JUST BECAUSE YOUR DAD IS A passionate aviator and you have all the opportunities at your disposal to learn to fly doesn't necessarily translate to a flying life. That's what Shelby Nowak decided at age 16 when she stopped flying and told her father aviation wasn't for her. Her father, Danny White (below), owns H.O. Aircraft in Minnesota, a 40-year-old aircraft restoration facility. Nor did college appeal to her after high school, so she went to Florida to pursue a passion she did have: scuba diving. Nowak discovered she could "hang with the boys" and often found herself a better diver than some of the 30-something Marines she trained with. She gained a lot of confidence in the water and, after some soul searching-and checking her wallet-she realized she couldn't make a living diving, but maybe, just maybe, she now had the confidence to "do this flying thing." Back home in Minnesota she whipped through her ratings and within months she went from "nothing to corporate," she says. "I was too young to even share a beer after a flight, but I was flying corporate jets." She and her dad built a Van's Aircraft RV-9 together in 2014. Today she is the global product manager for a cardiac surgery team, actively flies with her father, and recently purchased a seaplane rating course for her new husband.
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