Gil Johnson, a Helena flight instructor, spoke proudly of Alaska's newest private pilot, a 23-year old woman named Jaimie Irons. She earned her license last month at the Helena Regional Airport so easily that Johnson can only call her a natural.

The part that gets Johnson going is how Irons went solo in seven short days. Word spread quickly through Vetter Aviation, where Johnson's fellow pilots watched with fascination as his lessons advanced at an impressive rate.

"She's got guts," Johnson said of Irons. "She studied three months before she even got here. I worked with her over the internet."

Why would a woman from Tok (located in the Alaskan interior), who runs a lumber company, come all the way to Helena to learn how to fly?

And why, of all the instructors to chose from, would Johnson emerge as her chosen man?

It turns out that Irons has an aunt who lives in York -- way up the canyon, according to Johnson. It also happens that few instructors come with Johnson's aviation experience.

"He's a great instructor," Irons said. "He gave me all the time in the world. I could have called him any time of the day or night and he would have come in for me."

Johnson, a Wolf Creek resident, has been teaching others how to fly since 1976. More than 500 aspiring pilots have taken a seat beside him, anxious to earn their wings.

Johnson earned his own license to fly back in 1957 during his days with an Air Force aero club. He went solo flying a 65-hp Aeronca -- a tail-dragger with no radio and no avionics. Starting the plane meant spinning the prop by hand. There wasn't even a key.

But this, Johnson insists, is about Irons and her natural ability to fly. Few of his students have performed as naturally behind the yolk as Irons did. She came and went like the wind, her mind on a single goal.

Irons has been thinking about piloting for years. She tells a story about how one of her friends beat her to the task years ago, leaving her to watch with envy as he soared away at will from the small Alaskan airport.

From that moment on, Irons had it in her heart and mind to follow suit, and she decided to settle for nothing less.

"I've always wanted to fly," she said. "My best friend's father owns the small airport in this town. He got his license when he was 17, and I wanted to do it too. You just feel like a more experience person when you can fly a plane."

Johnson can't help but chuckle when he thinks about it. The way he tells the story, it becomes clear that he's smitten by Irons' new skills.

"I counted my log book and from the time she started to the time she soloed, it was seven days," he said. "She kept me going day and night."

Up in the air -- way up there -- Johnson began his instruction, which included a series of FAA-designed stall maneuvers. The stunt is intended to teach pilots how to recover after takeoff, in the event that the wings lose lift and the aircraft begins to fall.

Instead of practicing mere feet above the ground and risking disaster, Johnson and Irons took the 4-place Cessna 172 to lofty heights, where they simulated takeoffs that required a fast recovery. Irons had three seconds to regain control of the spinning Cessna and pass the series of tests.

"Nothing phases her -- she's not afraid of the airplane," Johnson said. "She didn't even get sick. The first three lessons, I gave her a sick bag and had her keep it right on her lap. She didn't need it. She said to keep going."

Yes, we asked -- the sick bag is needed on occasion. It seems the topsy-turvy test has the tendency to upset the occasional stomach. But after all these years, it doesn't phase Johnson and it never bothered Irons.

In the air, the pair made several cross-country flights to Great Falls, Townsend and Bozeman. The landscape below revealed its wild, hidden treasures. If Irons has her way, she'll soon be flying bush flights deep into Alaska's own wilderness.

"That's basically what you do up here," she said, speaking of Tok. "There are a couple small airports that do bush deliveries up here. I want to get some tail-dragger experience."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@hotmail.com