Will Work for Flight Lessons, Teenager Says : Los Alamitos High Student Kevin Gustafson and a Neighbor Have a Unique Arrangement

Washing planes and detailing them is perhaps not what most teenagers do to earn money for Christmas. But 17-year-old Kevin Gustafson marches to the beat of his own drummer.

For four years, the Los Alamitos High School senior has worked for his neighbor, Lynn Krogh, who happens to be a flight instructor. In return for doing all those odd jobs, Kevin gets flying lessons.

During breaks from school, Kevin works at Krogh’s charter company in Denver. During this holiday break, however, he first made a pit stop in Oshkosh, Wis., for a Christmas party for the Young Eagles, an organization whose goal is to introduce children to aviation and teach them to fly.

When Kevin was 10, he said he was taken on a Young Eagles flight in his instructor’s Cessna 172.

The teen flew across the country earlier this year to support the national program that got him started on the aviation kick; he earned about $3,000 for the group. Before the trip, he had written to 200 companies nationwide and asked for sponsorship. Many agreed to pay 25 cents a mile or gave a flat donation toward the 5,000-mile trip from Long Beach Municipal Airport to Kitty Hawk, N.C.

The year before, on his 16th birthday, Kevin flew from Long Beach to North Carolina solo.

“I finally got in a position where I can repay” the Young Eagles, he said Thursday from Denver.

Kevin, who dreams of becoming a commercial pilot for United Airlines, said he will be back home in time for Christmas--with gifts for his parents and older brother in tow.

Ana Cholo-Tipton may be reached at (714) 966-5890.