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Our Members
Sabrina
(Valine) Riffle
August 2008
I began flying after graduating high school while attending college full-time. I quickly fell in love with flying and the amazing sights I saw while flying around the Pacific Northwest. The mountains enveloped by glaciers, the Puget Sound and the picturesque San Juan Islands provided me with beautiful places to practice my new flying skills.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I focused my energy on earning the pilot certificates that would make my professional pilot career a reality. After earning my flight instructor certificates I began instructing at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, where Boeing builds many of their jets. It was very enjoyable to teach people how to fly airplanes amidst the beautiful scenery of northern Washington and to be around the new jets flying off the assembly line. Sometimes, we in our Cessna 172s flew with the jets in the airport traffic pattern. That was always fun!
During the winter of 2005, I accepted a position as a freight pilot flying Cessna 402s at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington. I flew at night between Seattle and Boise, Idaho, over the Cascade mountain range delivering everything from bank checks to cancer drugs. One of my favorite memories was coming back over the mountains westbound at sunset. Cruising at 12,000 feet, it was an extremely clear evening. The entire Cascade mountain range was in black silhouette surrounded by an orange, crimson and deep purple sky. I could see Mt. Hood in northern Oregon; I could also see clearly Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Glacier Peak and Mt. Baker in Washington State. It was amazing to see a large portion of the volcanic ring of fire all at once!
In August 2005 I began my airline career at ExpressJet Airlines flying as Continental Express. I am based in Houston, Texas. I have flown throughout the continental United States, Mexico and Canada.
The view at 37,000 feet is very different compared to the lower altitudes I used to fly. However, flying is still exciting for me and the beauty of the world from high above is still inspiring!
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