Fayetteville high school basketball player becomes one of youngest pilots in the country

A Fayetteville high school basketball player has been nationally recognized for more than his accomplishments on the hardwood by doing something that most teenagers would probably never dream of.

Northwood Temple Academy's 17-year-old junior guard Tyler Moore has earned his pilot license from Cape Fear Aviation Flight Training after more than 10 months of training, making him one of the youngest pilots in the country just days before his 17th birthday.

"I've always loved airplanes since I was a little kid. I used to see them flying over my house and I watched a lot of videos about planes all over the internet — I was just fascinated by them," Moore said.

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Tyler had a challenging time during aviation flight training and sacrificed some things that most teens aren't willing to compromise, like missing AAU tournaments and leisure time, hanging out with friends and family during the summer. But for him it was well worth the challenge.

"It was challenging but it was something that I really wanted to do, so I had to sacrifice other aspects of my life and my free time.

"It was so much to study — and it feels like a big weight lifted off of my shoulders," he said.

"He's such a great kid," his mother Marva Lucas-Moore said about her son. "He's a straight-A student with a 4.3 GPA. And he also cares for his community by volunteering with his school and local churches."

Moore said that he learned a lot during the process of earning his license, but what came to him the easiest was the flying, the part that some would say was the most difficult.

"The flying came the most natural to me, because it was what I've always dreamed of. I'd say the hardest part of the course was the testing and learning the regulations, rules, and airspace," he said.

Moore is now a full-time varsity basketball player entering his junior season after sharing minutes on JV as a sophomore. But to him, the things that he will do on the basketball court will never be greater than this achievement that he's reached.

"A lot of people my age are playing basketball in this city and state, so I definitely think this will get more attention — there's not really a lot of pilots my age," he said. "Being a pilot is my main goal, but if I have the opportunity to play basketball at the next level, then I'd be glad to take it."

Now, with one of the rarest accomplishments among teenagers not just in Fayetteville, but around the entire country, the next personal goal that Moore wants to carry out is potentially joining the Air Force academy or flying planes commercially.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville high school basketball player youngest pilots in country