Huntington Senior Vito Aloe at Home in the Skies

Vito Aloe is completely comfortable high above the earth at the controls of an airplane. The Huntington High School senior has been studying aviation and he loves it so much he hopes to make a career out of flying.

“I am currently striving to obtain my private pilot’s license before graduating high school and I have been actively flying every weekend and studying the rules and regulations of flying to achieve this goal,” Mr. Aloe said. “I plan to take my FAA written exam by May and my first solo flight in the coming weeks.”

Mr. Aloe is an amiable fellow. He gets along well with his classmates, teachers and coaches. “One teacher that has had a big impact on me was my pre-calculus teacher. Mr. [David] Moriarty,” the senior said. “He showed me that even with my struggle in mathematics I can overcome any challenge that comes my way. He motivated me to come for extra help and work harder in school. This had a great effect on my education because it led me to work harder in every subject, not just math. Math went from my weakest subject to one of my strongest by the end of my junior year.”

Mr. Aloe can’t wait to take his aviation studies to the next level. “I am excited about what college has to offer and the connections and friends that I am going to make,” he said. “I am majoring in aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University located in Daytona Beach, Florida where I will learn the science behind how and why planes work. My career goal is to become an airline pilot. I will be around people with the same passion as me and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

No one should doubt Mr. Aloe’s “staying power.” When he puts his mind to something and commits, he is unstoppable. Just look at what he refers to as his “fitness journey.” The teenager lost over 100 lbs. throughout his junior year.

“I decided to be very active in school sports as a senior,” Mr. Aloe said. “This was my first time playing football at a high school level. I am a thrower for the winter track and field team, competing in shot put and weight-throwing and when spring season rolls in, discus.”

Mr. Aloe is currently serving as vice president of SkillsUSA program at Wilson Tech. It’s a career and technical student organization. A member of the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society, the teenager is on the high school’s High Honor Roll and has qualified as a New York State Scholar Athlete.

“Even though I missed out on a year of normal high school due to COVID, I made the most out of it,” Mr. Aloe said. “I have made a lot of connections and friendships with people throughout high school and I have had an overall great experience at Huntington.”

The teenager is known as an extremely dedicated and determined student who looks out for others. He’s currently studying Advanced Placement Calculus AB, Physics, Fantasy Literature/Science Fiction and Participation in Government/Economics in addition to spending the other half of the school at Wilson Tech’s aviation program at Republic Airport.

“Tech is my favorite course because it’s my passion and I get to fly the Cirrus SR-20 through the program,” Mr. Aloe said.” Throughout my two years of flying through the school day program, I have flown through New York City and around the Statue of Liberty, out to Connecticut to do touch-and-go landings and over the north and south shores of Long Island to practice maneuvers such as steep turns, stalls and slow flight.”

Mr. Aloe did a lot of traveling last summer, staying busy with treks throughout Florida and Virginia and up to Boston “to either visit colleges with my family to see where I can further pursue my aviation interests or to concerts with my brother all over the east coast,” he said.

The teenager has big dreams. “I hope that in 10 years, I am working for either American Airlines or Delta and traveling the world while getting paid for doing what I love,” he said.