The Spring Scholarship Winners Announced!

Girls With Wings would like to introduce you to our 2012 Spring Scholarship Winners.

We'll start with the recipient of our Private Pilot Award which helps defray the cost of flight training lessons in pursuit of a private pilot certificate. This scholarship is targeting those individuals who have soloed but have not completed the Private Pilot Course. The Private Pilot Scholarship is an award in the amount of $1000.00.

According to the application guidelines, the essay must clearly delineate the applicant’s plan for pursuing a private pilot’s certificate as well as reasons and vision for becoming a role model for the Girls With Wings organization. The essay should also describe the motivation and inspiration for involvement in aviation. Any achievements and participation in other organizations and related events should be discussed in the essay. Financial need and how the scholarship would improve your ability to obtain a private pilot’s certificate should be covered in the essay. Alaina's application essay follows.

On an application form, I am known as a 17-year-old junior from the quiet suburbs of Kings Mills, Ohio. These words are true to a tee, but then again, do not describe me at all. To people, I am known as a wild adventurer, always ready to try atypical activities and explore unusual hobbies. Although young, I have developed two life philosophies: live life to the fullest, and make a difference in the world. I never pass up unique opportunities (which have led to some eyebrow-raising stories for sure!), so when offered an opportunity to take a ride in a tiny Aeronca Champion, I jumped at the chance—and I’ve been hooked ever since. My first official lesson was on October 17th, 2010, and the rest is history.

My love for flying actually goes back further than my first lesson in October. My father had always been interested in aviation, and for many years he flew remote control models he would build himself. Our family vacations often included stops to air shows, conventions, and many trips to the Wright Brother’s memorial. I even took my first plane ride before I was big enough to sit in a seat by myself; I was strapped in on my mother’s lap! Eventually, my dad set down the remote control box to became a pilot—a real one. Seeing him circle around in a slow-moving taildragger made me feel like I belonged up there too. If he could do it, so could I!

Flying must have been in my future, because as luck would have it, I ran into the owner of Red Stewart Airfield during an air show, and she offered me a desk job in the office of the flight school. I couldn’t have asked for a better arrangement: I work at the airport (learning the faces and jargon of the pilots) in exchange for flight time. Beginning training did not come without sacrifice, however. I am heavily involved with the school and athletics, and I mean heavily when I say it. I participate in five school clubs, four sports, National Honors Society, an independent ornithology course, the Kings High School math team, and now I wanted to fit flying on top of it. In order to be able to train efficiently and balance my new job, I took a break from running cross country and track and field my sophomore year. It was a hard decision because I knew I would be giving up another shot at going to state for cross country (I had made it my freshman year), but running everyday is very time consuming, and I needed to prioritize my time. Flying comes first.

It was well worth it though, because I can now say I am a true grassroots aviator. I began my lessons in the very same Aeronca Champ I took the ride in and learned how to fly “by the seat of my pants.” Those sixty year old taildraggers gave me the feeling that I could really become a skilled pilot. I could fly just by looking at the tips of the wings, land in a crosswind by only touching down one wheel at a time, and navigate with only a sectional (there were no practical GPS’s in those days).

I continued my training all throughout the winter and into the summer. My goal was to earn my license on my seventeenth birthday, and no weather was going to stop me (when the runway was covered in snow, I rented an airplane on skis- what a blast!). However, time is one thing I cannot really work around. In today’s society, time means money, and time is one thing I am short on. School was approaching yet again, and I was faced with the decision to either move on to the larger planes and triple my lesson cost or give up the dream before I worked myself deeper into the hole. Obviously the latter was not an option, but I could not afford flying the planes with all the fancy instruments and lights needed to meet the private requirements. Instead, I settled for a third option; I took all of my training and earned a sport license—yes, on my seventeenth birthday. I couldn’t quite afford renting the more sophisticated planes, but I did not throw away the experience I had gained over the past year. I could still fly the planes the true aviators flew during World War II, and now I could at least share my gift with others as well. My second non-family passenger was a Marine that had only flown in a plane once in his life—he left for training a month ago to become a fighter pilot.

Yes, I realize this is an extreme example and I probably do not deserve most of the credit, but it goes to show what just a small dose of aviation can ignite. It’s something I feel can be and should be spread to more members of the community, especially women. Working at Red Stewart Airfield, I see scores of pilots every day. The most concerning part is that I can only name six current female student pilots… six! Out of countless men! Local pilots recognize me solely on the broadcasts I call out; it’s not that hard to distinguish one female from all of the masculine voices flitting over the radio. Hearing another woman over the frequencies creates an instant camaraderie, because we know we are unique and have a special opportunity to converse with a pilot of the same gender. It’s quite an experience, and one that we should encounter more often!

Imagine the results if we brought that aviation spark to other women. Even if the message reaches just a few, the ratio of female to male pilots would dramatically increase. In the United States, only five percent of pilots are female. Especially in cases like ours with such a low percentage of women in the profession, just a small number of people would make all the difference in the world.

Making all the difference in the world—my ultimate goal has been laid out right before me, an opportunity that I will not pass up. Girls With Wings exists solely to share the love for aviation with the female community, creating an impact that lasts a lifetime. Whether chosen to carry on my flight training with a scholarship or without, I fully intend to continue posting in the blog, trying to encourage girls to at least look in to aviation. I really hope others will read the inspiring stories of the other female pilots and feel the same inklings that drive us to the skies. I also would like to eventually become involved in the Young Eagles program to introduce the gift of flight to our pilots of the future.

Aviation is a true life changer; it instills confidence and maturity in those who decide to pursue it, and gives people a skill to really be proud of. As an eighth grader, I was not looking forward to high school. I came from a small, close-knit parochial school; its entire student body, kindergarten through eighth grade, fit in one building, and one knew everyone else’s name, face, hobbies, friends, and family. I dreaded becoming “the new girl” at a public high school (as many girls my age would). As a freshman, I wrote a short story about flying that was published in the school’s literary magazine. My sophomore English class heard my persuasive speech about aviation radio communications. As a junior, I began my year by presenting a shadowbox of my solo t-shirt tail, my student pilot certificate, pictures, and maps. Flying has allowed me to break out of my shell, and as many already know, I am eager to share this amazing gift with peers of all ages. I am no longer known as “the new girl.” I have gained confidence in myself and my abilities, and now am involved in more activities this year than I thought were possible to squeeze into an entire high school career.

As for my future in aviation, after the school year ends I am continuing my training towards my private pilot certificate. Instead of catching up on sleep or homework, I have been up at the airport working twelve hour weekends the entire winter so that I can fly without any more interruptions; my goal is to earn my private certificate by the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year so that I do not truncate lessons due to classes again! If all goes well, as a private pilot I will be able to fly a WWII Stearman biplane.

Why such a specific plane? Each year at Red Stewart Airfield during their Labor Day air show, two females in dazzling uniforms walk between the wings of the blue and yellow biplane. It sounds crazy, I know—but I hope to join their ranks one day. Wing walking. It was (and still is) my ultimate push factor to earn a private certificate; the Stearman is not a light sport aircraft, so the hobby (if you could call it that) requires at least a private rating or higher to pursue.

However, you can only dangle off of a wing for so long. Whether I follow my brother’s footsteps into West Point to fly for the Army or blaze my own trail at the Air Force Academy, I plan on joining the military to continue my career in flying after high school. I have been accepted into a summer leadership seminar at both academies, so I will receive a little taste of each branch’s aviation programs (and what I am getting myself into!). A particular field that strongly pulls me is becoming a trainer pilot—I have always wanted to be a teacher, so what better way to get the best of both worlds than to teach others how to fly?

Aviation has allowed me to bloom into the woman I am today. I hope by sharing it with others, I can spread a little piece of the confidence flying gave to me—it’s out there ladies, we may just need a nudge to reach for it. I sincerely wish to become a catalyst for the women of all generations, older and younger, to experience the true gift of flight. You never know. Someday, we just might change the world.

And that is what I live for.

Alaina must submit at least one picture and an associated journal entry on May 31st and on June 30th to the Girls With Wings blog to share with others her training, as well as email a final essay with picture(s) by July 31st of the same year, summarizing how the scholarship helped her, what she learned and her intent to continue her work as a role model and volunteer for the Girls With Wings, Inc., organization. 

Stay tuned to read about our other scholarship winners AND DON'T FORGET we have a Summer Scholarship Program, too. Applications will be accepted until June 30th.

GIRLS WITH WINGS SCHOLARSHIP: Two Awards

Girls With Wings, Inc., announces its 6th Annual Scholarship Program for a future Girl With Wings to include an additional award for 2012. Girls With Wings has traditionally given out a Private Pilot Scholarship to help defray the cost of flight training lessons in pursuit of a private pilot certificate. This scholarship is targeting those individuals whom have soloed but have not completed the Private Pilot Course. In addition, the new, second scholarship offered by Girls With Wings is the Dreams Take Flight Scholarship. This scholarship is designed to introduce the world of aviation to someone that has dreams of a career in aviation and who would benefit from experiencing the joy of flight. The award of this scholarship is intended to fund introductory flight training to encourage achievement of a stated goal, whether as a pilot or in another field of study. There is no prerequisite flight training required for this scholarship, just enthusiasm and the desire to learn.

The application requires an essay with photo stating why the applicant believes she is a role model for Girl With Wings, to include her motivation, inspirations and future plans. Entries are to be received between Feb 1st and Mar 31st, 2012. The awardees agree to submit three updates with pictures taken during flight training and a final essay summarizing how the scholarship helped her, what she learned and her intent to continue her work as a Girls With Wings role model. Last year’s winner was Kate Hollingsworth, who has nearly completed with her Private Pilot Flight training. Her essays are available on the GWW blog. Full details at http://girlswithwings.com/scholarship.html

Girls With Wings focuses its efforts on introducing young girls to their role models in aviation-related occupations. Website activities and inspirational stories of women involved in various fields of aviation will motivate girls to pursue their own skyward adventures.

GIRLS WITH WINGS, INC: A nonprofit organization using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities for personal growth via an interactive website and presentations to girls groups and organizations. The scholarships are funded through private donations. If you wish to schedule a presentation, make a contribution or receive further details regarding our program, please contact Lynda Meeks at LMeeks@girlswithwings.com.

Ultralights, Sport Aviation Expo and Penelope Pilot's Page

With the upcoming Sebring US Sport Aviation Expo, we thought it a great time to focus our latest 12 page edition of Penelope Pilot's Page on the topic of Ultralights.

According to Wikipedia, the definition of an ultralight is significantly different from that in most other countries and can lead to some confusion when discussing the topic. The governing regulation in the United States is FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles, which specifies a powered "ultralight" as a single seat vehicle of less than 5 US gallons (19 L) fuel capacity, empty weight of less than 254 pounds (115 kg), a top speed of 55 knots (102 km/h or 64 mph), and a maximum stall speed not exceeding 24 knots (45 km/h or 27.6 mph). Restrictions include flying only during daylight hours and over unpopulated areas. Unpowered "ultralights" (hang gliders, paragliders, etc.) are limited to a weight of 155 lb (70 kg) with extra weight allowed for amphibious landing gear and ballistic parachute systems. For more information click on All About Ultralights - a great resource that has even more links to this exciting field of aviation!

Featured in this edition of the page is Arty, one of our Girls With Wings role models and an Ultralight Adventurer!  She is interviewed by Penelope Pilot and tells all about her training to become an ultralight pilot and her cross country flights. Arty is also a motivational speaker. Plus, there's a calendar of some fun events and a whole lesson on warm and cold fronts. There's more to weather than it just being hot or cold outside! Stick around to read about Space, a Hollywood story, and our create-aviate-navigate-communicate section. Read it all here.

And if you can make it, the US Sport Aviation Expo is being held January 19-22, 2012 in Sebring, FL. What is U.S. Sport Aviation Expo? This event with its focus on Light Sport Aircraft and the Sport Pilot certificate continues to grow in importance and attendance with a great group of exhibitors and sponsors. Exhibitors from nearly forty states and several foreign countries will show aircraft and related items. Attendees from all over the United States and a number of foreign countries will be here to see, try, fly and in some cases buy new a new plane. Exhibitors include dealers and manufacturers of aircraft, avionics, electronics and pilot supplies in addition to aircraft insurance, training systems, financial institutions. Aircraft include Power Parachutes, Trikes, AutoGyros and standard aircraft, and will include both float planes and amphibians.

Outside and inside displays are featured in addition to food booths. Special events including an exhibitor and sponsor reception and a volunteer recognition dinner are scheduled. Others will be announced as they are arranged.


Sounds like a fun time! Thanks to our editors for putting together the Penelope Pilot's Page. We always need others to contribute to the page. Please email us if you're interested.

Time is running out!

Support Girls With Wings and secure your tax deduction now.

The year is almost is over but there is still time to support the nonprofit organization you love. We have just a few days to meet our $45,000 goal.

This is your chance to make a year end gift to Girls With Wings, Inc. Help us encourage girls to pursue aviation in the year ahead.

Thanks to supporters like you, we have had an amazing year − Presentations, Scholarships, Aviation Inspiration Days, and more! That means thousands of girls have been inspired by STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, AVIATION and Mathematics.™

But before we celebrate, we need your help by midnight December 31st. Your special contribution will help guarantee that Girls With Wings has the funding needed to launch our 2012 outreach events.

With one simple gift, you have the power to make a real difference in the New Year for a proven program that uses women in aviation to inspire girls to achieve their full potential. You can give with confidence knowing that Girls With Wings is classified as a tax-exempt educational public charity under IRS code 501(c)(3).

Please click here to make your tax deductible gift today using Paypal. To give the old-fashioned way, give us a call at 216.577.6131 with your credit card information or complete this form and mail it to our address below.

With thanks and best wishes for an amazing New Year,

Lynda Meeks
Executive Director

P.S. If you've already sent your contribution, please accept my sincere appreciation for your continued support. Forwarding this email to your friends and business associates will help even more!

Amy's Message to GWW

Hello Girls with Wings! 

My name is Amy Blechman and I am the 2008 Scholarship recipient. Winning the Girls with Wings scholarship meant the world to me because it allowed me to further my training and I was able to afford my first solo flight! That was the best experience of my life thus far and it gave me an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and a smile from ear to ear that made it difficult to make my radio calls! I will never forget that day and the feeling that came with it, No one can ever take that from me, and that is a feat few people in the world (besides all of you lovely gals) will accomplish. We are few, but fine in company! I’m sure you ladies can agree!

Since then I continued my education, pursuing a bachelor’s of science in Aviation Management from Dowling College in New York. During my undergrad I was a founding member of Dowling’s very own Chapter of Women in Aviation International. I traveled with my Chapter to two annual conferences, most recently the 2011 Conference in Reno, Nevada during which time I was the Chapter President.

During my senior year I also pledged The Alpha Eta Rho International Aviation Fraternity and became a member of the Dowling College Zeta chapter in spring 2011. I also graduated from Dowling College on May 21, 2011! Since my graduation I have enlisted in the United States Army as a UH-60 (Blackhawk) Repairer (15T). Which I am very excited about! I have always wanted to join the Army and I am excited to begin this new adventure in my life!

As of late I have been focusing on preparing myself physically for basic training so I spend a lot of time running and at the gym since I will be heading down to Ft. Jackson soon to start my new career! My future goal is to finally obtain my Private Pilot License and also to earn a position with the Army’s Warrant Officer Flight Training Program (WOFT) and hopefully be able to fly the Blackhawks I will be working on during my Enlistment. I am so grateful to Lynda and Girls with Wings for showing me all these wonderful possibilities in Aviation and giving me the opportunity and motivation to realize my potential and chase my dreams!!I wish you all much success in all your future endeavors and hope we cross paths! Blue skies!

Amy Blechman

Kate's Final Entry as the 2011 Scholarship Winner

Girls With Wings, Inc., would like to thank Kate for exceeding our expectations as the 2011 scholarship winner. From her application to this final essay submission, she has been prompt, thorough and accurate in fulfilling the requirements of the GWW scholarship. We look forward to her continued participation as a Girls With Wings role model. Great job, Kate!

This past month Ohio offered its share of challenges in regards to seasonal transitions.  Anyone from Northeast Ohio knows what I am talking about.  We get lake effect snow in April, summer temperatures in November, and then there are the pesky winds which seem like they will never go away.  With all the maintenance issues I had in the Ercoupe, the Skycatcher has provided a new skill set and experience using rudder pedals.  The problem with the last month though was rain cancelling my lessons, wind cancelling my lessons, poor visibility cancelling my lessons… you get the picture. 

Last week I took another half-day off work, woke up to check the weather and yet again it looked like I would be buying time to get my third cancellation notice in a week.  Between working two jobs, I was not looking forward to wasting a half day and my frustration was settling in.  Determined not to let a chance go by I drove out to the airport anyway, knowing that at least if I got there before cancelling I gave every bit of persistence I could for the week.  Surprisingly though, during the fifteen minute drive, the closer I got the more the weather cleared.  I was actually going to get a lesson in.

When we got in the plane and I started taxiing, suddenly the struggle of using rudder pedals over the last few weeks seemed to be lifting.  How to manage the plane on take-offs and landings kept getting better with each approach.  The rain stayed north of the field and the winds were remaining consistent.  It was the first time since switching aircraft that I saw a huge return in my confidence level.  On the last approach, Ron directed us south of the field to a clearer area where we could get up above the clouds.  All of a sudden I was above all the dreary weather that had been in my way the whole month and the view was breathtaking.  I got to spend twenty minutes just playing up above the clouds and it was an experience I so needed when I didn’t even know it. 

Since winning the 2011 GWW Scholarship I have learned so much.  I know that when facing obstacles, if you are truly passionate about what you are going after, then an obstacle is merely a small bump in the destination.  Most importantly though, I learned and remembered what it is like to play.  I could list a hundred reasons why learning how to fly is beneficial in any aspect of life, but when it comes down to it, flying is a chance to get up above the clouds with the sun shining and play. 

Without this scholarship I would have definitely had to put training on hold.  When my Dad’s Ercoupe failed on me, I had to switch aircraft which more than doubled my training costs and face the possibility of having to retake my written exam with the expiration date looming this upcoming April.  I have a great deal of gratitude because the GWW scholarship gave me the opportunity to make my way through some tough financial decisions over the last month.    

One of the things that really sticks with me about GWW is the phrase “Girls need flight plans, not Fairy Tales.”  I am guilty of it myself, but I notice that women tend to attribute our successes to luck.  Through all the mishaps with the Ercoupe, I can’t tell you the sighs I have gotten or the pity talks about my lack of luck.   People have discussed my plane almost like a tragedy case and I was a victim of its problems.  But when talking with all the instructors, we would discuss how helpful it is that I now have actual background in dealing with emergency procedures.  We even joke that after seeing my airplane torn apart so many times that I might as well go get my A&P certification.  What I attribute to my success at each step is not reacting to the obstacle, but working with it. 

I sincerely hope that when I get my license shortly, I can share flying outside of my local airport community and stay involved with GWW.  More often than not when I tell my female friends or family members about aviation, they are genuinely interested.  They just have not been introduced to the fact that there are women pilots.  The first thing I hear is, “That is so great, but I couldn’t do that”.  My goal is to instead hear the phrase “I could do that”.  When I get my license and as soon as I am comfortable, I plan to take as many friends and family flying that are willing.  It is not about trying to make them see why I love what I am pursuing, but simply for the fact that without exposure to new experiences, we can limit what we are actually capable of without knowing it.

Our 1st Scholarship Winner passes her checkride!

It was September 26th when I made the call to schedule my Private Pilot checkride. I sat in front of my phone with a paper and pencil for a good 5 minutes. Just thinking about what was about to happen. I never thought I would get nervous about making a simple call!
.

A picture of me and my flight instructor RIGHT after my checkride =) and the plane behind us the the Cessna 152 I flew on the day of my checkride

Eventually I made the call, and my checkride was scheduled for Monday, October 10th. A week later my cross country flight plan assignment was emailed to me. I quickly scanned through it and I immediately knew this was not going to be easy. The day before my Private Pilot checkride was the most stressful day of my life so far. I couldn’t sleep as much as I tried to get as much rest as possible before my big day. With the help of many many friends I was able to make it through.

I also attached a picture of my friends because I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for them and their support. They supported me with help studying, self esteem, and even with a home while I finished up my Pilot training.

It has been almost four years since I received the Girls With Wings Scholarship, and it has been over five years since my first flight lesson. My point is not to show how long it has taken me to receive my Private Pilot certification, but to let everyone know that any dream or goal can be accomplished no matter how difficult something may get.

After I got my license I went up flying with my friends to go skydiving!

I was fortunate enough to have financial support from GWW as well as moral support. Throughout the years after getting the GWW scholarship I still happened to have financial struggles.

The pictures of my first flight as a PILOT have also been attached. Pictures of the beautiful bay area =)

When I was finishing up my flight training I was blessed with a gift. I had an anonymous person donate money into my flying account to make sure I get my flight training done. This person told the club owner/my boss at the time that they want to make sure I have nothing holding me back from getting my license. This person wanted me to have no financial worries with flight training . This person who is apparently someone who has seen me at work, as a student, and as a passionate pilot, knew that flying made me happy.

This was something that really took me by surprise. There was someone who met me while I was at work and believed in me ever since. This was a gift that I will forever be thankful for along with GWW scholarship. The support I have had has been so amazing! I have developed great relationships throughout my Aviation career.

Since graduating from San Jose State University and receiving my Pilots license I have been in search of a decent job.Recently, I interviewed with one of the biggest corporate aviation companies for a position as a crew scheduler. This interview was possible thanks to a great friend of mine who works as a Pilot for the charter company, Betsy Donovan is a wonderful person I met through Women in Aviation of the Bay Area chapter.

The interview was a great experience and went well. Still unemployed and living with my parents, using my time to read up on some instrument stuff!!! A job to me right now is a necessity in efforts to continue pursuing further ratings and pilot certificates as well as paying off some debt from college! With hard work and keeping my passion alive, I will reach my ultimate goal of being a professional pilot.

Kate's Second Entry as the 2011 Scholarship Winner

[Note: we've been having problems with the GWW message board and now it seems completely kaput - or, in other words, completely beyond my capability to fix it. I will be transitioning everything over to this blog and eventually deleting the board. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please friend the Girls With Wings Facebook group in lieu of the forum.]

As a condition of the Girls With Wings scholarship, we request updates from the awardees to keep us posted on their flight training. Here is Kate's Second Entry:

Last time I updated the blog I finished it talking about my concerns facing future maintenance issues in the Ercoupe and realizing it wouldn’t be the worst thing if I ended up having to switch aircraft. It took only one week after writing that for it to actually happen. I was set to go take my first cross county flight and the plane was not quite sounding right prior to take-off. End result? Lesson cancelled and after discovering the carburetor was the culprit, it was decided the plane should go in for annual early.

After talking with my instructor, Eric, we decided it was time for me to switch out of the Ercoupe so I can keep up with training during the annual. I am now flying in the Cessna Skycatcher 162. I have been happy to keep up with my flying, but it was a difficult switch because I had to change instructors in order to fly in the C162 due to the higher cost of the Flight Design CTLS Eric teaches in.

The first night I went up in the plane I almost felt like I had never taken a lesson. I always laughed when people looked in my plane and were puzzled with the one pedal on the floor. Now I was introduced to rudder pedals, differential braking, and a glass cockpit. Just trying to taxi the airplane to the runway provided a lot of entertainment for my new instructor, Ron. The additional clincher to all of this? Lessons could now be recorded so I could review my progress, habits, etc. Yikes! While it all felt overwhelming, I left the lesson feeling surprisingly content with this new challenge. All these changes were going to be good learning experiences.

I now have three lessons in the Skycatcher and because of a hectic work day schedule, I am getting a lot of night time flying in along with practice talking to air traffic control. Ron has been very helpful going over this and I started listening online to live ATC interactions to help learn how to talk in a controlled airspace. Because I have worked at the airport on the weekends for over a year, I am comfortable on radios, but ATC communications are a whole new thing.

The next few lessons will focus on getting experience flying under a hood and I will continue working on takeoffs and landings in the plane. Hopefully by the time I finish fulfilling all the dual requirements needed, I will be able to solo in the Skycatcher or move back to my Ercoupe to finish up the last few hours of solo time and cross country requirements.

I’ll also be spending some time with my Ercoupe getting a good look at all the parts of the engine and a view you normally don’t get when the plane isn’t up for annual. There is a great network of people at my airport who have been willing to teach me all the lessons that go beyond just flying the plane. With this entry I included some current pictures of the Ercoupe and I can’t tell you how much I recommend getting a detailed look at how an airplane runs. It really helps add an element to flying and brings another aspect of situational awareness, especially when faced with maintenance problems.

Kate's First Entry:

When I started flight training in June this year I took the optimistic approach of thinking this will be simple. I completed my written in April of 2010, found a great instructor, and figured if I flew so many hours a month I would finish in October. I didn't realize my faulty logic though which is I am not flying airplanes in my flight schools' line that are only 5 or 6 years old. My airplane is gracefully aging at a young 65 years old. It has a knack for getting attention not by people my age, but people who are my grandpa’s age.

I'll save all the specifics, but Ercoupes have no rudder pedals and as far as instruments go, I am flying about as simplistic as it comes. In the close to two years this airplane has been in my life I have watched it go from a trailer to test flights and due to prior maintenance issues, I am gaining a working knowledge of brake lines, carburetors, and radio wiring. It has been a labor of love, not without challenges, from day one. The best parts of it being this summer when I got to spend all my time flying with the canopy down and the most difficult part being brake issues that stopped me flying for a few weeks shortly after I soloed. 


Since starting back up with flight lessons this month I have been working a lot on cross country flight planning and my landings. It is a sort of an unnatural feeling landing in an Ercoupe, because depending on what the winds do I don’t always line up on the center line. If the winds are coming from the right side of the runway I line up towards the right side since the winds will then push me towards center line and vice versa.

In the last two weeks weather has been getting the best of my scheduled lessons, so my longer trips such as nighttime lessons have been postponed. This has left plenty of time to do pattern work. Ironically, my instructor Eric said my best landings were during simulated engines out and practicing short field landings. So the good news is I know how I am capable of landing, I just have to figure out some consistency. While this has been great practice, I’m most excited to get some nighttime flying in the next week and start flying to some new airports.

One of the best things Eric has taught me in lessons is all about preparation and making little adjustments to lead to a desired outcome while thinking ahead. Initially when I started training I was set on completing training in the Ercoupe and then getting my endorsement to fly with rudder pedals after the fact. Any concerns came not out of flying, but hoping I wouldn’t run into any major maintenance issues while pursuing my certificate. What I am learning is that if I run into anymore issues, it is not the end of the world if I have to change aircraft, but just making an adjustment to help me achieve my private certificate.

Book Review: Wings: A Novel of World War II Flygirls

You probably think you know what a book tour is. I thought so too. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it's a series of visits to bookstores that a writer makes, especially when they have written a new book. Sounds about right. But in the age of the internet, that is SO passe. Instead of the author having to physically go to bookstores (also unfortunately becoming passe), the blog tour has an author going from blog to blog.   According to the Book Publicity Blog: "Depending on the author and the blog, coverage may consist of any of the following: book review, Q and A (either posted or live) or book giveaway ....  Blog tours, like traditional bookstore tours, will feature a designated number of “stops” — often 10 to 20 blogs — and can roll out over the course of a week or a month (or whatever other length of time that has been decided upon)."

I was contacted by TLC Book Tours who prides itself on creating a buzz and drive up hits on Amazon.  "For a minimal amount of money, time, and travel, an author can gain exposure to thousands of potential readers." I'm not sure I can help with the "thousands" of potential readers, but I was certainly interested in obtaining a copy of another book about the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). The WASP were the first women in history trained to fly American military aircraft during World War II. Out of the 1078 women trained, only a few are left - and all of them over 80. However, every one I've ever met has been just as sharp as a tack and incredibly interesting to listen to. I count them among my heroes.


So it's kind of a risk to give me to a "fictionalized" account of their training. Remember, I adore these women. Plus, fifty years later I was in similar shoes, going through MY military pilot training. So in a way, this might be like taking a peek into my grandma's diary. Do I really want to know everything about her? And her let-loose-on-society days?


Yes.


C'mon, although these weren't Victorian times, women during the 1940s were far from having equal rights, only a generation after the 19th amendment was passed giving them the right to vote. And now, they get to travel the country ferrying airplanes?  A freedom not many women their ages enjoyed. And like most people during the hard times of training, and then performing duties during wartime, there had to be times where they needed to burn off some of that stress. What's "the rest of the story" as it were? How do we get to know them not as just heroes, justifiably eventually awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, but also as women, and as fellow pilots?

For the most part, I believe the book stuck to the facts as far as the training the women underwent, the living conditions, etc. But thrown in was some drama so as to turn this into something folks would want to read. The main character is an already experienced pilot who tragically loses her boyfriend during the fiery crash of their Jenny (a WWI trainer). The story covers her recovery and entry into training. Along the way she meets colorful characters and experiences a wide array of adventures. This description of the book comes from the TLC website:

Sally Ketchum comes from dirt-poor farm folk. She has little chance of bettering her life until a mysterious barnstormer named Tex teaches her to fly—and becomes the first person worthy of her love. But Tex dies in a freak accident, leaving Sally to make her own way in the world. She enrolls in the U.S. military’s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, and in a special school located in West Texas begins learning to fly the biggest, fastest, meanest airplanes the military has to offer. She also reluctantly becomes involved with Beau Bayard, a flight instructor and aspiring writer, who seems to offer her everything she could want. But many people see no place for a “skirt” in the cockpit, and Sally soon finds herself pitted against a high-powered Washington lawyer who wants to disband the WASP once and for all.  Their battle is a story of extraordinary women who broke society’s rules and became heroes, and of men who stood in their way.

I'd say I was pleased with the storyline, especially the first part, which dealt with their flight training. But this is a novel, and as such is a well written one, if historically inaccurate. But I hold anything about the WASP to a very high standard. If it encourages more people to find out about the WASP, so much the better. The author, Karl Friedrich, is a pilot, so his descriptions of the aircraft and associated procedures were spot on. He was also very complimentary of the abilities of the WASP and made a very strong case about their being treated as less than their male contemporaries.

Bee Haydu, also an author who I have blogged about previously (here she is at the Girls With Wings booth in Oshkosh several years ago), wrote a book entitled Letters Home 1944-1945. I greatly enjoyed her book as well. It is literally a collection of letters she wrote home to her mother and brother who was serving overseas. It is a wonderful way to gain insight into not only her life during training, but also the follow up campaign she launched to have the WASP officially recognized for their military service.

I have run into her several times and when I was asked to review Wings asked her if I could send her the copy to see how SHE felt about it. I was so flattered when she accepted. I sent her the link to the book on Amazon and an immediate comment was "I believe it is the back cover of the book that reads “Women’s Airforce Service Pilots.” It is not “Women’s.” It is “Women.” " They're very feisty, these WASP. I hinted to her about her "off time" and she said, "Most of us knew that some of the trainees did date some of the instructors in Sweetwater on our free time which usually was a week-end pass. Some got away with it and some were caught and washed out. I personally was a “goodie two shoes” since I did not want to wash out." Fair enough.

In a subsequent email, Bee says, "I know this is a novel to be viewed differently than an historical paper.  However, I feel the author has strayed quite a distance from what it was really like.  I am concerned about the so-called “spy” sent by Congress.  We both know the real reason the WASP were disbanded (Chapter 14 in my book)."

When I asked for specific example of historical inaccuracy, she had to just base her feedback on what she had read so far. She lost power in the snowstorm and had gotten the electricity back on only recently. This is what she offered,"The largest example is that he is saying Congress sent someone. That is extremely doubtful.  Another is his description of the trainees arriving and THEN going through their physicals, etc. before being accepted.  All of this was done prior to going to Sweetwater.  You had to pass the physical and other items BEFORE being accepted in a class.  Too bad I did not get as far as his description of the actual flight training. I’m sure there would be many more examples.  To say he painted an exaggerated and not so accurate picture of the WASP would not be out of order."

 This doesn't necessarily make the book unworthy of attention. Many of the things we read, or watch, etc., are "based on historical events." I just think we should be aware that there is way more to the story.

As a side note, I happened to be in the library with my nephews and from across the aisle this other fictionalized account of the WASP caught my eye.

Flygirl is about an African American woman who successfully enters WASP training, but unfortunately has to hide her heritage by passing for a white woman. According to Wikipedia: There were two Chinese-American women in the WASP, Hazel Ying Lee and Maggie Gee. Hazel Ying Lee died following a runway collision, but Maggie Gee survived the war. Ola Mildred Rexroat, an Oglala Sioux woman from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, was the only Native American woman in the WASP; she survived the war and later joined the Air Force. All the other members of the WASP were white; no African-Americans were allowed to join the WASP. Although this book was written for ages 12 and up, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and again, think it is a great way to introduce more people to the WASP as well.

Life as a CFI

Despite my best efforts, I can find no one willing to take the blame for my not realizing how difficult it is to be a Certificated Flight Instructor. It may be as hard, if not harder, than my training to become a CFI, in fact. I know, I know, I've been promising to write again about this journey to CFI long enough. Despite what is now an even MORE hectic schedule adding instructing into the mix, I know I have to catch you all up. So many people have been asking how I did it and what I recommend, so here it is.

Mr. Newman and I

As I have mentioned previously, I started flying in Army UH-1 helicopters and had only 30 hours in a single engine airplane before transitioning to multiengine airplanes. My first airplane checkride, in fact, was a failure. My instructor was a great guy with thousands of hours and years of combat flying. As far as he was concerned, he was just there to teach us rotorheads to keep the greasy side down. At our checkride, however, the SP or "standardization pilot" broke out the equivalent to the PTS or "practical test standards" that the Army uses - which my stick buddy and I had never seen. We had no idea about the maneuvers we were supposed to be doing, much less the tolerances for them.

I had a sweet Jeep at the time, too.

From then on, we were in the multi engine simulator and then the actual King Air, which the army calls a C-12 Huron. It was during that time I forgot what my feet were for. On a single engine airplane there are several different factors necessitating constant use of the rudder pedals. In multiengine airplanes the two engines provide more balance. Add a little thing called "yaw damper," which minimizes motion about the vertical axis, and the only time those pedals get used are take off, landing, and engine failures.

From that point on, I've mostly flown multiengine turboprops or jets, occasionally renting a single engine airplane just for fun. Or stress. I once took my sister and her family up for a flight and didn't tell her til afterwards how nervous it had made me feel. I tried to explain to her that yes, it was still flying an airplane, which I had been doing for years, which made it like driving a different kind of car. But, because I was used to flying IFR or "instrument flight rules" and had taken them on a sightseeing flight under VFR, that it was like driving said car in a different country. Everything was just a bit different.  Not to mention the fact I had my two nephews in the back seat. I had to peel my hands from the yoke after shutdown.

So as I've been talking about here and elsewhere, when I got back into single engine airplanes to not only really learn to fly them but to be able to TEACH people to fly in them, I had quite a rude awakening! My first challenge was finding an instructor who could teach this nearly 5000 hour pilot like she was a student pilot. Remember I said at the beginning that my first airplane instructor hadn't taught us the usual maneuvers. I needed to go back to the basics. Literally. My 40 hours of single engine time (the minimum required for a private pilot certificate) was over 10 years old. Meeting up with an instructor who just said "let's go" and headed for the airplane wasn't cutting it. I needed and wanted more ground instruction on what I should be studying. Having gone through the Army flight school where everything was laid out in a syllabus and you better BELIEVE you do your homework (which included memorizing entire pages of text), I was completely lost. I asked friends what I should be studying and got a list of  books as long as my arm. Now that I had them I started studying all of them without any rhyme or reason. [Luckily, I was advised to get my writtens out of the way at least. I also recommend getting them done as soon as possible so they'll be less of a distraction.]

I ended up doing what I should have been doing FROM THE START. I started interviewing instructors. Yup. Got their numbers, called them up and was able to get a good impression of how we'd mesh just over the phone. For example, you probably want an instructor who is going to listen to you and your needs. I talked to a couple that would have spent hours getting to know me. Unfortunately, they were very far away. I talked to many more that spent nearly the entire conversation talking about themselves. Then I talked to Jeff Vandeyacht of True Course Flight School in Oswego, NY. I know, I'm in Cleveland and, yes, NY is far away, but I also have an uncle who lives nearby and used Jeff for his training.  And my uncle kindly offered me a place to stay.

I was really impressed with Jeff. We soon worked out a plan for me to intermittently come to NY and do some training (which would allow me to focus on training and put Girls With Wings to the side). Phase one was basic fundamentals and maneuvers. I spent a week flying with Jeff just relearning to fly a single engine airplane, prompted mostly by his nudging the rudder pedals to get me back into trim. He also demonstrated, and had me practice, all of the maneuvers from the private to the commercial. I found this to be very valuable and looked forward to phase two, which would be me doing the maneuvers from the right seat and learning to teach them like the instructor I'd eventually be. Unfortunately, I hurt my back badly, and phase two kept getting pushed back. Phase three, working on maneuvers in a complex airplane, looked farther and farther down the line.

Sara. And neither of those guys are me.

I took a break and some serious muscle relaxants and started to rebuild my back with different exercises. When I healed, however, it was time to travel to Mobile, AL, for my participation in the Air Race Classic's inspiration program for area girls. Coincidentally, I have friends in Alabama that just happen to own a flight school. I used to fly with Glen at Flight Options in the Citation IIs and Vs. He and his wife Sara run a multifaceted operation - Shoreline Aviation Services - and they offered to have me stay with them and train some more. Plan C (or was it D or E?) turned into going to their flight school between Mobile and Sun n Fun. Unfortunately, no one alerted the weather gods. Though we got some great flying in, it wasn't enough time. A couple of things I learned at Shoreline Aviation: how ground school was supposed to work. I'd only done training with the Army or professional (career) flight schools. I was totally unfamiliar with Part 61 lesson plans and how they were used. Part 61 schools are usually taught one on one and are more flexible than the training I had undergone. Another thing? Sara, shown above, also taught me to "sing like a bird" and certain key phrases to use while teaching my students - and encourage them to sing as well. Glen and Sara have been amazing mentors to me in my quest for my CFI and still continue to be a source of guidance, encouragement and advice in many areas.

But they had to get back to work on their other endeavors. So when I returned to Cleveland, I still wasn't ready for my CFI checkride and received a phone call from Dianna who runs a flight training operation down in Texas which I blogged about extensively. I gathered an amazing amount of knowledge being there - but there was still something missing. Actually two things. One, a complex airplane, which is defined as having

• A retractable landing gear (land aircraft only; a seaplane is not required to have this)
• A controllable pitch propeller (which includes constant speed propellers)
• Movable or adjustable flaps.

Additionally, I was studying, studying, studying, studying. I could have gone on for years studying never feeling like I had studied enough. So in looking for a complex airplane needed for the checkride I looked at American Flyers in Houston. They offer a free hour of flight and oral evaluation and so I figured I couldn't lose anything by doing it. I met with the chief pilot who asked a bunch of questions - yet also took some time getting to know me (sound familiar?) - and had me fly the maneuvers. His analysis? That I had all of the information floating around in my head and just needed to straighten it up a bit; I could easily be ready for the checkride in two weeks. Here's the catch. I had been doing my CFI on a budget up til now. American Flyers on their website says "American Flyers Flight Instructor Academy...CFI-A & CFI-I Certificates Only $2,995.00" Well, I wanted only to get my CFI - Airplane, not my CFI - Instrument so that should be at least half off, right? Don't believe it. The more upfront of the instructors there will tell you that there's no way it will be that inexpensive, and in fact my CFI training there was nearly twice that. For two weeks. Ouch.

I know. I get slightly nauseous every time I think about it. But here's the thing. They had a syllabus they taught out of. So every day I knew what was coming so I could study in advance. The instructor then met with me and reviewed all of the information and then we flew the appropriate maneuvers. Then I went home and prepared a lesson plan so I could teach him the next day. I spent all day every day at the flight school either in class or flying. I stayed at a hotel (more $$) and did nothing but work on lesson plans and now what I KNEW I had to study. Note: be careful about doing this because you can burn yourself out. There were other CFI candidates at the  flight school wondering why they weren't finishing up as fast as I was. To which the AF instructors said, then you need to be putting in the same time and effort as Lynda. The onus of being ready for a CFI checkride is still incumbent on the student.

Two weeks to the day I was standing in front of an FAA examiner beginning my CFI checkride. So, despite the huge tab for this training, I completed the rating. I don't think in retrospect I could have finished it for any less, and in fact, had I continued the training on my own, it probably would have taken months to finish. This way I was able to knock it out and be done before Oshkosh - my self imposed deadline.

And what have I learned and now recommend?

1. Interview flight instructors before you ever train with one. I think personality has a great deal to do with the success of flight training and you can get a good feel for an instructor by just talking to him or her. You want to succeed with the help of your CFI, not in spite of him or her.

2. Consider flying with another instructor during your training to see if you can learn something you've been struggling with because of a difference in technique. Don't be afraid to switch flight instructors. The first time that little niggling feeling tells you things aren't working out should make you analyze your situation. Fly with another instructor even just once to determine if you aren't going to succeed with your current CFI because of the singular YOU or the plural YOU. Do not be afraid to ask for an evaluation ride from your flight school - and then be willing to accept the result. This is YOUR training (and your money) - you are ultimately responsible for it!

3. Don't commit to a school by joining their flight club prematurely. I did, and nearly lost a $1000 deposit when I went elsewhere to finish flight training. Read the fine print.

4. Analyze your needs. I should have accepted the fact from the start that I was looking for a structured environment with a syllabus. I was wading through an ocean of things I could have learned and should have focused on what I had to learn.

5. or 4b. If you are a busy individual with a lot of things on your plate (not a full time student), consider a part 141 school or traveling to a flight school to remove your other obligations from your plate.  Again, I've talked to many busy professionals that are a year or two into their CFI training and struggling to finish. Starting and stopping their training only adds to the delay and cost. Jumping into American Flyers or their equivalent and their big lump sums may be more efficient in the long run.

6. Speaking of money. Apply for scholarships. I didn't because everyone told me that I'd knock this CFI thing out in two weeks given my experience. And then my plan fell apart and I didn't know what I was doing when. It would have been nice to have offset these training costs with even a $1000 or two. Most scholarships give you a large window to complete the training for which you applied for the scholarship. The money one earns as a flight instructor won't pay off a mortgage AND the incurred debt from getting the rating.

7. CFIs: Lesson plans. You're going to have to do them eventually. Get your writtens done and start on your lesson plans. Make them basic and revisit them to refine them later. I tried to "borrow" someone else's lesson plans but part of the learning comes from building them. I wished I hadn't had to do them too during my two week firehose course.

Well, that's all I can think of now. I welcome your feedback! What was your experience?

Scholarship Announcement from Girls With Wings

The time has come for us to announce the results of our fifth annual scholarship program! 

Before I introduce you to the winner, I'd like to take some time to thank all of the people that contributed to the Girls With Wings Scholarship, some by becoming an ATC Crewmember, others through donations. For example, I'd like to thank an individual (and she knows who she is!) for her continuing annual contribution toward our fund. This year we also received $500 from Rob Riggen, the president of Flying High Coffee, who donates a portion of the profits from incredibly-awesome-coffee sales to benefit aviation organizations.  Other folks used the Paypal button on our website to make donations and some contributed during their purchase from the Girls With Wings Pilot Shop, brought to you by Very Important Pilots, LLC., the licensed retailer of Girls With Wings items.

Selecting a scholarship winner is not an easy thing to do.  Actually, setting up a scholarship program is not easy, either! We are trying to learn our lessons every year and improve the process and the pool of applicants but there is nothing we can do when people apply for the scholarship but do not a. qualify, or b. comply. One third of this year's submissions didn't include every item that was outlined on the application document and were therefore immediately disqualified. We have a list of criteria that must be met, from expressed emotions such as motivation and enthusiasm to more tangible qualifications such as whether the individuals had completed their solo flights. To accomplish the comprehensive judging, applicants are examined in their use of social media sources, such as Facebook (and how said applicants portray themselves), whether the applicant has participated in GWW or other aviation and educational outreach activities, and other factors such as professional courtesy and clearly stated plans and goals for their training.

However, the most important element to the Girls With Wings Scholarship criteria is the desire and ability of the applicant to make a good Girls With Wings role model. This is difficult to determine when the majority of the essays submitted do not mention these factors... or even the words Girls With Wings. We do understand that we are asking our applicants to be willing to give something back to the aviation community, and so this scholarship is not a right fit for everyone.

Sadly, this meant that the vast majority of the applicants were not eligible to be awarded $1000 toward the pursuit of a private pilot's certificate. We'd like to think that folks donate funds to GWW because they believe in our mission. We could just give the money to anyone who applies (because certainly we felt that many applicants were deserving of assistance), but we'd prefer to stick to the reason the scholarship fund was founded: To use women in aviation to inspire girls to reach their full potential. Therefore, the Girls With Wings board has resolved to retain the remainder of the current funds and perfect the scholarship process before the next opportunity. Everyone who applied this year is encouraged to reapply during the next scholarship cycle. In return, we will make a greater effort to make more clear what we'd like to see from the applicants and attempt to let more people know of our scholarship. If you'd like to participate in our our program, please email me.

So who was the deserving winner of the $1000 scholarship?

Kaitlyn Hollingsworth, the daughter of a pilot and employee in the nonprofit sector who works at an airport to afford lessons. In her application essay, she writes,

If chosen as a scholarship recipient and representative of Girls With Wings, I would like to share the joy of aviation and ability to push through your fears with other women and girls. I am not getting my pilots license to become a professional pilot or pursue a full-time career in the field. I fly because every time I get in my airplane I am pushing myself to become a better version of myself. Flying requires you to be a good listener, detail-oriented, and build a value system which is constantly requiring you to evaluate your skill and accept constructive criticism from others. It has built faith in myself and has allowed me to listen to that voice inside which says this is a blast and shows me what I am capable of. I want to be that encourager of other girls and women who think that aviation is something that could be fun to be a part of but never give it a second thought.

Congratulations, Kaitlyn! She will soon have her application essay up on the Girls With Wings website, and has also been allotted a space on the GWW message board to post updates on her training.

And finally, we would like to also note that others have contributed funds for our operational expenses such as travel and other costs of running a nonprofit organization with outreach activities. For example, this blog entry is being typed on a laptop that Girls With Wings was able to purchase (a need long overdue, I might add) because of a donation of a Lightspeed Zulu headset to the Racing Aces, a team who raised funds for Girls With Wings during the Air Race Classic. We do appreciate all of the support we receive from the aviation community!

Many thanks to all and blue skies!

Post Osh11 Edition

Wow. Is Oshkosh really over? It seems like years ago that I went up to American Flyers in Houston, TX, to finish up my CFI training (which will be the subject of a future blog entry). For two weeks I did nothing but do one on one classroom prep, fly, and study. Ok, I might have let some Girls With Wings stuff slide in there, but mostly I had a goal: finishing my CFI rating before I had to leave for Oshkosh. And that meant leaving OHIO for Oshkosh, which was 1500 miles from Texas....

So on July 11th I passed my CFI Checkride. It was, by most standards (also known as other people's horror stories), "easy." But it was no walk in the park. When it was over, I went back to my hotel room and packed up everything I'd been carting around for the last few months. I was basically useless (IOW brain dead) for anything more. People have asked me if the CFI rating was harder than a jet type and I reply enthusiastically, "yes." There was so much to know as a CFI, mostly getting back to the basics, whereas my successive type rides mostly just built on each other. There are small differences in different airplanes, but to know the steps of the landing phases (and how to teach it!) was a lot more difficult.

Anyway, I said that was for a future entry... I drove the two day trip back to Ohio and immediately began the recovery process. First I cleaned up six months of spider webs, cat hair and dust that tend to accumulate in a century old house. Then I unloaded my car, mentioned in many blog entries and Facebook posts (I wonder if it should have its own FB page?) - with all of this driving, I have recently turned over 162,000 miles on it. Better not jinx it; it could require another sacrificial offering to the Honda God. Then I went to Daffy Dan's to pick up all of the t-shirts for my Oshkosh (otherwise known as EAA Airventure) booth. ALL of which needed to be received, priced, folded, packaged and packed into boxes. One of the many time-consuming behind the scenes tasks of a small business owner.

I left for Oshkosh at 3am on Saturday morning, hoping to get there at a reasonable time (daylight). I hadn't planned on leaving that early, but with all of the anticipation I couldn't sleep. I was awake at 12:30am and after an hour of tossing and turning, just got up and finished loading the trailer in the dark. In the rain. Not long after I left home I had to spend an hour under a freeway underpass because the rain was coming down so hard not only could I not see two feet in front of me, I also was hydroplaning all over the place.

The rest of the drive was relatively uneventful and my dad and I arrived Camp Scholler mid day on Saturday, which would become Home Sweet Home for the next week. We threw together our pop-up camper and then went over to Hangar A to unload all of the stuff. On Sunday evening, Dad, my sister, two nephews and I had just finished putting the booth together when someone from the logistics company came by to say that he'd forgotten to run electricity to the rest of our aisle and would need to access the floor panels running under our booth. Under our carpet. Under the mats. Under the grid system we used to stack all of the t-shirts. The grid system that took me hours to build (my dad refuses, too frustrating). And all of the t-shirts in the cubes that were sorted and stacked neatly in their slippery plastic sleeves.

Really?

So I ask, "can you not just run the electricity along the ceiling (since, clearly, everyone else in the aisle was set up too, and, in fact, gone for the evening)?"  He seems to think that's a pretty good idea but leaves. We wait around for a while, but he doesn't return. So I post a note that asks them to call me before dismantling. No call, so imagine our surprise when we come in an hour before the show starts monday morning and CLEARLY they had come in that night and disturbed the booth anyway. How did we know? Well, for starters there was a small mountain range of electrical cords snaking under the carpet, which was no longer flat and even. Especially were there was a foot size hole between the plates. And they had tried to move the grids, which if you have any experience whatsoever with them, you know that this is not possible, so many of them were now disconnected. And lastly, the t-shirts that had slid out of the cubes had been just randomly shoved back in. Wonderful.

Worse was the reaction from the logistic people at the show, which I will now gloss over. [Gloss.] Beautifully though, some angels from EAA stepped in to help clean up the mess, minimize the damage and try to make a mismatched carpet runner (we had to cut our carpet to shove the cords under the plates again) as pretty as possible. Sigh.

But we conquered this wrinkle and began what is truly the best part of Oshkosh, seeing all of the folks and telling them about Girls With Wings. And receiving their sincere compliments about our outreach efforts. And having them tell me how much the recipient of their Penelope Pilot book from last year LOVED it. Like this young lady, who came by repeatedly to talk to "LYNDA MEEKS!" (that's how she said my name, every time) as she visited to show me her airplane colored in Penelope's colors, update me on her activities at the show, and so on. She was completely adorable. HER dad said she's not going to make it again til 2013. Just won't be the same without her.

The week was really a blur, since I had very little opportunity to prepare for it because of the CFI training. Last year I had a color coded staffing chart. Not this year. I also was missing some of my key helpers, Erica and Jacqui, who were so tremendous last time. My dad, of course, was there all day every day. My nephews, ages 10 and 14, helped for the first couple of the days. I also had at least one person helping during the busy times and when I had to go to do a seminar with Youth Aviation Adventure, interviews or author's signings at the EAA Wearhouse. There are no words to express how much I would like to thank all that volunteered: Carole, Lisa, Lin and her mother, Keith and his son Aiden, Camila, Amy and Jim, Sarah and Barbara. My sister came back in at the end to help with the 2nd worst time helping at a booth - the cleanup.

There are a couple of times that deserve special notice, thanks to Rob Riggen of Flying High Coffee. He presented both Girls With Wings and Able Flight checks for $500 for our programs. As if his coffee wasn't insanely delicious on its own, he has decided to funnel his profits back into aviation programs.  I am very honored GWW has been chosen as a recipient of his generosity. He was also the inspiration for us to keep our spirits up the whole week. If you were there, you know that it was either a. hot, b. rainy, or c. hot and rainy. Rob had a smile on his exhausted face the entire time. After all, he was up before everyone else brewing his coffee, which he gave out for FREE to raise awareness of his brand. Please support his company - especially designed to cater to the aviation community.

Another special time was seeing the trailer for AcroCamp on a big screen. I don't know about you, but when I see people on a reality show I wonder how they can act so naturally. They, like I did, probably started forgetting they were constantly being recorded. It takes seeing yourself on-screen to realize that you may be setting yourself up for a bucket full of embarrassment. Stay tuned to the release of the documentary this fall and share this embarrassment with me!

Unfortunately, there were so many events I didn't make. I didn't make Arty's presentation about her ultra-light flight from Oregon to Oshkosh (she also flew from Oregon to Florida for Sun and Fun last year). She blogged about both trips. And so many more events, tweetups, etc. I'm so sorry.

For example, I was invited again to participate in Women Soar, but didn't receive notification until just before Oshkosh and sadly didn't have help that weekend to cover the booth in order to attend most of the activities. I did get to go to the icebreaker session - which was really fun. I hope to be able to participate next year, if they forgive me for standing them up. It is really a wonderful program. Some of the things these high schoolers have already accomplished make me feel like a slacker!

I am not going to even attempt to mention all of my wonderful social network or otherwise known aviation enthusiast friends that were there. I am embarrassed to say they had to all come by my booth to visit me since I was scarcely able to leave it. Next year my goal is to do something, anything, to free myself up a bit more to get out there to network, and maybe, even, GASP, enjoy the show!?!

If I sound too much like I'm complaining, I have to admit that at the beginning of the show my dad (who is my right hand man for most of what GWW does) and I were questioning our attendance. It's quite an expensive, labor intensive and time consuming endeavor. No matter how many t-shirts we sell, we never quite break even. But by the end of the week, though we were exhausted we both decided we'd go another round next year. If you need to know how supportive the aviation community is of your organization, you have to meet with them face to face. One certainly has a wide audience at Oshkosh. And if you want to know your impact, you have to see their reactions, like these girls, some of the many that sat down in the middle of the booth to read the Penelope book right away.

And so, Monday morning, as dad was fixing to drive away in his truck and camper, and I was driving home with my trailer, we both decided to have a go again next year.  It's just too rewarding.

And as far as my post-Oshkosh activities, though the trailer has been unloaded onto my back porch, the unsold merchandise still has to be inventoried and put away so it is available at the online Girls With Wings Pilot Shop. I have tons of emails and other correspondence to answer. Grants to apply for. Aviation Inspiration Days to arrange. GWW Chapters to train. And the Scholarship application window has closed, so those apps need to be evaluated and awarded. Gosh, what else? Oh, yeah, I need to actually get a job as a CFI before I forget all that I learned. Trust me, I do NOT want to go through that again.

Until next time...