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A Corning girl celebrates her 16th birthday with a major milestone; she completed her first solo flight.
After losing her brother in a mid-air crash in September, it was a monumental flight for the teen and her entire family.
After years of flying and months of intense practice, it was the first time Masie Veal flew her family's plane on her own.
Pilot and father Jeff Veal says, “She did excellent. I was really impressed.”
Not a bad way to celebrate her sweet sixteen.
Masie says, “I thought it was going to be this huge big deal and I'd be so nervous and everything, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I knew what needed to be done and I could fly it by myself.”
But it was a big deal for her family that's suffered its share of hardships in the past couple of months.
First, Masie's older brother Scotty was killed in a flying accident in Alaska.
19 days later her mother passed away.
Flying is the one thing that's kept Masie going.
She says, “Probably just focusing on it and not worrying about all that other stuff, just focusing on flying.”
And the plane itself has plenty of family history.
Masie's grandfather, father and brother all worked together to restore the 1947 vintage Piper J-3 Cub.
Veal adds, “I wondered because I didn’t fly there for a month, what it was going to be like getting especially back into this airplane. Because when he was 11 years old, we bought this as a project and then rebuilt it together. And he learned to fly in it.”
So with her brother at her back and her mom in her heart, Masie completed three takeoffs and landings Monday morning, without a hitch.
But she couldn't help missing her former co-pilot.
Masie adds, “It was just a bummer to think he wasn't going to be here. That's why I wanted to wear his jacket and have his name in the back to kind of feel like he was here.”
And with every flight, Masie and her father are rising above the past to welcome an even brighter future.
Veal adds, “It's actually been really healing for us.”
Masie plans to continue flying as a hobby but doesn't want to make a career out of it.
Instead, she's looking forward to being a mom someday.
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