Aviation magazine highlights career aspirations of recent graduate

CWU Aviation graduate Gracie Main is featured in the fall 2023 edition of AviNation magazine, which delivers some well-deserved attention to the program that kickstarted her career.

The 2022 alumna and native of Naches talked about how her love for flying started at an early age when her father would fly her around in his Cessna 182.

“Those flights weren’t just trips; they were windows into a world where the sky was not the limit—it was the starting point,” according to the article on AviNation.com (pages 30-31).

Writer Nancy Nwelati Coll notes that Main was equally inspired by the sense of community she witnessed between her father and his fellow aviators.

The article also gives a nod to the CWU Aviation program, which offers one of few four-year aviation degrees on the West Coast. The highly competitive four-year professional pilot degree program currently has 200 students, with 67 of them starting their training in Ellensburg this fall. More than 120 applicants are now on the waiting list.

“When it came time to choose a college, Gracie followed her instincts and enrolled at Central Washington University,” the author explains. “The pilot program at the university called out to her, and she knew she was headed in the right direction. She wasn’t just pursuing a career; she was chasing something unique, something that set her apart from the crowd.”

Main, who is a certified commercial pilot, now works as a builder assist coordinator for Cub Crafters Inc. in Yakima. One of her goals is to fly her company’s Carbon Cub FX-3 aircraft, which is highlighted by a new fuel-injected engine, constant-speed propeller, and 2,000-pound gross weight limit.

Main also shares some advice with young, aspiring aviators is to be courageous, encouraging anyone who is unsure about where to begin to visit their local airport and connect with the people in the aviation industry.

“It’s these connections that make the aviation community a remarkable one—a space where dreams take flight, and mentors guide the way,” the author extols.