Kelly Slater’s Getting His Pilot License

Up towards the northern tip of the Idaho on the coast of Lake Pend Oreille, a small backcountry aircraft co named Quest holds its headquarters. They specialise in personal, commercial and float planes known as The Kodiak, which can take off and land in under 1000 feet. Of which, Kelly Slater’s taken interest.

On a weekly basis we’re provided a new venture of the constantly diversifying Mr Slater. From his wavepool, powering said wavepool by the sun, calling an Airstream in Malibu home and the founding of the OuterKnown brand fueled by a passion for a sustainable future– to this past week where he’d planned to flyover the “Surf Ranch” and decided it’d be a misuse of his time if he didn’t start his pilot training– as reported by OuterKnown. 

Kelly talks shop with pilot Mark Young prior to take off as he ticks off mastering one more element of this world.

Maybe it’s a run-off of Mike Parsons having his pilot’s license and doing trips to Baja with Dino and Kolohe Andino and the Long Brothers, or John Florence legally holding the reins in the sky before he could legally navigate a road. Regardless, the 11x World Champ’s got the most voracious appetite for high quality waves out of any surfer in the world and is always intent on ticking another box. The fact that he’s also one of surfing’s most financially sound makes this venture lush as the white sky. It’s not hard to piece together. They called an invite to Kelly’s wave a golden ticket, how about an invite to Kelly’s air strike? And, let’s not forget about those amphibious planes…

These are the solar panels that run the “Surf Ranch” in Lemoore, California. Sustainability’s no farce when it comes to Mr Slater.