Madeline Goussios of Howland and Chloe Howdershelt of Cortland are fulfilling their dream, and the requirements, for future commercial flight certification.

Goussios, 21, is studying abroad in Florence, Italy, for a few weeks in the international aviation program at Kent State University. She is a graduate of Howland High school and is a senior at Kent State’s main campus, enrolled in aeronautics and engineering with a concentration in the Professional Pilot program. She will graduate in December.

She is the daughter of Chris and Shelley Goussios and has a brother, Michael. Madeline’s father is a commercial international cargo pilot based out of New York.

Her first introduction to flying was a discovery flight with her father years ago. She immediately was convinced that she someday would become a commercial pilot.

Upon graduating high school in 2020 at the age of 17, she began taking flying lessons with Dominic Santangelo at the Western Reserve Flight Center at the Youngstown-Warren-Regional Airport. At that time, she knew that becoming a pilot like her father certainly would be a dream come true.

Goussios said she is amazed by how electronics have evolved in such a short time, especially in the field of aeronautics.

She also was excited to find out how interesting the Air and Space Museum was while on a family trip to Washington, D.C.

“We also have a great museum locally,” she said. “The Ernie Hall Aviation Museum in Warren is quite interesting. We are proud to boast about this gentleman, Ernie Hall, who worked briefly with the Wright Brothers and then became the first known Certified Flight Instructor in the U.S. in 1903. This museum, and others in Ohio, introduces the masses to the evolution of aviation,” Goussios said.

CHLOE HOWDERSHELT

Howdershelt’s aviation journey began in the third grade at Currie Elementary School in Fowler when her class took a “learning trip” to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station. When she boarded that huge C-130 cargo plane and looked around, she knew immediately that flying planes would become her future goal.

“I remember taking vacations as a child and being more interested in the plane ride than the vacation itself,” she said.

She then got an early start. As a junior at Mathews High School in Vienna, at the age of 17, Howdershelt, now 22, decided it was time to put her lifelong dream in motion. She also worked diligently under the tutelage of Santangelo at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and said she would become a certified private pilot right after graduation, no matter what it took.

She succeeded and was able to check that feat off her list before starting college at the age of 18 in 2019. She then began working on her bachelor’s degree in aeronautics at Kent State and finished her four-year degree in three years in December of 2022.

“Throughout my aviation journey at Kent State, I have realized that, not only do I have a passion for flying, I also have a passion for teaching,” Howdershelt said.

She was given the opportunity to teach the flight theory courses as a part-time professor at Kent. She has passed many flight certifications and the most recent one was a challenge — the Upset Prevention and Recovery Training for pilots to prevent upset conditions to ensure correct recovery responses.

In addition to stall training and recovery training, this is an essential training element to reduce the chances of a loss of control event and enable recovery to a normal flight if the event does occur.

COMMONALITIES

What is interesting about both women is that they are very companionable in many ways.

They became good friends after high school. Both decided to get their private pilot’s license at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. Both decided on the same major at Kent State. They almost identical grade point averages, similar goals and interests, and both are on a path to become valuable contributors in the airline industry.

In just a few short years, Goussios and Howdershelt worked to receive their private pilot’s certification, instrument flight rules rating, commercial pilot certification, multi-engine certification and certified flight instructor rating.

Howdershelt has even taken her mission a step further. She now has a multi-engine instructor certification and a tailwheel endorsement. Goussios also promises to follow up with the multi-engine instructor certification in the near future.

KSU is a world-renowned aeronautics and engineering bachelor’s degree program and has built a sound opportunity for many students to earn one of the finest degrees in aviation anywhere. Because of the success of this program, students have been educated, trained and became certified flight instructors to provide flying lessons to more than 100 students in the program.

This not only provides opportunity for students, but also allows Goussios and Howdershelt, as well as dozens of other CFI’s at the University, the pathway to acquire much needed flight hours as well as a job opportunity. Both women earn a wage for their flight training services at Kent State University Airport as well as at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport at the Western Reserve Flight Center.

Goussios recently signed with Envoy Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines based in Miami, Chicago and Dallas.

Howdershelt’s long-term goals in aviation are to get her seaplane rating, become a corporate pilot and one day become a designated pilot examiner with the Cleveland (FSDO) Flight Standards District Office. She also would like to land a job with the Federal Aviation Administration in the future. She now works for Republic Airlines.

To suggest a Saturday profile, contact Features Editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or Metro Editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com.