the American-based Mooney.

“I get an adrenaline rush when getting ready to take off, and also landing,” Phillips said. “Having to learn and remember everything while training made practice stressful. The very first time I flew, I was confident that I could fly, but it was all still very nerve-racking. It takes a lot out of you. But being in the air is relaxing. You get a different view of the world that many don’t get.”

Phillips said she admires many female pilots, some of whom she has had the opportunity to meet at conferences and air shows across the country. The list includes Julie Clark, an air show performer from California; Samantha Weeks, a Thunderbird pilot for the US Air Force; and Dawn Seymour, who flew B17s as a member of the group Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II.

“It’s hard for women to advance in a man’s world,” Phillips said. “During [WWII], it took a lot of courage for women to volunteer. Also, a lot of effort. [In those times] there were not a lot of women involved in aviation.”

Phillips doesn’t allow the strong male presence in her field to discourage her.

“I look at [these women] and think ‘if they can do it, then so can I.’”

Phillips’ boyfriend is also a pilot. Currently, he works for NetJets, a company controlled by Berkshire Hathaway, offering fractional ownership and rental of private business jets. This past summer, the two had their first date in the air.

Phillips was the pilot.

“He has more experience than I do, so it was kind of intimidating,” she said. “But he gave me a lot of [helpful] tips and suggestions, like how to do a spin recovery and a spin entry. We flew over Lake Sinclair, Lake Oconee, and took pictures of a lakehouse and the sunset. It went very well.”