An update from Deborah, An Advanced Rating Scholarship Winner!

This is the first journal entry provided to us by Deborah Katvala, who was selected for an Advanced Training Scholarship within The Girls With Wings 2014 Scholarship Program to help defray the cost of flight training lessons in pursuit of an Advanced Rating or Certificate such as instrument rating, commercial pilot certificate, flight instructor certificate, instrument flight instructor certificate, multi-engine rating or multi-engine flight instructor certificate. This new scholarship award is in the amount of $1000, funded by the generous donations from supporters of Girls With Wings, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Deborah's application essay is published here.

Today I passed my Instrument Airplane Written! I was working a lot this past month so didn’t have as much time as I would have liked for actual flying. So, I used the time on my overnights to study for my written with the plan to complete it by the end of May. Well, I completed it just a couple days early! The written always feels like a huge accomplishment and once completed allows me to really focus on the flying. 

I followed the written by flying for over three hours in the 152 I have been renting. I completed ILS approaches and holds at Mineral Wells airport. I am finally managing to keep on the glide slope all the way down. Hurray! 

Now, I am planning a loooooong (for me) cross country to Huntsville and back to the DFW area. I plan to take pictures to share and I am sure will have lots of stories after completing this trip! Just the preparation has been a great experience for me and has furthered my knowledge. It is the longest cross country by far that I have planned and will take me at least two days to complete. One of the things I am really hoping to improve while on this trip is talking to Air Traffic Control. Up to this point, I have mostly flown at an uncontrolled field and have never felt completely comfortable on the radios in a controlled environment. I am very excited to get more exposure!

Thanks again to Girls with Wings for the scholarship! My long cross country to Huntsville wouldn’t have been possible without the scholarship. 

Essays about flight training from the other awardees will be published here as they are received.