Young aviator maps out his future

High school junior Caden McLain wants to be a professional pilot. And at age 16 the South Carolina aviator took a big step recently by completing his first solo.

McLain had a head start over many of the other 16-year-olds nationwide who soloed in 2021 since he already had 120 hours of flight time in his logbook and cross-countries to dozens of airports in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

“Caden came to me three years ago for lessons,” said Everett McMillian, Caden’s flight instructor at Florence Regional Airport (KFLO). “When I first sat down with his father, I explained to him that I would follow the private pilot syllabus, then introduce the instrument pilot syllabus and as soon as I had that done, we would begin the commercial syllabus. That was our plan, so Caden would be ready to take both the private and instrument checkrides once he turned 17, the minimum legal age. And up to the time of his first solo he has been introduced to every private and instrument and commercial maneuver. We’ve done all that and I am sure he will be ready for the checkrides once he is old enough to take them.”

McMillian and Caden’s father, Chuck, are attorneys and partners in Caden’s training aircraft, a tailwheel Cessna 172. 

McMillian, a part-time CFII/MEI who flew for the airlines before attending law school and becoming a full-time prosecutor, said Caden provided an unusual challenge.

“He came to me with so much book knowledge,” McMillian said. “I had to ask myself each week what am I going to do with Caden this weekend? I truly had to think outside of the standard syllabus to keep him challenged. Normally when a student comes to you, they want to get their private pilot’s license or some other rating. Your task is to teach them the skills they need to safely exercise the privileges of the rating sought and to pass the checkride, and your job is largely complete once that happens. Caden was different. I couldn’t solo him for more than two years so I had to come up with challenges to keep him growing as a pilot the entire time.”

The challenges included flying into most of the airports in the lower half of South Carolina, plus selected North Carolina airports. In addition, the two made a long cross-country to Lakeland, Florida, for SUN ’n FUN 2021.

Caden’s first solo at KFLO in late September 2021 was almost a nonevent. McMillian watched as Caden methodically turned in three excellent landings.

On two occasions Caden dealt with requests from the tower: First a warning to avoid circling birds and second to alter his downwind for arriving jet traffic.

“That didn’t bother me at all,” Caden said. “I was a little long on the first landing and the second and third were better.”

“He did great, which I expected,” McMillian said. “I don’t think I’ve met a kinder, more intelligent, happier young man than Caden McLain. He shows up with a great attitude every time we meet. When a weather or maintenance or scheduling conflict occurs, he accepts it and he overcomes it. He has an incredibly promising career. He has all the right foundations.”

“I see a lot of myself in Caden,” he added. “I learned to fly in high school just like he is doing. Caden knows where he wants to go, and he’s on a path to get there at a young age.”

Caden started flying lessons as a ninth-grader and is now a junior at Latta High School in nearby Dillon County. He recalled that in the beginning his classmates did not know about his flying.

“It started out with me compartmentalizing at school, not talking about the flying,” he said. “But now I’m known around school as the guy who flies. It is a conversation starter. And someone in my math class wants to be an Air Force pilot so I want to take her up flying one day.”

Caden said he got interested in aviation when his family flew commercial from Charlotte to Tampa nearly three years ago to attend a college football playoff game. 

“Just flying and observing showed me this was what I wanted to do, to fly,” he said. “I started lessons not too long after that.”

He is the youngest of Chuck and Candy McLain’s two sons. His brother Hunter is a college sophomore and does not have an interest in flying, Caden said.

“I got lucky with supportive parents and I have learned that no pilot is born with the skills you need,” he said. “You have to work at it.”

In just the first month since his first solo Caden made a number of flights.

“I’ve been alone in the pattern some since the solo and flew to the nearby airport in Marion,” he said. “Also, I’ve got a cross-country planned to Georgetown on the Atlantic Coast sometime soon.”

His most memorable flight was the nearly 500-mile cross-country to SUN ’n FUN.

“A Skylane made a forced landing right after we came in and they closed the airport,” he said. “Everett did the landing and I helped him look for traffic. The magnitude of what we did did not register until we got on the ground.”

Caden intends to go to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 2023.

“My long-term goal would be to fly for FedEx or UPS flying big iron,” he said.

Despite the dreams of flying big jets, his favorite aircraft remains a popular taildragger. 

“Someday, I would like to own a Cessna 185 because it is a great traveler and you can have a lot of fun in it,” he said.

“There are two things about flying I can already say,” Caden concluded. “First, it is always a challenge because half the time you are not expecting what happens and you have to adapt to it. And on a personal level one of my favorite quotes that I remind myself of often is ‘I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.”