Vernon teen will get her pilot's licence at 16 later this week

She is not old enough to drive a car yet, but Kensington Hewson is already a pilot.

The Vernon teen has completed 45 hours of training, written, online and inflight tests and when she turns 16 later this week, she will get her pilot's licence.

“I heard that you could do it when you were 16 and my parents let me go on a flight and it went from there,” she said from the Vernon airport.

And heading into the wild blue yonder is a family tradition for the teen.

“Her grandpa was an Air Canada pilot for his whole career, my uncle is a pilot, but grandfather was a pilot – that's how I think she got interested in it,” said her father, Mike Hewson.

Kensington was just 13 when she took her first flight. She can currently fly solo, but she must be in contact with her instructors on the ground. However, when she turns 16 she can do it all on her own.

“I don't think kids really realize they can do it if they want to,” said Mike, adding he is proud of his daughter's accomplishment.

And not surprisingly, Kensington's future plans involve flight.

“I want to go to the Royal Military College in Ontario and then get a degree in mechanical engineering and then become a military pilot after school,” she said, adding following her career in the military she wants to become a commercial pilot.