The grown son of a commercial airline pilot yearns to fly, too, but when he decides to try for a private pilot’s license, friends wonder if he’ll land on the government’s “no-fly” list.

That’s because Monem Salam, a financial manager in Bellingham and a solid family man, is the son of Pakistani parents and a devout Muslim.

In the post-9/11 world, the words “Muslim” and “airplane” remain, for many people, a scary combination.

Even Max Kaiser, a friend and co-worker of Salam’s who was starting a film production company, admitted to a small case of the heebie-jeebies when he heard about Salam’s idea, but knew his fears were groundless. That made Kaiser even more determined to document Salam’s dream.

The result is “On a Wing and a Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly,” a 60-minute documentary that has won several awards and is scheduled to appear soon on numerous PBS stations across the country, as well as at Pickford Cinema later this month.

The film is more than a mere account of Salam’s effort to obtain his license. Full of quiet dignity and a surprising dose of humor, it memorably peers into the life of a modern Muslim family in small-town America.

Bellingham, the setting for most of the film, comes across as a friendly home for the couple and their three young children.

“It shows that we are able to live in America and practice our religion at the same time, which is a great thing about America,” said Iman Salam, Monem’s wife.

Monem, 35, was born in Pakistan, but his family moved to the United States when he was a child. He grew up in Texas while his father flew passenger jets out of Saudi Arabia. Monem hoped to fly in his father’s footsteps, but was stymied by a birth defect that deprived him of his right outer ear.

Iman, 28, was born and raised in the San Francisco area, the daughter of Palestinian parents who moved to the states in the late ’60s. She was part of the “in” crowd at high school, but that didn’t stop classmates from calling her names because of her background and because she chose to dress modestly and wear a hijab, the head scarf worn by Muslim women to show obedience to God.

She and Monem met at a conference in Los Angeles, and were married in 1997. They moved to Bellingham six years later when Monem joined Saturna Capital, an investment management firm that offers funds for people who want to invest according to Islamic principles.

The company, it turns out, was founded by Max’s father, Nick Kaiser.

Max, 35, grew up in Indiana but grew to love Bellingham while visiting family here. To reach his own dream of working in movies, he joined Saturna part-time in 2000 while he got his production company, Hand Crank Films, off the ground.

He and Monem share a love of films and of flying; Max already had his pilot’s license.

With crucial support from Unity Productions Foundation of Washington, D.C., filming for the movie began in the fall of 2006, and work continued through mid-2007.

Friends’ fears about Monem’s dream seemed wellfounded when an FBI agent showed up to check his paperwork a few days after Monem enrolled at the flight school at Bellingham Aero Aviation Services.

“They asked me if I knew he was foreign-born,” recalled Harlow Friday, general manager at Bellingham Aero at the time, now retired. “But we had two instructors who were foreign- born and some students who were foreign-born, so it didn’t make any difference to me.”

While Monem learns to fly, we learn much about him and his family. Monem is steady and pleasant, with a ready sense of humor.

Open and funny, Iman burns meals yet aspires to be the Muslim Martha Stewart. She worries that her daughters might suffer the taunts she experienced as a girl, and would love some new chairs but won’t violate Islamic teachings by going into debt to buy them.

What shines through most is the universal quality of their lives, not just differences grounded in religion or background.

After watching the movie, I found them likable and familiar when I interviewed them the next day.

“I wanted people to see our lives,” Iman said. “I’m born and raised in America, but I’m also a Muslim.”