At age 13, Maxwell Mondo has landed at every open public use airport in Florida.
- Boy, 13, accomplishes goal of landing at all Florida public use airports
- When we first met Maxwell, he was halfway to his goal
- Previous story: Father, son go on grand airport adventure (July 13, 2014)
Maxwell and his dad believe this to be the first time a 13-year-old has landed at all 126 airports.
“It’s a big weight off my shoulders,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell set out to land at every public use airport in Florida when he was nine years old. He said he didn’t realize what a huge undertaking it would be.
“I’d never really done anything like it before,” Maxwell said.
Still, with his aviator dad by his side for most of the trips, Maxwell learned how to take the controls and fly. He even landed on water in a seaplane.
“It’s a whole different experience,” Maxwell said.
But there’s nothing quite like landing in a helicopter. Maxwell did that too.
“You had to sort of hover above the ground and I’m not used to doing that,” Maxwell said.
Other landings created quite the challenge too.
“The biggest challenge was probably landing at Fort Walton Beach in Pensacola because it was the shortest runway in all of Florida,” Maxwell said.
In honor of his accomplishment, Mondo received a certificate from the Department of Transportation and a congratulations letter from Florida’s governor.
Maxwell is an eighth grader at Farnell Middle School.