SWANSEA — Earning that driver’s license last year was pretty cool for Tucker Tuffile. But it just doesn’t compare to what the 17-year-old town resident accomplished recently, 1,100 feet above the roadways.
A cadet in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Tuffile on Sept. 11 flew solo for the first time. He did so at Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. From engine on to engine off, the experience lasted 40 minutes. He spent about 20 minutes in the air, alone in the Cessna 172P, well aware of the adjacent empty seat which previously had always been occupied by his flight instructor.
The CAP is the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force and according to its website, conducts 90 percent of inland search and rescue in the United States, as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and other agencies. The Cadet program is for ages 12 to 21. Tuffile, a home-schooled high school senior, is a member of the Warren, Rhode Island-based 106 Cadet Squadron.
He said that from well back in his childhood, he’s always been attracted to flight. At his grandparents Conni and Fred Tuffile’s house dock on the Long Pond canal in Lakeville, Tucker would watch planes taxi for a takeoff over the pond.
In March 2021, Tuffile went up for his first CAP Orientation flight, where he even got to briefly handle the yoke and rudder. He was hooked. “I knew it was something I wanted to do,” he said.
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How he got his start as a pilot
Before getting a chance to fly solo, he had to apply to CAP’s National Powered Solo Flight Academy. He said he applied to all 25 around the country. His one acceptance came from his first choice, the National Falcon Flight Academy in New Jersey.
A prerequisite to attending Solo Flight Academy is successfully completing an encampment, which he did last summer. In March, he entered ground school, which involved eight hours per week plus homework. Tuffile was one of only 14 cadets at the flight academy, held in July. He earned his wings, with his flight instructor, Brigadier General Bruce Thompson, giving Tuffile’s mother, Michelle, the wings to pin on her son.
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Determined to solo by summer’s end, Tuffile was excited when he got the date. A student must have 17 hours of flight time with an instructor before going solo. The requirement to go for one’s private license is 40 hours. Tuffile said he foresees getting there next spring.
The solo flight
Solo day brought gorgeous flying weather at Quonset. After a final flight with his instructor, Tuffile climbed into the Cessna, alone. After he finished running through his pre-flight checklist, the Swansea teen started to feel the excitement. The solo flight would involve three landings, the first two of which would be touch-and-gos, where the pilot gets all three wheels on the runway for a few seconds and then takes off again. Some of his recent landings, he confessed, had “not been the the best.”
The nerves disappeared, he said, as he taxied to Runway 23.
In the air, Tuffille said, he was very focused but still able to appreciate the ocean and landscape from a thousand feet on clear day. “Every time I go up, I enjoy the view,” he said. “I was looking more toward the airport, but I definitely looked down.”
At one point, he said, he was about 500 feet above the ocean, looking down at sailboats, with people fishing clearly visible.
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He said all three landings this day were soft. After his final landing, he got a warm congratulations from the air traffic controller, lifting his spirits even more. Then it truly hit him: mission accomplished.
“Taxiing back, that’s where I was blown away,” he said.
Tuffile had a rooting section on hand at Quonset. His parents. Grandparents, paternal and maternal. Five siblings. Another cadet. Cadet Senior Master Sergeant Mary Petitto. His maternal grandfather, Arthur Gauthier, 90, and a Navy veteran, paid for Tuffille’s solo flight.
After he secured the plane, Tuffile was inaugurated with an ice bucket shower. He will receive his solo wings at an upcoming ceremony.
Future plans
A CAP Cadet first sergeant, Tuffile has applied to the U.S. Naval Academy and, he said, will soon apply to the U.S. Air Force Academy. He said he will not know if he’s been accepted at either until the spring.
In the meantime, he’s a busy high school senior. As a dual enrollment home school student, he’s doing most of his academics at home but also taking Calculus II at Bridgewater State University. He said he loves mathematics, loves getting to the marker board to solve equations.
Tuffile qualifies as a Renaissance man. For 13 years, he has studied Russian ballet at Ballet Prestige in Barrington. The ballet, he said, is superb for developing both large and small muscle groups. And for building stamina. He has danced the titular role in “The Nutcracker” and has also danced at Providence Performing Arts Center with Festival Ballet.
Last spring, he joined with the Joseph Case High School Theater in “Legally Blonde.”
Tuffile, who turns 18 on Oct. 2, said he foresees a future of 20 years in the military, maybe 10 active and 10 Air Guard, and then a second career as a commercial pilot.