Love of Flying Leads Tupelo Man to Aircraft Purchase, Flight School
Aug. 6—TUPELO — It may be hard to believe, but Scott Mize — owner of Tupelo-based Mize Aviation — hadn't set foot in the sky until last year.
It wasn't for lack of want. Mize had always dreamed of being in the air, flying high in the sky. He even contemplated joining the military so he could fly.
But Mize never got the chance to leave the ground. Until last Christmas, at least, when his wife, Missha, surprised him with flying lessons as a gift.
He was elated.
"There's always been some form of flight school or flying lessons here at the airport, but it wasn't really that well known," he said.
As part of his lessons, Mize had his pick of available instructors. He chose Cameron Triplett, a decision that was, in hindsight, fortuitous.
On Mize's discovery flight, being in the air was everything he thought it would be and more. He let out a primal scream of sorts as the plane climbed; it wasn't out of fear — it was from sheer joy.
Triplett, though wasn't fazed.
"I've kinda seen it all, and I was like, 'Well, we're in the air now, let's see what happens,'" he said. "I knew he was excited."
Mize was also able to fly the plane on his own while in the air — with Triplett supervising carefully of course.
"I was just over the moon," he said.
After landing at the airport, Mize got in his car to drive home, called his wife and talked virtually nonstop about the experience.
The flying bug had bitten Mize hard.
"It's completely, 100 (percent) her fault," he said with a laugh.
What resonated with Mize while he was in the air was when he and Triplett hit a little rough spot and the plane kind of bounced two or three times.
"Cam looked and me and said it was God just letting us know he's still in control," Mize said. "I knew then I had a good CFI (certified flight instructor), and I had a good connection with aviation."
Follow-up flights only reinforced Mize's new passion, but actually booking time to be in the air proved a bit problematic. The plane sees frequent use. That's a good problem for a CFI, but a frustrating challenge for a student looking for more flight time.
The best way to alleviate the problem is to get another plane available.
And the Mizes did just that. They went in with Triplett to buy their own plane — a Piper PA-28 Cherokee.
"I bought the plane with Cam as a partner because I wanted him to be the main CFI," Mize said. "Not only because of the camaraderie we have, but also our views on life in general and our core beliefs are so much alike. It's almost like finding a long-lost brother."
Now another plane was made available for flight instruction, and Mize Aviation was born.
Mize said while the plane belongs to him, the success of the business rests on Triplett's shoulders.
"We want to build this thing and grow it," he said. "Our goal in the whole process was to kick the doors open and let everybody know that you can come out here and fly. Anybody can come and fly. Even if you have your private license and you want to pursue your instrument or your commercial, you can do that."
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