Page 30 - 207680_March19T

WHO:
Susan Carastro
POSITION:
Veterinary Ophthalmologist, Owner-Pilot
HOME BASE:
West Palm Beach, FL (LNA)
RATINGS:
CFI, MEI, ATP
FLIGHT HOURS:
2,300
by Rebecca Groom Jacobs
1. Can you describe your introduction to general aviation?
Aviation is in my DNA. My father was a pilot in the Air Force while my mother got her private ticket in 1956 and was a member of the Civilian Air Patrol. As kids, every Sunday after church, my family would go out to the airport to fly and hang around other pilots. My father instructed my brother and me from a very young age, so we actually earned our pilot’s license before our driver’s license. I can remember sitting on top of cushions to reach the rudder pedals.
While my brother went on to become an airline pilot (and now owns a flight school in Biloxi, Mississippi), I attended veterinary school and took a hiatus from flying. Later when I moved to south Florida, I promised my mother I would visit her in Alabama once a month. But invariably, my airline flight would be late or cancelled. That’s when I realized I should get back into flying and fly myself.
2. What led to the purchase of your aircraft? Your typical mission?
After adding my multi-engine rating, I planned to rent an airplane from the local flight school, but as it turned out, I did not meet their required hours. So, I decided to find my own airplane (which my father quickly asserted needed to be a twin-engine if I was going to be doing any night flying). A friend of mine through the Ninety-Nines found my Cessna 310R. I loved it, bought it and haven’t looked back. I have owned it almost nine years now, flying all over the Southeast for veterinary appointments and personal trips to visit family. Key West is an area I fly to regularly to see patients and provide consulting.
3. How does aircraft ownership benefit and enhance your career in veterinary medicine?
There are only 450 veterinary ophthalmologists around the entire country, so aviation allows me to be more consistent and more available for appointment days. I can provide specialty care to four-legged animals all over the South, specifically less populated areas hard to reach by commercial travel (while being much more reliable than the airlines). It also helps that I can come and go
28 • TWIN & TURBINE
March 2019