13-Year-Old Pilot Hits Lofty Goal

Breean Farfan could pilot a small plane from California to Wisconsin and back, but after she landed at Compton Airport on Thursday afternoon, she couldn’t drive to her home in Bellflower. She’s only 13.

Breean, believed to be the youngest Latina ever to fly that distance over the United States, had left Compton on June 23. Piloting the plane with her adult instructor, Devin Reed, beside her with dual controls, Breean flew to Oshkosh, Wis., to attend the Experimental Aircraft Assn.’s four-day camp, where 12- and 13-year-olds attended classes and workshops taught by aviation professionals.

She and Reed logged 3,671 nautical miles, stopping in Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska along the way.

“She did way better than I thought she was going to,” Reed said. “I was just there to back her up. It was incredible.”

But the slender teenager downplayed her accomplishment.

“It wasn’t that much of a challenge,” she said. “I thought everything was fun.”

She said the hardest part was flying through the choppy air over the “awesome” Rocky Mountains.

Compton Mayor Eric Perrodin presented Breean with a model of the Cessna 172 she flew, calling her the city’s own Amelia Earhart. The girl’s mother, Adriana Farfan, presented her with a congratulatory letter from President Bush.

Breean, who has been home-schooled since the second grade, began her flight training two years ago in an after-school program sponsored by Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, a nonprofit organization in Compton that teaches children as young as 10 to fly.

When she learned she would have to raise more than $7,000 to cover the expenses of the round trip to Wisconsin, her father, Israel Farfan, insisted she do it herself. Breean wrote hundreds of letters to companies and philanthropic organizations seeking donations. The money came in slowly, but she managed to raise more than $5,000, and the camp agreed to waive her tuition.

Breean’s trip “raised the bar,” said Robin Petgrave, the museum’s founder and director. “The other kids are planning now, trying to top that.”

Breean said she dreams of joining the Air Force and piloting the F-22 Raptor, a stealth aircraft.

But for now, she is looking ahead to her siblings’ trips, hoping they get as much out of it as she did.

“I can’t wait for my sister or my brothers to beat my record,” she said. “I learned how tiring it is to fly for eight hours straight and how beautiful it can be. It makes me feel free. I love it so much that I don’t want to come back down.”