Women in Aviation - ��Ӱҵ

US Coast Guard helicopter pilot turns YA writer

��Ӱҵ Team — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:30:00 +0000

Liz Booker is a retired United States Coast Guard helicopter pilot, foreign diplomat, and writer of Young Adult fiction, dedicated to inspiring the next generation of women in aviation.

In a recent interview, Booker told ��Ӱҵ that she dreamt about becoming a pilot since early childhood. Though not from a family of aviators, she nevertheless received the support of close family members who encouraged her to follow her passion.

Booker shared what drew her to a career in search and rescue law enforcement, and her subsequent humanitarian missions across the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Image: Courtesy of Liz Booker

At the age of 18, Booker decided that she wanted to contribute to society in a meaningful way, so she enlisted in the United States Coast Guard.

“As soon as I joined the US Coast Guard, I looked around at the officers and thought I was as smart as they were, and I could do their job,” she recalled. “So, I pursued the opportunity to attend Officer Candidate School.

“It was then, I was around 24 years old, that I realized I could become a pilot. I could fulfill this childhood dream.”

She added: “And at 25 years old, I became a US Coast Guard pilot.”

Her flight training with the U.S. Navy began with a fixed-wing Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentor trainer, where she learned the subtleties of military tactics, aerobatics, and formation. She received her rotary wing training in the TH57 Bell 206 and transitioned to the U.S. Coast Guard��Ӱҵ H65 Dauphin helicopters (AS365), which she operated during search and rescue, law enforcement, and humanitarian missions in the San Francisco Bay Area for her first operational tour.

Booker said that the experience she gained while flying on missions in San Francisco was beneficial, due to the wide variety of microclimates that exist within a few miles of each other. While she had frequently faced complex operating conditions, Booker never doubted her ability to control the aircraft owing to the comprehensive training program she had completed.

“The Coast Guard has a reputation for ‘you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back’. But that is not true. At least the Coast Guard that I served in had very strong operational risk management in place,” she explained. “We made smart decisions based on the capability of the aircraft and the crew, so I never felt I was in danger.”

After an exceptional and sometimes challenging flying career in San Francisco, Booker moved to Miami and joined a busier local search and rescue air station. Deploying around the Caribbean, she became proficient at challenging ship landings.

“It was a really empowering feeling to get really good at landing on ships,” she said.

During her time with the US Coast Guard, Booker was able to study for a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Part of the deal included taking on the role of Human Resource manager for the US Coast Guard where she supported the career development of 1,200 pilots while staffing 27 air stations with 2-4-year pilot rotations.

The new role, alongside her studies, encouraged Booker to think about what she could do in her circle of influence to help make an impact on problems in the aviation industry, particularly conversations around gender inequality.

“I had served in isolation at my air stations with maybe one or two other women who had diverse experiences,” Booker said. “I didn’t have a strong network to reach out to and I wanted to provide that for the women coming behind me.”

Booker set herself the goal of collecting and sharing stories from other women in aviation and sparking meaningful policy changes that could better support the next generation of female aviators.

Bringing flying experience to literature

Before her retirement in 2019, Booker had a chance to deepen her professional knowledge and skills working as the chief pilot for the Coast Guard in Los Angeles. She later went to Key West, Florida, to take up the role of targeting chief for counternarcotics and operations for the Caribbean, and Eastern Pacific regions. While in the job, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Writing to prepare herself to write full-time when she retired. She completed her 28-year Coast Guard career as the senior U.S. military representative to Barbados and six other Eastern Caribbean nations out of the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown.

After retiring, Booker began working on Young Adult novels with the hope of inspiring the next generation of women pilots. By the end of 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, she began to feel isolated.

“As you know, there was no flying, there was no socializing or doing anything for a couple of years,” Booker said. “I knew I needed to connect with [the aviation community] in some way. So, I started a book club.”

Being passionate about flying, Booker wanted the new book club to be dedicated to discussions about literature that specifically feature the lifestyle and experience of women in aviation.

She said: “I realized there was an opportunity here, a niche that wasn’t being filled, and I saw something that I could do to bring it together.”

Booker said that once the Aviatrix Book Club was launched, the public response was overwhelming. The online book club amassed 1,200 members by the end of its first month and currently has close to 2,000 members. As well as launching an author interview series and a website, she began promoting books and authors whose work features women in aviation on social media under the name Literary Aviatrix, where she now has a following of over 10K.

“I started networking with the other women writers and that has become a passion for me to support them, to promote their work, and to learn the ropes for promoting books in preparation for my own to be published,” she said. “So, it��Ӱҵ a mutually beneficial relationship that I have with them and it’s something that I have a very big vision for.”

Now Booker is focused on writing Young Adult fiction dedicated to inspiring and exposing young women to the opportunities available to them in aviation.

Image: Courtesy of Liz Booker

“I would love to continue this particular story through some of the struggles that every pilot goes through, their training and their career experience.”

In the meantime, to strengthen the existing community and to attract even more like-minded people, Booker has also created the Literary Aviatrix podcast, where she talks to other authors of books featuring female aviators.

“I’m talking about books, publishing and writing to inspire other women in aviation to tell their stories.”

“I believe in the power of story to instruct and inspire”

The YA writer said that there are currently more than 600 books on the market that feature women in aviation. Encouraging women to enter all sectors of aviation and supporting their career advancement is a key topic of discussion among industry members and the general public.

Booker said that she has noticed recurring themes in the majority of stories being shared by female writers and members of her book group. However, some of those accounts are not always the greatest reflection of the culture in modern aviation.

“I know that some of our male friends want to be more informed allies. This is one way that you can be a more informed ally, I think.

“You can hear about a situation or a single experience and take it in as, that was a one-time thing. But then when you read it over and over again, and you hear it over and over again, then you start to understand what our collective experiences are.”

So, does Booker have any words of advice or a message that she would like to pass onto the next generation of female aviators?

“I believe in the power of story to instruct and inspire, which is what I want to do for young people, but also to heal, and to foster feelings of connection and belonging,” Booker explained.

“These are stories of tenacity and adventure, and courage. And I think they are inspiring and broadly appealing to everyone. There are specific things about the power that they have to influence the demographics in aviation, to inspire that younger generation, to help those of us who are active in our aviation careers, or who have finished them, to feel like we belong to something and make personal connections through human stories.”

In recognition of her life-long commitment to the aviation sector, her efforts to launch new initiatives to promote aviation equality and her devotion to creating a community of aviation enthusiasts through stories focusing on Women in Aviation, Booker has become the latest recipient of the ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement Award.

The post US Coast Guard helicopter pilot turns YA writer appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

From refugee to record-breaking solo pilot: Dream Soar founder, Shaesta Waiz

��Ӱҵ Team — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Shaesta Waiz is a female aviator based in the United States who gained global recognition for becoming the youngest woman to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft. The flight made history, and Waiz held the record until January 2022, when Zara Rutherford completed the flight aged 19.

After successfully completing the 145-day flight across five continents, Waiz launched a non-profit organization called Dreams Soar, where she aims to encourage young people to achieve their dreams. One of the core missions of the non-profit is to inspire women to enter STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields of study and careers.

The commercial pilot, who currently also serves as a STEM ambassador for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has already reached over 25,000 children worldwide.

Waiz was born in a refugee camp in Afghanistan in 1987, after her family fled from the war. When she was just a few months old her family immigrated to the United States, where Waiz grew up in an “underprivileged, underserved neighborhood” in California.

“I remember having a lot of substitute teachers, not having books and stuff to take home, everything was just very limited,” she said, adding that she grew up speaking Pashto and Farsi at home and English was her third language. “My parents had this idea that we were going to go back to Afghanistan when the war was done and so they held on to their Afghan traditions, in terms of like, the food we ate, and the holidays that we celebrated, and so, I just didn’t take school very seriously.”

Waiz added: “I had this idea that I was going to get married at a young age and have a big family like my mom and women generations before her.

But all that changed when, aged 18, she boarded a Delta Air Lines flight to visit relatives in Florida, and “fell in love with aviation”.

“It happened when we started to take off,” she recalled. “Being elevated and having this perspective of the city that I grew up in, and how small it was compared to the rest of the world, it was just such an eye-opening experience. I felt [that] this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That flight gave me the confidence, the inspiration, the motivation to go to a college and take education seriously and pursue a career as a pilot.”

Despite her initial belief that women, especially those who hailed from a tough background, were not welcome in certain industries, Waiz continued to work towards that goal.

“When I was 17, I was extremely shy and I just felt like women could not do great things, could not fly an airplane,” she said. “What was so amazing to me is when I started to fly, and when I got my private pilot license and I could officially be a pilot in command of an aircraft, and that gave me a sense of purpose and leadership.”

She continued: “What I love about flying in general is that it is such an unbiased environment. When I flew the aircraft, it did not matter what my background was and if I was a refugee. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was my ability to fly that aircraft. And I felt like I could truly be myself and not be judged. So, when I experienced that level of belonging and purpose, I wanted to continue to be in aviation and surround myself with it.”

Waiz also noted that she wanted “to take it a step further and share the message with other young people around the world,” particularly women, showing them that they too could consider a career in aviation. She is especially interested in helping would-be aviators to rid themselves of any fear or doubt that could limit their potential.

“During my bachelor’s degree, I had a chance to intern with a major airline as the chief pilot intern here in the US and it was an incredible experience,” Waiz recalled. “I got to sit on the flight deck. I got to jump seats a lot all over the US and I got a good taste of what it meant to be an airline pilot. I had this sense of duty that I was so lucky to get into aviation.

“I thought if I could do anything in aviation, I would love to get into an airplane and fly it around the world and meet with young people and talk to them about aviation. So, I started my non-profit, Dream Soar. I didn’t want to just fly around the world. I ideally would love to land in countries along the way and connect with young people.”

Waiz revealed that it took five years of patience and dedication to plan, raise the funds for and execute the round-the-world flight. The record-making endeavor, which took place back in 2017, was dedicated to promoting the idea that the aviation industry supports women professionals.

“I had competitors coming together to really help me get around the world,” she added. “And when I went around the world, I got to meet 3,000 kids face to face. We had created content to introduce these kids to careers in STEM and aviation.”

She added: “I remember when I was flying across the Atlantic Ocean when I got [to] my point of no return. Halfway through the flight, I finally looked up and I had a moment to just be there at 7,000 feet over the ocean. I thought: ‘in the history of aviation, only seven women have ever crossed this ocean in a single-engine airplane. And who would have thought the eighth woman would be a woman from Afghanistan, a refugee, one of six daughters, who was terribly shy, and probably one of the worst students in the school system?’ But because I applied myself and I found something that I loved there; I was setting a world record of being the eighth.”

While noting that aviation is still “a very male dominated industry”, Waiz believes that the most important thing when it comes to achieving gender equality is to remind women that they deserve a place in the industry.

“I’m very privileged that I get to be a role model,” she said. “And hopefully just serve this role and reach people who wouldn’t normally think aviation is the possibility.”

Waiz said that it was “quite an honor” to become an ambassador for the FAA because “they had never had a woman ambassador” and she became the first.

“That was special,” she added. “What I admire about this position is that the FAA is trying to reach more young people. They are trying to make the whole regulation and the work that they do more easily accessible.”

“We are doing well in terms of bringing awareness. The FAA came out with the Women in Aviation Advisory Board that really dissected the challenges that women have in aviation, diving deeper into some of those problems and offering recommendations. So, I thought that was very powerful. It’s really good to just see the progress. It’s very hopeful.”

She continued: “But there’s certainly so much more that we need to do. One thing that I noticed [is] that right now we have women in leadership, but when you look at the organizational chart to see, okay, when this woman moves on or goes to a different company, or retires, who is going to fill her shoes? How do those leadership positions look like? You might have a person there now. But what about the future?

“So I think just being mindful of not just now, but making decisions and implementing things, that’s just going to continue this trend of having a more balanced industry in terms of gender and just giving that sense of belonging for women, that they can be in aviation, be themselves and have just the runway for them to explore their careers, then advance as they would like.”

She added: “One of my favorite moments is right now because we took a lot of time when the global flight was completed. We had made a total of 60 outreach events. With Dream Soar, we got to meet with 25,000 kids face-to-face across over 30 countries and so, that was amazing to meet all of these young people and get them excited about aviation.”

However, Waiz noted that aviation currently lacks a single hub focused on directing young people to the industry.

“What our non-profit is working on right now is becoming that industry hub,” she revealed. “Our idea is, let’s give young people the ability to go online and have access to aviation. As long as they have access to the internet and a computer or their phones, and present content that is interesting and rich, we give them the ability to explore.”

Waiz is also keen to highlight the number of interesting aviation roles available to young people.

“I believe there are over 900 aviation sectors within the industry. Usually, young people only hear about pilots or mechanics,” she said. “But what about all the other exciting careers in aviation?”

Thanks to Waiz and the tireless work of her non-profit, information and guidance could soon be readily available.

“We are building this hub where young people can go and explore these different careers,” she said. “And then once they decide what they want to do, the next part of the hub is building a bridge program where they [are directed, ed.-] to that career field. And they know exactly all the steps they need to take to get there.

She added: “I think this is going to serve the industry so well. I think that [it] is going to help a lot of young people out there.”

Shaesta Waiz speaks with ��Ӱҵ

The ��Ӱҵ Global Executive Committee recognizes Shaesta Waiz��Ӱҵ positive influence, and the significance of her efforts on both the aviation industry and its people. ��Ӱҵ Chairman & Editor in Chief Richard Stephenson said that ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement award is “in recognition of her contribution to the aviation sector and highlighting opportunities for young women by becoming the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft in 2017; for her advocacy and devotion to inspiring and supporting the next generation of STEM and aviation professionals through Dreams Soar and as an Ambassador to the Federal Aviation Administration.”

He added: “The ��Ӱҵ Global Executive Committee recognizes the positive influence of these efforts and the significance of the impact on the aviation industry and its people, both today and into the future.”

The post From refugee to record-breaking solo pilot: Dream Soar founder, Shaesta Waiz appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

Women lead Viva Aerobus 70th aircraft delivery

��Ӱҵ Team — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 07:15:49 +0000

Mexican low-cost airline Viva Aerobus has taken delivery of an Airbus A321neo, in a special event led entirely by women.

Le damos la bienvenida a nuestro avión #70. ✈️💚 Un día muy especial para nosotros, el traslado de nuestra aeronave fue conformado totalmente por un equipo de . 👩‍✈️👩‍🔧👩‍💼🙌🏻
— Viva Aerobus (@VivaAerobus)

The delivery was spearheaded by a team of female professionals from various departments of airline operations, including pilots, engineers, flight planners, and legal team members, as elaborated. The team has been dubbed Mujeres Viva by the airline.

Viva Aerobus latest Airbus A321neo arrived at the airline��Ӱҵ base at Monterrey International Airport (MTY), Mexico, on March 16, 2023. The aircraft was flown in from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), Germany, making stops in Keflavík (KEF), Iceland and Bangor (BGR), United States during its journey.

The air carrier��Ӱҵ latest plane, registered as XA-VXI, is already the 19th A321neo in Viva Aerobus fleet of a total of 70 A320-family aircraft. According to data from CH-Aviation, the airline is set to receive 17 more A321neo jets in the future. The airline also operates other Airbus aircraft variants, including A320neos, A320-200s, and A321-200s.

The post Women lead Viva Aerobus 70th aircraft delivery appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

Women trailblazers in the aviation industry: who are they? | Quiz

��Ӱҵ Extra — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 06:00:00 +0000

To mark the one-year anniversary of ��Ӱҵ��Ӱҵ Women in Aviation campaign, our team has prepared this quiz looking at some of the most influential women in aviation throughout history and in the 21st century.

Women trailblazers in the aviation industry: who are they? | Quiz

Start Quiz

The post Women trailblazers in the aviation industry: who are they? | Quiz appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

Chinook Crew Chick: author Liz McConaghy talks PTSD, military life and memoir

Ben Griffiths — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 16:14:13 +0000

��Ӱҵ caught up with Liz earlier this week and also appointed her as the latest ��Ӱҵ Aviation Champion in recognition of her work and dedication to the industry. Congratulations to Liz!

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE:

Having written about aviation for more than two decades, I’ve interviewed many hundreds of different people in myriad roles. But until recently, I’d never met anyone like Liz McConaghy. The self-styled crew ‘chick’ has recently published her memoir about her time serving on the Royal Air Force��Ӱҵ Chinook helicopter. She deployed many times to both Iraq and Afghanistan, including flying on the medical missions known as ‘MERT’, recovering badly injured troops. She was the youngest serving aircrew to deploy to Iraq and went on to become an instructor, teaching the next generation of loadmasters how to operate the massive twin-rotored aircraft.

I was expecting yet another mediocre aircrew memoir with a few humorous stories, acronyms, and inflated tales of daring deeds. What I discovered is McConaghy��Ӱҵ book is refreshing because of its honesty. This is an author who wears her heart on her sleeve. The first part of the book covers her training, the deployments, her love affair with the Chinook and the unique role she had, often being the only female in the room. But the second part of the story made me sit up and pay attention. Calling McConaghy��Ӱҵ memoir an emotional roller-coaster is a lazy cliché but accurate, nonetheless. She battled with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and mental health issues, which led her to the brink of suicide. Her story is one that needs to be more widely heard.

��Ӱҵ sat down with McConaghy to talk about the Chinook, women in the military and the importance of talking about our mental health.

The original manuscript was written in just three weeks as part of McConaghy��Ӱҵ recovery process from PTSD and is a rapid read at 160 pages. Yet, the raw intensity of Chapter 15, titled ‘Time to End a Life’, lingers with me still. What inspired her to write the book was the second chance at life she feels she was given when she woke up from an overdose, hearing the words: “She��Ӱҵ awake.”

So, how did McConaghy end up in such desperate circumstances? She had seen some terrible things on deployment during her service, not least flying on the medical flights recovering badly injured and dead soldiers from the battlefield. Then a close friend succumbed to terminal cancer and her own marriage to a soldier ended. And she tried to deal with it all on her own.

“Veterans are their own worst enemy.” McConaghy explained. “We never ask for help, mostly because it��Ӱҵ been bred into us. You’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be resilient. All those things that the military teach you to be becomes your make-up. So, it��Ӱҵ really hard to ask for help when you’re getting out [of the military] or are out.

“During my transition into civilian life, that year I was starting to unravel, I could have picked up the phone, but you don’t. You don’t want to be a burden.”

More recently, the armed forces are taking mental health more seriously. It��Ӱҵ in basic training. McConaghy has even been invited to RAF Benson, South Oxfordshire, England, and RAF Odiham, in Hampshire, England, to host talks about mental health. But such support was only made available during her last three years of service, towards the end of the allied involvement in Afghanistan. It was an afterthought, a response to the problem, she explained.

She descended into despair having left the RAF and realized she had lost her sense of purpose, having been integral to the mission in Afghanistan, including those medical rescue flights.

“We all like labels,” she said. “My entire career I wore a name badge, and we were that name on our chest. I wonder now, was that really for people talking to me or for me to know who I was at the time? Suddenly you take that badge off and you’re not wearing it every day it��Ӱҵ hard to figure out who you are.

“During my two years of struggles I lost my sense of identity and didn’t know who I was. I now feel like I’m Liz McConaghy ‘crew chick’ and the author. I don’t like the fact we need to label ourselves, but the truth is we all need to know who we are. You can be in a really bad floundering place. But I don’t feel the need to wear a badge anymore.”

So, how did McConaghy end up in such desperate circumstances?

“Yes, I have,” she said. “Having had the book come out [all her mental health challenges are] now completely out in the world. And the more I’m talking about it, the more it is genuinely OK now.

“The bad stuff is the same stuff that everyone else goes through, not so much the PTSD and mental health.”

But given everything that she has been through, would McConaghy do it all again?

“I would,” she said. “If I had the chance of eternal life, winning the lottery or [being given] a rewind button, I’d still pick the rewind button. I genuinely have no regrets about everything I did in the air force. Even MERT, which obviously left its impact on me in a good and bad way. It changed me as a person. I wrote a blog recently which talked about the thing with war is, it teaches you how to love. You don’t witness that loss that we saw, without it teaching you to love even harder. Because we saw how much people had lost. I’d do it all again in an instant.
“I wouldn’t have the book or be sat here talking now without that. I had to hit rock bottom to find my really good side. When I left hospital [after the suicide attempt] I had that total euphoric feeling you don’t often get. I’d had a real journey to get there over two years. Putting my life back together has given me so many more resilience skills. I have more armor than I ever had in the forces.”

When asked what she missed most about the military, McConaghy placed an emphasis on “the people, the banter, the chats” but also said she misses “the smell of the aircraft”.

“I went to see the retired Chinook in the RAF Museum and the smell of it set me off. It��Ӱҵ one of those things you don’t notice day-to-day. I now feel like I’m making a difference again. The latter part of my career when we pulled out of Afghanistan, I felt I’d lost my purpose. The book has helped me replace that. I want to do more veteran ambassador work and on mental health.”

After all that she has been through, what would McConaghy say to her younger self?

“I would say to my 19-year-old self: ‘Stop being scared. You’re going to be OK.’ I don’t know if I would tell her anything. I would never want to spoil the surprise because it was such a great journey. The naivety I had helped me through the first years. By the time I realized what was going on, I was already in it, and it was too late to back out.”

Does McConaghy have any words of wisdom for people thinking of following the same kind of career path?

“Find the thing that makes your skin tingle,” she said. “If it��Ӱҵ anything less than something that really lights your fire, you’re never going to get up and give it 100%, commit everything and throw yourself in headfirst. If you’re settling for what you’re doing, it��Ӱҵ not the right thing. Aim high and go for it! You’ll never know if you don’t try so just go for it.

“Aviation people have a very different slant on life, possibly because they know how quickly things can go wrong. They’re possibly a bit more mature as a result. Reasoned thinking is another thing that comes with aviators. We have a tendency to overthink. We’re not rash but calculated and with that comes a thought process.”

The book touches on, but is not dominated by, the theme of women in the armed forces. This is a topic that has been constantly in the UK news following a series of sex-related scandals. But McConaghy is pragmatic, explaining that in her experience, the men have never treated her or the only other female on her squadron any differently.

“I had learnt pretty well by now you get far more respect for not trying to highlight yourself as being ‘special’ in any way: as a chick doing such a manly job, and in shouting about it, you single your own self out in a sexist way,” she explained. “If you think you are owed some sort of prize for being capable of doing things as a woman, you’re almost saying you are incapable in the first place.”

“Keep your head down, get stuck in the same as the rest and be the best ‘person’ at your job,” she added.

Having said that, teamwork is vitally important on and around the aircraft and McConaghy was never afraid to ask for help when needed, such as if struggling to lift something heavy. But it goes both ways, and her male crew mates would often seek her assistance too, such as when her smaller hands were more useful for checking out an oil filter.

McConaghy said that the most frequently asked, and least favorite, question over the years has been the challenges she has faced as a female crewman.

“The truth [is] none. The crewmen never once made me feel as though I was an outsider or special for being female. But I wasn’t a trailblazer either, there were crew gals before me, and plenty came after me and will continue to do so.”

By way of a parting message for readers, McConaghy appeals to anyone going through similar issues she has experienced to seek help.

“PTSD doesn’t have to stay with you forever. It��Ӱҵ a chapter in my book, it��Ӱҵ not an anchor that I wear around my legs forever or a new label that I have to have forever,” she said. “I’ve met so many people via social media who tag themselves as the broken soldier or the forgotten veteran. But just like anything in your body, the bone you break or whatever, with the right time and methods you can heal, and you can move on and recover. I really want to get the message out – just because I had PTSD does not mean I have to have it forever.”

“I’m also keen to tell people to ‘ask twice’. People notice the changes of behavior in others. When my behavior started to change and I stopped running and cycling, no one was around to see it because it was during lockdown. But it��Ӱҵ with that kind of thing where you need to intervene. So, ask people if they’re OK and ask them twice.

“We’re all really bad at saying: ‘I’m living the dream, things are great’. And, whenever you do get asked that question, give your mental health a number. Are you a six, a five or maybe a seven today? There are two reasons for that. Firstly, it helps you gauge where you are, so you’ll notice changes or not. If you’ve been at number three for a few weeks that��Ӱҵ not good. But if you can get everyone to use that system, it��Ӱҵ also a good measure for other people and help them notice how you’re doing.”

As the interview came to an end, I couldn’t resist asking McConaghy how she was doing that day.

“I’m a nine-and-a-half right now! I can’t complain,” she said, with a beaming smile.

The post Chinook Crew Chick: author Liz McConaghy talks PTSD, military life and memoir appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

“We still have a long way to go.” Finnair A350 program manager, Sara Mosebar

��Ӱҵ Team — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 16:01:50 +0000

For the two-year anniversary of the Women in Aviation campaign, ��Ӱҵ Editor in Chief, Richard Stephenson, sat down with Sara Mosebar, the A350 Program Manager at Finnair.

With years of experience in the industry, Mosebar talked to ��Ӱҵ about her journey into aviation, her role at Finnair, and her message to young girls and boys wanting to embrace an aviation career. For being a role model and inspiring the next generation of women to join aerospace engineering, she was presented with the ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement award.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE:

Sara Mosebar grew up in El Paso, west Texas, where she watched airplanes fly across big blue skies.

“I thought, how do they stay up there? How does something so large and so massive stay up in the sky? And I didn’t know any engineers at the time, Google didn’t really exist. So, I thought, I’m going to figure that out. Quite early on, I decided I wanted to go into aerospace engineering, even though I barely knew what that was at the time.”

Mosebar started as an engineer at Boeing, working on the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft at Renton, Washington. She then became a Propulsion Service Engineer on the 777 and the 787. She joined Finnair in 2015 and became the airline��Ӱҵ A350 Program Manager in March 2018.

“They’re my babies. I joined Finnair specifically to work with the A350s. I started three months before the first A350 arrived. I still remember when “Whiskey Alpha,” the MSN18 – the eighth aircraft off the line – arrived here in Helsinki. I took care of them every day and was excited every time one landed.

“When you do an aircraft delivery, you inspect every single detail of the aircraft. When you’re that close to them, it’s just a special feeling whenever you see one of them.

“There’s nothing like flying back on a completely empty A350 with just you and your team. I’m not going to tell you all the secrets. But sometimes we have music playing and we’re dancing around. And it’s just such a relief. Because it’s such an intense process.”

In 2022, Finnair launched a new business-class cabin design, AirLounge, aboard its A350 aircraft. The cabin features an innovative non-reclinable curved shell-style seat imagined by Collins Aerospace. This bold choice of seats allows for fewer moving parts, reducing potential maintenance costs and simplifying the passenger experience.

“I think it’s a completely new idea of what a business class experience can be,” Mosebar said. “You can get really comfortable, and cozy, and nestle into the seat without any constraints. It’s almost like sitting at home on your couch, and that was the idea – to have a little bit of home while traveling.”

Finnair reports an improvement of almost 20% in net promoter score on the routes where the aircraft operates the new cabin, which will be rolled out across the fleet around the beginning of 2024.

Mosebar’s success in aviation is certainly inspiring and serves as an example to young girls who may be considering a career in the industry. However, the reality is that women are still underrepresented in many areas of aviation.

“I think we have come a long way. The previous generation did quite a bit to make it possible for me to sit here and have this conversation with you today,” she explained. “But the job’s not done; we still have a long way to go, especially on the technical side of aviation.

“For instance, only 15% of aerospace engineering graduates from my own university are female, which is a problem. We need to start encouraging young girls early on, by providing outreach programs that teach them how to take things apart and learn how things work. Parents might not appreciate their kids taking apart TVs or laptops, but that’s what young engineers do.”

The ��Ӱҵ Global Executive Committee recognizes Sara Mosebar��Ӱҵ positive influence, and the significance of her efforts on both the aviation industry and its people. Finnair’s CEO, Topi Manner, congratulated Sara as he presented her with the ��Ӱҵ Award.

Richard Stephenson said that ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement award is “in recognition of her dedication and commitment to the aviation industry, for her focus in leading the Finnair A350 program and promoting women in engineering and aviation; for her encouragement of the next generation of girls and women and contribution as a role model and aviation leader”.

The post “We still have a long way to go.” Finnair A350 program manager, Sara Mosebar appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

��Ӱҵ Women in Aviation campaign reaches two years

Zivile Zile — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 22:00:24 +0000

Women have been making significant contributions to the aviation industry since its very beginning. From the first female pilot to modern-day pilots, engineers, and executives, women have played a critical role in forming and shaping the industry. Despite their significant contributions, women in aviation have faced numerous obstacles, including discrimination and a lack of opportunities.

Understanding these challenges and with a long way to go until the aviation industry reaches true gender equality, ��Ӱҵ launched its Women in Aviation campaign back in 2021.

Since then, the ongoing campaign has addressed the gender imbalance in the industry, advocated for women in aviation, and highlighted the important contributions and achievements that they bring to the sector.

During these two years, our journalists have spoken with numerous inspiring and pioneering women working in the various sectors of aviation: from maintenance and engineering and business leadership to policy and, of course, flying.

We looked back at some of the prominent historical figures without whose contribution aviation would not be what it is today. We also looked at the future generation of women who will help shape the industry for years to come.

There is still much work to be done to address the gender imbalance in aviation. Women continue to face barriers and remain significantly underrepresented in most areas of aviation, including air traffic control, maintenance, and flying.

However, by continuing to promote gender diversity and supporting women in aviation, the industry can ensure that it is leveraging the full talent and potential of its workforce. By taking action to promote gender diversity, the aviation industry can continue to break down barriers and ensure that women have equal opportunities to succeed.

With this spirit in mind, for the next few weeks ��Ӱҵ will be publishing more exclusive content that demonstrates the professionalism, value, and creativity that women bring to the industry.

Keep an eye on ��Ӱҵ for exclusive interviews with some of the incredible women working in the field, including legendary pilots, innovators, and leaders.

The post ��Ӱҵ Women in Aviation campaign reaches two years appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

How the CEO of P2F firm Avensis uses his position to drive equality in aviation

Victoria Bryan — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 06:29:06 +0000

After being inspired by female mentors early in his career, Cristian Sutter is keen to help drive equality in the aviation industry, especially given the slow progress so far.

Sutter is the chief executive of Avensis, which specializes in passenger-to-freighter conversions, and is also the first advocate member in Europe of the International Aviation Women��Ӱҵ Association (IAWA).

“Throughout my career, I was very lucky to work with very talented women in the aviation industry. And they generously mentored me and helped me to fast-track my career to the place I am today,” Sutter explains. “At the same time, I witnessed many of the inequalities and the challenges that women had to overcome to succeed within this industry.”

IAWA��Ӱҵ mission is to empower female leaders in the aviation and aerospace industries, and it describes an advocate as “a man, or a person who identifies as male, who otherwise meets the requirements of membership in any other category. An Advocate is not a member, but will support, promote, back, encourage and sponsor IAWA.”

Cabin design specialist Sutter said that hearing from his early mentors about the challenges they had to face made him realize he wanted to help influence change.

“I thought it was only right to use my position to actively get involved in supporting and driving the agenda of bridging that gap between women and men in the aviation industry,” Sutter tells ��Ӱҵ in an interview.

Claire Richardson, an aerospace design engineer at Avensis, joins us for the interview. Her story will probably be all too familiar to many women who have struggled to get into the aviation industry. Despite being fascinated with how what are essentially big lumps of metal get into the sky, it was only after leaving school, when she was 21, that she realized the career opportunities.

“Although I did really well in manufacturing technology, math and science, I just had no idea I could make an exciting career out of them. It was all very stereotypical roles that were being offered,” she explains.

It was a chance meeting with a person who had their own aviation business and who offered Richardson an apprenticeship that changed her life and set her on the path of aerospace design.

“Even when I was at college during my apprenticeship, I was the only girl in my lectures,” Richardson reminisces. “From my experience, I think more needs to be done to drive awareness that there are amazing opportunities available. And that there are different career choices for women and people from different backgrounds.”

Sutter says while there has been progress in achieving equality in aviation, it hasn’t been as fast as it should have been. “That’s why having roles like being an advocate for IAWA is so important.

“I think it sounds very counterintuitive, being a male advocate driving the women and diversity agenda, because essentially, we outnumber women in the aviation industry. But having said that, we can use our position now to drive the agenda of removing the blockers and become enablers in paving the way.”

Riding the cargo wave

Avensis tapped into a growing market during the pandemic, with its passenger-to-freighter conversions. With passenger planes grounded due to COVID-19 restrictions, many carriers had to adapt to be able to continue carrying freight around, especially healthcare products.

Avensis offers a range of conversions, including ones that can minimize cabin changes and are easily reversible, right through to a permanent modification including a Main Deck Cargo Door (MDCD) and full cargo loading system.

Richardson explains that it takes about six to eight weeks to physically modify cabins. To transform passenger cabins into cargo compartments, items such as seats and luggage bins have to be removed, then fire suppression and smoke detection systems installed, as well as smoke curtains and cargo liners.

“I thought there was a huge opportunity to fill that void in creating the right passenger-to-freighter conversion products,” says Sutter, who has designed cabins for aircraft ranging from the Airbus A320 to the Boeing 787 and the biggest of them all – the A380.

“And at the end of the day, moving from passengers into passenger-to-freighter conversions was the next natural step in my career. We’re still talking about cabins. It is all about designing and engineering the right cabin for the right purpose, whether it’s transporting people, cargo or both.”

Sutter says the demand for passenger-to-freighter conversions is still strong and predicts it will continue to grow, despite the war in Ukraine and tough COVID-19 restrictions in Asia.

“On the other hand, the express market fueled by E-commerce growth doesn’t show any signs of wearing out anytime soon,” he predicts. “Our nature is to work with portfolio solutions and products. And we’re actively working on developing new products to match the next market demands.”

Creating a pipeline of talent

Like many in the aviation industry, Richardson had to find work in a different branch during the COVID-19 pandemic. She��Ӱҵ happy to be back in aviation now though, working for Avensis.

“It was great to see another sector, and I really enjoyed it. But there is something about aviation that I just love. And it’s fascinating, working in aviation. And I love how that pushes you to be your best and to grow as an engineer.”

Staff shortages have, however, been a topic as the aviation industry recovers from the pandemic, with many companies struggling to rehire people who have left for other industries.

“I think one of the biggest issues that the aviation industry, and many industries, are facing post-pandemic is that they haven’t realized that people do not necessarily want to come back to the place where they were before or to do exactly the same things that they did before,” Sutter says.

“At Avensis, we have created a flexible, remote and very non-hierarchical working structure that allows our teams and team members to enjoy a balance between personal and working lives, and avoiding commuting hours to get to an office, or even living away from family members or loved ones for weeks on end.”

In addition, promoting diversity makes for more effective working and a stronger company, Sutter believes.

“At the end of the day, having a diverse workforce allows us to create a better working environment,” he says. “For us in Avensis, this is all to do with creating a company culture and a company workplace where everyone can freely grow and develop themselves and become the best version of ourselves.”

Finally, both Sutter and Richardson urge anyone interested in a career in aviation to go for it, be curious, and ask questions because people are usually keen to help.

“From my experience, not all opportunities are advertised,” Richardson says. “So don’t be afraid to reach out to people. You never know, the worst they’re going to say is no, or they could give you the best opportunity of your life.”

Advisory board sets out new flight plan to help encourage women in aviation

Women in Aviation

byVictoria Bryan

March 25, 2022

The post How the CEO of P2F firm Avensis uses his position to drive equality in aviation appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

Meet the underdog who is breaking down barriers for women in aviation

Richard Stephenson — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 07:36:42 +0000

SPECIAL AEROTIME OFFER

Leading Ladies Of… annual virtual leadership conference on Thursday 22nd September 2022

Our readers can get 50% off the general admission price to the conference. You can register and just click on ‘general admission’ and use the code AEROTIME2022 to claim your ticket for just $25USD.

Fiona McKay is on a mission. She��Ӱҵ building an army of both women and men to join her in the goal of making sure that women know how valued they are in the aerospace and defense industries. Today, she becomes the latest recipient of the ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement Award for her dedication and commitment to aviation and for her efforts to empower and encourage women and the next generation.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Leading Ladies Of…Aerospace and Defense is focused and determined in equal measure. And she is not afraid to speak truth to power and call out anyone who fails to meet the required standards.

There is a calm and confident determination in everything she says. And although there is nothing remotely “underdog” about McKay today, that wasn’t always the case.

Watch the full interview with Fiona Mckay here:

Originally from a manufacturing town in the north of the UK, McKay was the first person from her family to make it to university. She set the bar high with a place at Oxford, where she was seen as a bit of an outsider. “I’ve always been a bit of an underdog. I was the underdog at school. When I went to university, it was a lot of posh kids. And I wasn’t from their circles. And so, I was an underdog there. I was even told to change my accent when I was starting out in my career.”

She now lives in an idyllic part of Washington State, with her husband, dogs and with a lake in the back garden where she regularly takes a dip to clear the afternoon head before working on her groundbreaking projects late into the night.

McKay has a long history in the aerospace, manufacturing, and nonprofit worlds. By her own admission, she was not bitten by the aviation bug in early life like many of us, but she has made up for it since ‘falling into’ the industry after being offered a role at Rolls-Royce that she could not refuse.

“I would love to tell you that I went to Rolls-Royce because I had this amazing moment flying an airplane or something like that, but I’m going to be honest with you; it was my ego. I loved the fact that I’d be working for Rolls-Royce. It was from there that I learned to love the industry.”

Fiona McKay at Rolls-Royce. Image: Fiona McKay’s personal archive.

McKay now recognizes that our industry is one that she will never leave. “Every time I think I’m going to move away from it, I get sucked back in.”

She has worked for some of the biggest companies, from nine years at Rolls-Royce, to Parker Aerospace, and an aerospace trade alliance. She was a Customer Business Director to Boeing, a company with whom she maintains a relationship to this day, now in support of leadership development. And as the CEO of Leading Ladies Of… Aerospace & Defense, she is educating and empowering others and campaigning for equality.

In the early days of her career, she would meet women who did not seem to realize how much potential they had or how valued they should be, so she set out to change that and joined the steering committee of Rolls-Royce Women. “It just became my mission to make sure that women in the industry realized just how worthy they were. And were given some chances that they didn’t think were possible for them. I started to feel really passionate about that and wanted to change it.”

There can be no doubt in anyone��Ӱҵ mind about the determination McKay brings to her work and she is spurred on by the memories and experiences of her own career progression. “I had one aviation role where one of the managers said, ‘we’ve never had anyone do this role that’s not a man under 40 years old, so how do we know Fiona’s capable?’ I only got to hear about that because of some raw honesty. But these are the kinds of things that that happen to us.

“As I became more senior, I faced a lot more challenges as a woman and it really got to me. I wanted to try and make it different for the women that came behind me. Not different in the sense of go in there and change the system as that’s going to take decades. But to actually give women some of the skills that they need to get there and the confidence to know that if they were in a position where they weren’t being valued, they could walk away and know that they could be successful in other aerospace companies.”

McKay is clear about her vision, her evidence, and her goals. “What most people don’t realize is that the percentage of women in aviation hasn’t changed for 50 years. There are more women here because the industry has grown, not because the percentage has grown and there’s still a long way to go.”

The Leading Ladies Of… Aerospace and Defense movement started during the pandemic and McKay sees the ‘virtual’ nature of the origins of the organization as a gift.

“The beauty in the virtual world is that it’s much more accessible to people,” she says. “I hear that from a lot of companies that say, ‘I can send 20, 30, 40 of my women, because it’s virtual,’ so it gives everybody a chance to participate. And when it’s virtual, you can get much better speakers and women can be in the same virtual room as a collection of women that they would never meet otherwise.”

The next big event for the Leading Ladies Of… will take place on September 22, 2022. It��Ӱҵ the annual leadership conference and there is already an impressive lineup of speakers – both female and male allies – with sponsorship already secured from the likes of Airbus, MagniX, Sprit AeroSystems and Valence Surface Technologies.

“Our events are not like other virtual events. People tell us they didn’t leave their seat for four hours, even to use the loo! We’re saying, these are some of the things that I face. These are some of my opinions on the industry. And this is what we can go do about it. It’s real actionable advice that can help you to become a better leader.”

The event is attended by both senior women and those looking to move into leadership in the future, and all allies are welcome to join too.

Image: Fiona McKay’s personal archive.

“We welcome male allies, or any allies, because they need to hear about our experiences in order to be allies,” McKay explains. “This year, I’m really proud that for the first time we are opening up to students and military for free.”

It��Ӱҵ sometimes difficult to tackle the elephant in the room when talking about subjects that could be sensitive. But not with McKay, who tackles them head on with an eagerness and enthusiasm I reserve for booking my next companion voucher transatlantic first-class seat. So why is that some women (and men) are not as supportive as they should be?

Without even taking a breath, McKay launches in. “I would like to acknowledge that there are men and women that aren’t supportive, but because people expect it less from women, it��Ӱҵ perhaps looked on worse than when men do it. Which is not right, so I’m just going to say that.”

McKay believes that it is all about breaking down barriers. “It’s about women saying we need each other and if we break those barriers down between us, we can actually accomplish much more.”

She recalls a moment earlier in her career where she took the initiative to build bridges with a colleague. “I just sat down with her, and I said, ‘you know what…I wasn’t very nice’. Since then, we’ve had a great relationship and we’ve been propping each other up, but I had to let go of that attitude of ‘Oh, I’m the only woman and I’ve got to fight for my spot’.”

One of the very first Leadership Labs McKay ran at Leading Ladies Of… was called ‘She’s got your back’. It was focused on how women can be allies to one another. “It is a topic that’s not talked about often because it’s a tough one,” McKay says. “But it’s an important one.”

When it comes to men it is a “bit different”, McKay tells me. “With some men, it’s just about marching forward, regardless of their resistance, because they don’t want to change. But with other men, it’s about saying, ‘No, this isn’t about women versus men, this is about both of us rising, and together we can both be better’, and showing them the way and allowing them to ask the stupid questions, and not getting angry at them.

“Assume positive intent, choose to educate to begin with, and then that will make the conversations easier. If I know I can say something stupid, and learn from it, then I’m more likely to do that. But if I’m going to get shut down for saying something stupid, then I’m going to keep quiet.”

Image: Fiona McKay’s personal archive.

After a conversation with McKay, you can see why one senior aviation executive described her as “vibrant, smart, outspoken and witty”. All four of those characteristics permeated through every part of our interview. She is well known for her engaging, authentic, and energetic style, and there is no doubt that the aerospace and defense industries will hear a lot more from her. I have no doubt some will not want to hear it, but that will simply encourage the tenacious McKay to shout louder and tackle the outdated and suffocating attitudes where they still exist.

If we were looking for a strong advocate to help our industry to progress, become more inclusive, empower our female leaders, and encourage the next generation, then I think we’re in safe hands with Fiona McKay and the Leading Ladies Of…movement.

Don’t forget to register for the Leading Ladies Of… conference on Thursday 22nd September, and get 50% the admission price as an ��Ӱҵ reader.

You can register and just click on ‘general admission’ and use the code AEROTIME2022 to claim your ticket for just $25USD.

Fiona McKay becomes the latest recipient of the ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement Award

Fiona McKay was named the latest recipient of the ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement Award as part of ��Ӱҵ��Ӱҵ Women in Aviation Campaign.

The citation on her certificate reads: “In recognition of her dedication and commitment to the aviation sector; for her focus on promoting women in aviation, aerospace and defense; for her efforts to encourage and empower female leadership across the aviation industry through Leading Ladies Of Aerospace & Defense and inspiring the next generation. The ��Ӱҵ Global Executive Committee recognises the positive influence of these efforts and the significance of their impact on the aviation industry and its people both today and into the future.”

Watch: ��Ӱҵ Chairman, Richard Stephenson, presents Fiona Mckay with her Aviation Achievement Award:

The post Meet the underdog who is breaking down barriers for women in aviation appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

Breaking barriers: how women shaped aviation history in the US

Clement Charpentreau — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 10:50:21 +0000

Women in the United States were an integral part of aviation and its evolution from the very beginning. However, it took many years before their role was duly recognized.

On August 26, the US celebrates Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. To mark the occasion, ��Ӱҵ spoke to Dolores Martin, Division Director, Management and Business Services at the US Federal Aviation Administration, who explained some of the history surrounding women��Ӱҵ involvement in aviation and the barriers they still face in North America and elsewhere, even today.

“Early advances in the aviation industry came about because of military necessity in gaining advantage during World Wars I and II,” Martin said. “Eleanor Roosevelt became a fierce advocate for aviation and particularly women in aviation during her tenure as First Lady of the United States in the 1930s. Mrs. Roosevelt��Ӱҵ passion for equality in the United States and abroad was evident in her many efforts to advance human rights and especially the rights of women.”

While the industry and the attitudes of its members have evolved along with society, is the situation still unbalanced to this day?

“Despite Mrs. Roosevelt��Ӱҵ determination to break down barriers that existed for women in aviation, nearly a century later, we still have little more than 5% of the pilot population represented by women and less than 3% of aviation mechanics represented by women,” Martin explained.

She added: “Women are underrepresented in nearly all technical aspects of the aviation industry. This includes all career paths that rely on rigorous STEM-related curricula; require significant financial resources; or are traditionally male-dominated career paths. Nearly every woman that I know in the aviation industry can relay an experience in which they felt isolated while working in the industry – whether it��Ӱҵ entering a cockpit as a pilot or leading a team to rebuild an airplane engine.”

Better recognition of the contributions of women to aviation is not only morally necessary but also indispensable if we are to continue moving forward.

“The single most compelling thing is that the world should enthusiastically embrace the fact that women are inextricably woven throughout the fabric of global aviation – the industry has evolved and flourished in large part due to the contributions of women.

“By increasing awareness of women��Ӱҵ contributions to global aviation, we ensure that the industry continues to benefit from the creativity and innovation that women have provided in the past…and beyond,” Martin concluded.

Below, ��Ӱҵ has compiled a non-exhaustive list of nine women who contributed to the development of aviation in the country. 

Emma Lilian Todd, the plane inventor who never flew

When she took an interest in aviation, Emma Lilian Todd was already an accomplished inventor. In 1906, she presented her first model aircraft at Madison Square Garden. Impressed by her work, Olivia Sage, widow of politician Russell Sage, decided to become her patron and fund the design of her first real plane. Todd began her work in 1908. At the same time, she opened America’s first Junior Aero Club to support the training of future female aviators. To test her biplane, she applied for a pilot’s license, but the request was refused. Instead of flying the aircraft herself, it was flown, successfully, by Didier Masson on November 7, 1910. Following the flight, she abandoned aeronautical designs, and donated her aircraft to the State of New York.

Katharine Wright, the forgotten sister

The Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, are considered famous pioneers, but they may owe some of their success to their sister, Katharine. After graduating from college, the young woman joined her two brothers in Europe as their spokesperson, while they were presenting their invention in various salons. Having learned French for the occasion, she met with several major political figures of the time, such as King Edward VIII of England, and the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. She was qualified by the local newspapers as the “human side of the Wrights”. Wilbur himself said: “If ever the world thinks of us in connection with aviation, it must remember our sister.”

Harriet Quimby, the first licensed female pilot in the US

While working as a journalist, Quimby was brought to cover the Belmont Park Airshow in New York City in 1910. After seeing John Moisant, then-known as the “King of Aviators”, excel in most of the air races held during the event, Quimby hoped to become a pilot herself. After being taught in secret by his brother, Alfred Moisant, she received her pilot license, becoming the first woman in the United States to do so. Less than a year later, on April 16, 1912, Quimby broke another record by becoming the first woman to cross the Channel at the controls of an aircraft, flying from Dover to Equihen. She died shortly after in a plane crash while taking part in the Harvard-Boston Airshow.

Jeannette Piccard, the first licensed female balloon pilot in the US

Often overlooked by the general public, balloonists have nevertheless also participated in the evolution of aerospace. Jeannette Piccard, the first woman to become a licensed pilot in the United States in 1934, contributed alongside her husband Jean to the development of high-altitude balloons. The same year, the Piccards decided to break the record for the highest balloon flight. In a pressurized cabin under their balloon named Century of Progress, with Jeannette at the controls and their pet tortoise Fleur-de-Lys as passenger along with Jean, they reached an altitude of 17.5 meters (10.9 miles), making her the first woman to pilot an aircraft to the stratosphere. She would hold onto the women’s altitude record for another 29 years until the space voyage of Valentina Tereshkova.

Bessie Coleman, the first woman of color to become a pilot

After hearing about the exploits of French and American aviators during the First World War from her two soldier brothers, Bessie Coleman became passionate about aviation and decided to learn how to fly. But at the time, the United States was marked by racial segregation, and no flight school agreed to teach her how to pilot. Therefore, she moved to France, and after seven months of training, she became the first person of African American and Native American descent to hold a pilot’s license, which she obtained on June 15, 1921. Her dream to open a flying school that would allow African Americans to learn how to fly was not realized until two years after her death in a plane crash, when, in 1928, William J. Powell opened the Bessie Coleman Flying School and the Bessie Coleman Aero Club in Los Angeles.

Azellia White, the first black woman to earn her pilot’s license in the US

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt opens the training and integration of African American pilots and technicians within the US Army Air Corps, leading to the creation of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, later known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Azellia White, whose husband was a mechanic for the squadron, attended the visit of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the Tuskegee Army Air Field, during which she flew with one of the pilots. Inspired, White decided to train with the Tuskegee Airmen and soon became one of the first black women to earn her pilot’s license in the United States. After the war, she co-founded the Sky Ranch Flying Service, in which she trained members of the black community of Houston, Texas. In 2018, White was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame.

Amelia Earhart, a life of records

In 1922, at the age of 25, Amelia Earhart broke her first record, reaching 4,300 meters (14,000 feet) onboard her bright yellow Kinner Airstar biplane named the Canary. She would go on to break a dozen records throughout her career. In 1928, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic (as a passenger). Four years later, she flew solo from Newfoundland to Paris aboard a Lockheed Vega, becoming the first woman, and the second pilot after Charles Lindberg, to cross the Atlantic alone. In 1937, she embarked on an even more ambitious adventure: she aimed to become the first woman to fly around the world. Sadly, her twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10-E disappeared on July 2, 1937, as Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were trying to reach the tiny Howland Island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. To this day, the disappearance remains a mystery.

Jacqueline Cochran, the first woman to fly supersonic

After hitching a ride on a friend��Ӱҵ plane, Jacqueline Cochran decided to learn to fly an aircraft. In September 1939, as the Second World War broke out in Europe, Cochran wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt asking to create a female unit in the Army Air Forces. Eventually, she was granted command of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) corps. Under her supervision, WASP assisted with various missions, including, but not limited to, cargo transport, target towing, and test-flying aircraft after repairs. Following the war, Jacqueline Cochran became a racing pilot and established multiple records for women. On May 18, 1953, onboard her North American F-86 Saber, Cochran broke a historical record and became the first woman to break the sound barrier at 1,050 kilometers per hour. In a friendly duel with her French namesake Jaqueline Auriol, she continued pushing the record until 1964, when she reached a speed of 2,097 kilometers per hour in the cockpit of a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter TF-104G. Cochran became the first woman president of the International Aeronautical Federation (IAF).

Martha McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat

At 18, and despite being only 1.60m tall, Martha McSally joined the US Air Force school in 1984. She began her military career as an instructor pilot on the T-37 trainer. However, when the US Congress repealed the prohibition law that barred women from flying aircraft in combat in 1991, McSally transitioned to the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. She was assigned to a combat unit in Kuwait and enforced the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, becoming the first woman in US history to fly in combat and command a combat aviation unit. In a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense filed by McSally in 2001, she challenged the regulations that required servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to cover themselves with an Islamic abaya when traveling off base. The regulation was repealed a year later. In 2019, as she was serving as Senator for Arizona, she revealed she had been raped by a superior officer while in the USAF and spoke against the shortcomings of the military in dealing with sexual abuse.

The post Breaking barriers: how women shaped aviation history in the US appeared first on ��Ӱҵ.

Women in Aviation - ����Ӱҵ

US Coast Guard helicopter pilot turns YA writer

Bringing flying experience to literature

“I believe in the power of story to instruct and inspire”

From refugee to record-breaking solo pilot: Dream Soar founder, Shaesta Waiz

Women lead Viva Aerobus 70th aircraft delivery

Women trailblazers in the aviation industry: who are they? | Quiz

Women trailblazers in the aviation industry: who are they? | Quiz

Chinook Crew Chick: author Liz McConaghy talks PTSD, military life and memoir

“We still have a long way to go.” Finnair A350 program manager, Sara Mosebar

����Ӱҵ Women in Aviation campaign reaches two years

How the CEO of P2F firm Avensis uses his position to drive equality in aviation

Riding the cargo wave

Creating a pipeline of talent

Advisory board sets out new flight plan to help encourage women in aviation

Meet the underdog who is breaking down barriers for women in aviation

Fiona McKay becomes the latest recipient of the ����Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement Award

Breaking barriers: how women shaped aviation history in the US

Emma Lilian Todd, the plane inventor who never flew

Katharine Wright, the forgotten sister

Harriet Quimby, the first licensed female pilot in the US

Jeannette Piccard, the first licensed female balloon pilot in the US

Bessie Coleman, the first woman of color to become a pilot

Azellia White, the first black woman to earn her pilot’s license in the US

Amelia Earhart, a life of records

Jacqueline Cochran, the first woman to fly supersonic

Martha McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat

Women in Aviation - ��Ӱҵ

��Ӱҵ Women in Aviation campaign reaches two years

Fiona McKay becomes the latest recipient of the ��Ӱҵ Aviation Achievement Award