Road Trip to WAI Conference

A picture of the Girls With Wings traveling road show....

Pretty impressive, isn't it? An 11 year old car which was badly vandalized (can you see the gouges I can't afford to fix on the hood and down the side where someone took a screwdriver or other tool to the paint? Grr.) towing a simple little trailer filled with marketing materials and items sold to raise funds for the Girls With Wings organization. And no, I have not learned to skillfully back up with a trailer. I usually unhook it and push it to where I need it to be. I am a whiz at many things, but I have my limitations.

I had to bring this up because I want people to know that GWW really is really a philanthropic organization with a limited budget and huge goals! So when I can't negotiate on t-shirt prices or donate money in response to a request that is why. My top priorities are our outreach programs and scholarship funds, so a fancy rig is going to have to wait.

So despite the cross country drive (North to South, that is), I just have to attend the Women in Aviation conference every year, and this was in Orlando, FL. To save on my expenses (I made the mistake ONCE of using the logistics company to ship my supplies - which were lost, damaged and cost me a small fortune), I decided to road trip it down from Cleveland. This 21st Annual WAI conference is my 5^th having a booth for Girls With Wings. I LOVE going to aviation conferences and attending WAI is a no brainer for a trip. This is where I find the women in aviation who act as role models to inspire girls to achieve their full potential. If that sounds like it'd be a good mission statement for GWW, it's because it is!

It is always such a charge to talk to people about GWW; either people have heard about us and are so excited to meet us in person, or they’ve purchased something from the store and just love telling a story about a reaction they got from someone, or they HAVEN’T heard of us and are so enthusiastic about their support for our mission. Whatever the interaction, it’s usually overwhelming positive. [I had only had one negative experience and that is when a woman came to the booth and demanded to be able to buy a pink lanyard. When I couldn’t produce one, she was mad. No kidding.]

I have a wonderful group of people helping me out again this year. Lindsey, the head of the Minnesota Club of Girls With Wings is here all weekend and helped to present our seminar “Attracting Kids to Aviation” in conjunction with Youth Aviation Adventure. We had a GREAT showing for this presentation, which just goes to show there is so much interest in people spreading a passion for aviation. Thanks to Steve and Dan for suggesting and coordinating the presentation. Their "seminar in a box" allows folks to put on an airport day for kids with tips and techniques for the smallest effort and the greatest success. It was insightful to compare and contrast our programs to give people ideas on how to start their own outreach program.

Also helping with the booth was Mikel, a tweeple I found via Twitter and also assisted me with the AOPA conference last year because she lives in Tampa. Sometimes I bring the whole kit and caboodle to a show; sometimes, I mail about five boxes to someone in the area and I set up a pretty sparse display. It works, but it’s not as fancy. If I do bring the trailer (like to Oshkosh) I unload the trailer with a handy dolly that turns into a cart. There’s no avoiding this step. I so envy organizations that show up the morning of an event because they have slick collapsible stands or their company can afford to have the logistics people for these events set it up for them. Some day.

Last year I mailed stuff to and from WAI with the help of a friend Sara. She helped with AOPA as well and now I just can’t keep her away from the booths! I used to fly with her husband at Flight Options and both are so supportive of GWW. As a pilot herself she really gets behind the mission. From left to right, Lindsey, Penelope, me, and Sara.

Amy, the 2008 Scholarship winner, was there with her Dowling College buddies and spent some time in the booth, as did Brenda, the 2007 scholarship winner. What a great opportunity to meet up with these great girls again. It’s sad when people who applied and didn’t win stop by, but they assure me there’s no hard feelings. I would LOVE to give everyone who applied a scholarship, but we need to sell a heck of a lot more t-shirts for that. And get donations and sponsorships, which is all why we attend these shows to make contacts and get everyone’s support.

It was an invigorating show and I'd like to thank all that stopped by. Please visit the website and/or make comments to the blog with your thoughts. Remember, the GWW merchandise line offers clothing and other items for girls of all ages; the rarely found aircraft themed items designed to let everyone know “Yes, Girls Can Fly!” While some may view one of our products as just a t-shirt, we believe that it is in fact a statement about the potential of girls to be intimately connected with Aviation (and other Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based fields) from the time they are born. We call this STEAM instead of STEM. In order for us to go Full STEAM Ahead, all profits from the aforementioned merchandise are invested in developments to our educational program and scholarships.

FAA Writtens

Hello, all, and sorry for the delay in the post... I've had quite a few people ask me how I did on my FOI written and I said I would post about it. Unfortunately, I took the test on a Wednesday morning (also pitching my resume to the flight school owner, btw) and had to prepare for for the Great Lakes Aviation Conference in Novi, MI. [Special thanks to Pam and Carol for helping with the booth!]. So I didn't post on Thursday before I left.

Unfortunately, on my way out of my house at 6am (I was awaiting sunrise), I went flying -pun intended- down four concrete stairs because of melted snow that had frozen overnight, landing on my left shin with a second point of contact: my face. I seriously considered getting my leg x-rayed to see if I had broken it. Such pain. I am happy to report no broken teeth or split lips.

Luckily it stopped hurting enough for me to be able to stand in the booth for the next couple of days. It didn't help the healing though, and so I am trying to keep it elevated while trying to get caught up with packing for the Women in Aviation Conference today (you can guess how well that's going). I would take a picture of the fireworks display that has erupted on my lower leg, but I will spare those of you with weak stomachs. Tomorrow I begin the 16 some hour drive to FL. Just so I can enjoy the warmer weather longer....

So, about my test. Let me just say that in the interest of time, I prepared for the FOI written by using webexams.com and continuously taking the practice exam over and over again. I had hoped to get all of the writtens done by the end of February but that's clearly not going to happen. I scheduled the FOI written before I could think of an excuse to work on other things and put that off, too.

The actual test is done on a computer in a 'certified location' and is a pretty basic 1983 era looking fifty question test (unlike the 100 question test online). The problem with my doing the online test over and over again is that I had stopped actually reading the answers and had more memorized where the answer was (like the third position). In the actual test, there are the same answers but in different order, so I missed FOUR because I couldn't remember which was the true answer. *blush* Unfortunately, looking at the answers and using the intellect-based method of choosing the answer that makes most SENSE to you doesn't work in the FAA exam.

At least 92 well exceeds the passing minimum grade of 70. Before you even think it, I know: I'm going to have to go back and read the answers that I had just memorized so I will learn from the information in that test.

So in order to set up the test, I received a phone call from my instructor, Tony, telling me I needed to call someone else (not just the flight school) to schedule the exam. Apparently, this test is moderated by a company called Computer Assisted Training Service. The good news is that you can get $10 off for being an EAA member, but instead of being $75 for the test, it's $100! This is the kind of business I need to be in - since this averages $10/min for how long it took me to take the actual test.

I'll be honest, I am learning a lot of new things becoming involved in General Aviation. As we throw around all of the reasons that we think GA is a fading trend and why fewer people get into flying, perhaps we could ask ourselves why on top of all of the other expenses in learning to fly, why a simple computer based test should cost so much. I have three writtens I need to take before I begin my flight training at a total cost of $300! How long does it to take the average person to raise this kind of money? Could this not be a function of the FAA? Certainly they have IT folks over there, and they are responsible for maintaining the test results anyway. It's just one more outrageous cost involved in getting a pilot's license.

So what are your thoughts? Do you agree? Or am I missing something?

Hangar Flying Revisted

This weekend I got about as close to hangar flying as I've ever gotten in my sixteen years as a pilot. If you don't know what hangar flying is, I briefly talk about it here.

Basically, it provides pilots the opportunity to tell "there I was" stories. In the military flight school I think we were too traumatized to relive our experiences. As a military officer and pilot I had too many other duties to be able to sit around and gab. Then I guess we regional airline pilots sat around and told stories, but they were usually tales of woe relating how our bosses were abusing us. As I climbed the ladder of a professional pilot career, I became associated with pilots that didn't want to spend too much time admitting mistakes or ignorance.

So as I face my new life as a furloughed pilot I slide down the chute to the General Aviation ramp (this is not an insult to GA by any means but a clever analogy with which I can use the picture at right) and so I am learning so much from dealing with a new genre of pilots.

Saturday I went to a Civil Air Patrol meeting. CAP is is a Congressionally chartered, federally supported, nonprofit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the US Air Force providing such services as Aerospace Education, Cadet Programs and Emergency Services, as well as my intended mission, Pilot Training and Services. The CAP unit I am joining has a Cessna 182 available for flying missions, such as search and rescue and cadet orientation flights.

After the standard meeting tasks, we spent quite a bit of time talking about a thorough pre-takeoff brief in order to be prepared for any contingency (or emergency). The message being if you brief specifics on the ground you will not have to make too many decisions in the air when you're short on runway, altitude and time. You may have to slightly modify your plan if conditions change, but that will be a minor consideration instead of holding a soup sandwich when you should be holding it together.

What was interesting to me was that the flight instructors in the room started offering their tips. Tips that if given during a busy lesson in the airplane might have been forgotten once on solid ground, but were well received and responded to by the other pilots. Folks in the group spoke up with thoughts such as "I've always wondered what would happen if I was trimmed for Vy but... (lost an engine, went full throttle, etc.)?"

The more experienced pilots in the room told them to take the opportunity to go practice these scenarios on their next training flight (albeit at a safe altitude!), so they would be prepared to react when something untoward did happen. For Real.

The reason we brief another pilot (if applicable) before takeoff is to ensure that in an emergency the other pilot isn't doing his own thing - like changing the configuration of the airplane at low altitude and airspeed. This could be fatal. Of course, we can all armchair quarterback such events and say, "we'd never do something so stupid," but such accidents happen repeatedly. According to this AOPA Air Safety Foundations report, takeoff accidents account for 20 percent of the total.

It’s logical that this would be a problem area because there is frequently little altitude or time to solve a problem or to maneuver. Regardless of whether it is a mechanical failure or pilot-induced, time, airspeed and altitude are all in short supply. In any event, it’s essential to have a contingency plan in the event of a power loss at a critical time.

So much as possible, we want our reaction to an emergency to be instinctive. If a pilot has seen the situation before, even just a simulation of the event, the correct response may come a split second earlier, preventing a fatal, uh, conclusion to the flight.

The discussion, btw, was supplemented with videos from The Finer Points of Flying website. One that I found particularly interesting was the "Impossible Turn." [#35] I think it finally hit me that I've been flying airplanes with two engines for so long I've grown to think as the second one being the "spare." An airplane will fly fine on one engine (won't climb as well, though, which is why we must consider our "one engine inoperative climb rates" especially at airports within mountainous terrain), so it's less of an "emergency" than in an airplane with one engine and no spare.

So, this impossible turn involves taking off from an airport, losing an engine, and executing a landing to the runway in the opposite direction (given due consideration to the winds). I've only heard of this happening once, and until it was mentioned here had completely forgotten about it. A Beech 1900 that took off from PIT, where I was based, had a cargo door come open in flight. Those pilots had the presence of mind to execute the turn and land immediately. Ok, totally different scenario, of course, but I'm pretty darn sure that contingency wasn't briefed before takeoff. Kudos to them for their cool heads!

Anyway, if a pilot truly believes it impossible to return to the runway in this manner after an engine failure, you could, as one pilot suggested, go to Google maps before a flight to an unfamiliar airport you can check the satellite view for suitable terrain for an off airport landing. See... I hadn't thought of that!

p.s. For those of you tracking my progression towards CFI, I am taking my FOI written tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Guest blogging

Blogging is a wonderful way to get your message out to a lot of folks in an easier (and less "spammy" way) than sending out emails. I started this blog about "Life on the Road as a Pilot," but I'm less on the road as a pilot now than I am promoting Girls With Wings. Therefore, I am posting about whatever comes my way and I try to get a sense of what people are interested in by the comments they post.

Ok, I used the word "easier" when I talked about blogging, but truth is, it's not all that easy to keep up a blog. For me, anyway. As a reader of my blog you know that I start talking about one thing and digress into a little of my history with it, lessons learned, more resources, whatever, until it's a mile and a half long. With all I have to do with Girls With Wings, it's often a little hard to devote several hours to blogging. I do try though! The other alternative, which is what many bloggers do, is they post very brief entries more often. I just can't do that. Some say I talk too much....

So I've been asking around for contributions to the blog. If you think you have an idea for a blog entry, please let me know and we can bounce ideas off each other. The same way I did with Av8rdan, when he invited me to post an entry on his blog. It took me a while to get around to it (many apologies, Dan), but here it is:

This Girl With Wings Really Knows How to Ramp up the Excitement About Flying!

Enjoy. And I'll be back (eventually).

Wow, look! A brief post. I CAN do it.

Playing "girl"

This weekend I traveled to Indianapolis to participate in "Just Girls... From Fashion to Rocket Science" for girls in grades 6 to 12. The weather put a real damper on the event (though it wasn't nearly as bad as what fell on the east coast). I know personally drove 7 hours because the snowstorm impeded my progress. And on Saturday morning, few people ventured out until the roads were completely clear which meant that many of the exhibitors and most families didn't show up. The girls who did attend spent the time just milling around the tables at the periphery of the room.

I did a couple of short 15 minute presentations to the crowd, but at my table I had a G1000 (Glass cockpit) poster to demonstrate to the girls a quick primer on what that "stuff" in the cockpit is for (usually I take an hour to present the whole Girls With Wings seminar).

I started out by just letting them look at the poster, at which most of them just shrugged. I asked them if this was too intimidating for them to figure it out. A few girls said that if given time they could probably come up with what everything was for (yea!), but most girls said they thought it would be too hard.

So I issued them a challenge. I said I was going to ask them ONE question, and if they got it right I would know that they had the aptitude to be a pilot.

I pointed out where the pilot would sit (on the left) and the screen she would be looking at. So, I asked, "Why would this screen be colored blue up here?" Most of the girls immediately said the sky, although a couple said the ocean - at that point I further pointed out the brown and led them along a little longer. But I was able to say to them, "See, you have the potential to get this stuff!"

Once they understood that represented the sky and ground, I pointed out the airplane indicator and said, "If each of those yellow lines represents a wing, what do you think your airplane would be doing if the left line was below the horizon (that was another learning point) and the other was above?" The majority of the girls got that the airplane would be turning with no other hints. Some of the girls needed a little more pushing. We then went on to briefly talk about the other instruments, I'm not kidding you, some of these girls must have been in an airplane before - they had NO problem figuring it all out with little assistance from me.

However, there were a couple of girls (more than I would have liked) that preferred to answer every question with a shrug or a giggle or just plain wouldn't even look at the poster to hazard a guess. These are the girls who I think could most benefit from the Girls With Wings presentation. We cannot teach our girls to be afraid to try or pretend that they can't figure things out! I had to coax them into feeling comfortable doing so in front of just lil ole me. No way they could have done this under any pressure or public observation.

The next morning I had cause to reflect on this further as I listened to NPR Sunday Puzzle show. Each week Liane Hansen moderates this short episode of word play games. A challenge is given out at the end of the last show and people mail in their answer. The winner then comes on the next week's show to participate in the on air quiz given by "Puzzle Master Will Shortz." Some of the quizzes get pretty difficult but Leann is usually able to contribute a hint to clue in each guest if not outright answer. This week:

Every answer today is a word used in football. Given three words, you give a word that can follow each to give a familiar two word phrase. The answer will always be a football term. For example, if the clue is "year, tag and dead," the answer would be "end."

Now, I don't know if I was paying more attention because I had just had the experience at the Girls Show or whether Leann was playing "dumb" because this was a sports oriented quiz, but one of the first questions was, "prison, national, rear." The contestant couldn't answer, so asked Leann for help. She says, "Alright, for someone who doesn't know much about football..." You could hear her begin with "is it G_," and then hesitate. Then she says, "...uh, Guard. No..." It was so obvious that she KNEW! Was she just trying to save the contestant's feelings? It was a guy, by the way. And at the end of the puzzle, she says sheepishly, "I know nothing about football." Isn't that perfectly ok that she doesn't (even though it was obvious she did)? She's clearly a genius and successful in so many other ways...

So what do you think? Why do we women and girls have to do this to ourselves?

Secret Agent Code

I'm so embarrassed. They say the way to make sure you get things done is to let the world know what you're trying to accomplish. The social pressure will force you to keep on it.

Well, I guess that's true, since I did revisit the CFI written this morning after a long stretch away from studying. I have gotten preoccupied with other things on my to do list and usually by the time I thought about studying I was too tired. I do not want to make a habit of this and draw out my training for my flight instructor ratings.

The good news is that the learning I had accomplished previously did not entirely leave me and I scored a 97. One of the questions I got wrong was:

To communicate effectively, an instructor must:

maintain a positive attitude while delivering their message.
recognize the level of comprehension
provide an atmosphere which encourages questioning.

I thought it would be to recognize the level of comprehension. Which is wrong; hence the big red X. It was "to maintain a positive attitude." Huh? Yeah, that's important but I would think it would be to pay attention to whether the recipient was getting the message the instructor was sending. You've got to know your audience, like Jean, a Girls With Wings role model and Master CFI advised, "When I work with former airline types, they always try to flare 10 stories up. Pretty hard on the gear :-) "

I've heard that before, so I'm not actually starting completely from scratch. Though if I were, these photos I've attached would certainly make me more familiar with the parts of the airplane. This is a South African airline with a great sense of humor. Thanks, GWW Role Model Erin, for sending them to me.

Usually people become a flight instructor in the progression from student to private pilot after they get their instrument and commercial ratings. The traditional route is to "build time" here on the way to get an airline job. Some people remain flight instructors their whole lives, either because this is their dream job or it is something they do in addition to a career like a cargo, corporate or airline pilot. As I have mentioned before, I skipped this step going from the military to the airlines. I've been researching how I should best go about this new phase in my flying career. I actually asked Jean to give me some more advice as I transition to a professional airline pilot to a CFI, or certified flight instructor.

"As a long time CFI/II I have been asked to do many things but this current request from Lynda is quite unique. As many of us know she has been furloughed and finds herself in the same position as too many folks these days. The positive of being unemployed is that one has lots of time to train for a new position. Lynda has chosen to become a flight instructor way down here at the lowly level of the General Aviation Pilot. I think that this challenge for her would be like asking me to train someone as a Long Haul driver in a Mack truck. I know nothing about “over-the-road” driving and less about how to shift into 20 different gears in a 60’ semi.

Lynda finds herself going all the way back to the kindergarten of flight school. She will essentially be a “student pilot” in a training airplane. I remember my early days in a Cessna 150 in the right seat for the first time in the traffic pattern facing Santa Ana winds that required landings in the opposite direction from the normal traffic pattern. This was bad enough but combined with the turbulence and my less than patient older male instructor the lesson was abysmal. As I walked away from the debrief, I overheard Mr. Impatient tell the flight school owner, “she will never make it”. Well, this just fired me up and to make a long story short, I not only made it, I did it on my first try – which is rare – for the CFI rating. Well, I digress. This is not about me, but about how Lynda is going to accomplish her goal of becoming a CFI/II.

She has an excellent start by studying the Fundamentals Of Instruction, which can be challenging, but will make since once she starts “teaching” and applying the principles of the Fundamentals. My advice at this point, books, lots of books. A typical CFI library consists of but is not limited to: A Pilot Training Standard (PTS) for each rating, a current Airport Facility Directory (A/FD), current charts – both VFR and IFR. (I find the Government issue to be the most popular with students), current issue of an FAR/AIM, Flight Training Handbook, Instrument Training Handbook, and various Advisory Circulars as a start. Additionally, a syllabus for each rating is a must.

There are a few ways Lynda can enhance and shorten her training time. One example is to buddy-up with another CFI candidate and take the opportunity to join training flights. Once proficient with the Private and Commercial maneuvers Lynda can “borrow” a student or even a non-student-pilot friend who is willing to be a “guinea pig” and let her practice “teaching”.

Good luck Lynda, you are facing a very rewarding challenge."

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and your support. I WILL get this done. You watch me. (And keep reminding me.)

Showing improvement

This morning I scored in the 90s (finally!) on my FOI practice exam. With a nod to all of you that have been sending me tips and advice, I have been cycling through emotions ranging from sheer terror at my ineptitude to a calm feeling of, like other achievements I have attained in my life, that I'll get there eventually....

All right, ineptitude may be too strong a word. I just know that I have a lot to do before I can (should) instruct students - after all, they're paying a rather sizable chunk of their hard earned money on their flight training. And then there's that whole, "screw up and die" factor in aviation. I want my students to fly safely, too.

I have been reminded that passing the writtens is more than memorizing the correct answers - there is a reason for this test and that is to check an instructor's comprehension of the concepts referred to in it. I guess that's why it's called the Fundamentals. Of. Instruction. I get it.

Another issue I'm dealing with is referred to in this question:

When a person has difficulty recalling facts after several years, this is known as

	poor retention.
	repression.
	disuse.

	I'm not sure, but don't show this question again
	I'm sure, don't show this question again

The fundamentals of flight training that I received so many years ago have definitely gotten a little dusty. So yesterday, just for "fun," I started to take the Private Pilot written exam. Out of 54 questions, I got 36 correct. I know, I know, I shouldn't be bragging about that. But c'mon, that was walking into that completely cold!

Some of the topics were things I didn't think about any more, perhaps because of automation? The Flight Management System figures out the landing distance for the Citation X given various information about the aircraft and it is also printed on our dispatch release the company provides. I did get this one right, because we do need to know how to do it anyway (just in case the computer goes down).

One question about takeoff distance I got wrong because the number I got seemed so tiny. I just didn't trust myself.

Here's another question about a topic that I haven't had to deal with in ages - and even then it was only briefly. I was in a single engine airplane only to transition from helicopters to the King Air (a multi-engine turboprop)...

While cruising at 9,500 feet MSL, the fuel/air mixture is properly adjusted. What will occur if a descent to 4,500 feet MSL is made without readjusting the mixture? The fuel/air mixture may become excessively lean (I was right, but only because I guessed the longest answer - that's an insider's old trick, btw).

This one brought up an old memory.

Which would most likely result in hyperventilation?

The excessive consumption of alcohol. An extremely slow rate of breathing and insufficient oxygen. Emotional tension, anxiety, or fear. I'm not sure, but don't show this question again I'm sure, don't show this question again

Although excessive consumption of alcohol was definitely present during my flight school training my first year in the army, the answer is emotional tension, anxiety, or fear. I was able to answer this one from experience, because that's exactly what I did when an instructor in the army took me out for spins in a Tomahawk (sometimes referred to as a traumahawk).

According to Wikipedia: The Tomahawk was Piper's attempt at creating an affordable two-place trainer. Before designing the aircraft, Piper widely surveyed flight instructors for their input into the design. Instructors requested a more spinnable aircraft for training purposes, since other two-place trainers such as the Cessna 150 or Cessna 152 were designed to spontaneously fly out of a spin. The Tomahawk's NASA^[1] GA(W)-1 Whitcomb airfoil addresses this requirement by requiring specific pilot input in recovering from spins, thus allowing pilots to develop proficiency in dealing with spin recovery.

After the first spin, we leveled out and I could not catch my breath. Huh. Huh. Huh. My instructor (the one who used to chuckle if we messed up) said, "Lynda, c'mon breathe. Stick with me here."

Once I caught my breath, we did it again. Only a tiny bit of hyperventilating. Then again. No hyperventilating. Then again, and again, and again, until I could enter the spin and recover on my own with no interference from the instructor.

I am *really* looking forward to spins again.

Next post we'll talk more about the advice I've been getting. As always, comments are appreciated. Keep 'em coming!

Student Responsibilities

Ok, I have to tell on myself here. I've spent two days focusing attention on my Army instructors for their performance, but we students have a responsibility, as well, and that's to let our instructors know what's going on in our heads. This question brought back a memory...

Which statement is true regarding the achievement of an adequate standard of performance?

A flight instructor should devote major effort and attention to the continuous evaluation of student performance.

Flight instructors can affect a genuine improvement in the student/instructor relationship by not strictly enforcing standards.

Flight instructors fail to provide competent instruction when they permit students to partially learn an important item of knowledge or skill.

The answer is C. I thought about a concept in my primary training (the first phase of Initial Entry Rotary Wing - IERW) that I didn't grasp initially that haunted me in subsequent training. And I mean for a long while. Even to this day I can't remember what the name is for this technique, so any of you instructors out there are welcome to comment below with the correct name.

This integral knowledge that I never fully grasped was that concept of being able to see where you were going to touch down in the helicopter and maintain a constant angle of descent to it, achieving a stabilized approach. I remember it being explained to me that it was some kind of "cone of action" or movement or something or other.

The idea was that you were supposed to be able to look at your intended landing point ( end of a runway or section of a field, etc.) and see no movement at that particular point. However, everything around that point should be moving (albeit minimally). Things in front would be moving forward, things to the side should be moving farther out, and things behind should be moving backward. If you got this concept, which I hadn't, you would be able to maintain a constant descent angle through out your approach and landing, preventing you from under or over arcing from the straight line that could ideally be drawn from your point of initial descent to your touchdown point (possible action for under arcing= add power, over arcing = subtract). Pictures (and a more thorough explanation) at http://www.copters.com/pilot/na_picts_jpeg.html

Obviously, this is a purely visual maneuver and would take, for example, just small corrections in power if the target settings were hit straight off. But, if you (or me, in this case) never understood this concept, too large corrections would be made too late and increase the possibility that I talked about in my last post, where the instructor got back to the table and said, "you were too high on the first one, too slow on the second," etc., and never a stabilized approach would be achieved.

I was working way too hard trying to cover up my ignorance when I should have just admitted my confusion. I'm not sure when the light bulb went on in my head, but once it did, it solved a multitude of problems and let me focus on the real subject of the lesson at hand.

FoMI, pt. 2

This morning I did another iteration of the Fundamentals of Instruction exam. [And to answer your question, I am still far FAR from getting 100%.] When I read the question: "When an instructor critiques a student, it should always be..."

Unfortunately, the online test was being difficult and wouldn't let me easily copy the choices, so I'll just jump ahead and tell you that the answer was, in effect, to conduct the critique immediately following the lesson. One of the results of that experience with my first Army flight instructor I told you about last time is that I was switched to a new one after my original instructor went on vacation.

What led to this change? Because when I didn't have his presence in the left seat (the primary flight position in a helicopter is in the right, remember?) and an instructor over there who didn't scream at me, I did great. We flew with this substitute instructor pilot for a week and I not only caught up with everyone else, I exceeded the standard for that phase of instruction.

The day my instructor got back, I was supposed to FINALLY solo (in a helo that means you fly with your stick buddy in the other seat - technically not really alone), but the winds exceeded the limits. So Screamerman instructed me to fly back to our home airfield. I picked up to a hover, departed the traffic pattern, flew back to home station, made an approach, came to a hover, taxied onto the ramp, and set the huey down in a confined space and shut 'er down - without him saying a word. I will never forget the slack jawed look my instructor gave me, and the disbelieving praise he then offered.

The next day, however, as I had been conditioned, I flinched every time I knew I had done something wrong, even though the instructor wasn't (had promised not to) yell. Too late. Flinch, quake, fumble. Fail.

So, again, Marty the stick buddy to the rescue. I was too cowardly to "give up" and demand another instructor so he went to bat for me. Again, it was the Army. Tough it out, soldier! The funny thing was, the NEW instructor I was assigned had adopted a technique of not immediately offering a critique. He would remain silent the whole flight session until we returned to the table and then say, "You were too fast on the first approach, too high on the second, didn't put enough wind correction in on the third," etc. How useless was that information? Not only did I have no recollection of these individual approaches, it also wasn't allowing me to make the corrections when I could have seen the results! I eventually soloed, which it seemed I would never do, as you can see in the photo to the left.

What a struggle. Yet I made it through and learned a lot in the process. The instructors I had in later phases were just fine, but I probably still would have been reluctant to request a change. Doing so the second time might have labeled me a "troublemaker." Don't want to make those waves... Luckily, in the civilian world, you don't have to worry about that. It's your money, take charge of your training! Get what you pay for!

What else did I learn from my flight training? Not just how to be a pilot, but also some real world applications (which I will continue to share) for some of these concepts in the test.

Except for questions like this:

Affective domain relates to

O	attitudes, beliefs, and values.
	knowledge.
	physical skills.

	I'm not sure, but don't show this question again
	I'm sure, don't show this question again

You're darn tooting, I'm not sure. What in the world does this have to do with anything?!?

Fundamentals of MY Instruction

As I begin studying for my CFI written, I am reminded of my experiences with my own training to be a pilot. I dreamily read the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI), a 193 question test that I must complete before the flying portion of the training. I imagined myself guiding my students to great heights and achievements as I molded their willing minds. And then I took a practice test on www.webexams.com. I scored a 74 out of 100. Well, ok, I can't expect to be perfect first time around. So I took it again today. 72 out of 100. Either I'm regressing or I'm hungry. I'll take the second option, as I have learned from the FOI that students must have their basic needs met first and I really need to go get some groceries.

Anywho, I read with interest question #99: A communicator's words cannot communicate the desired meaning to another person unless the

a. words give the meaning that is in the mind of the receiver.
b. listener or reader has had some experience with the objects or concepts to which these words refer.
c. words have meaningful referents.

Any guesses? I'd rule out the one with the word "referents." I've never even heard of that word before. And if the receiver already had the meaning in their mind, they wouldn't need an instructor, would they? So that leaves b, which is pretty obvious anyway.

This reminded me of my flight training days back in the Army. My instructor (a Vietnam vet, now Department of the Army civilian) was a screamer who was not satisfied unless I left the helicopter crying (I'm pretty sure the FOI would say this would have been needed to be stated in the learning objectives, but I digress).

The briefing table was not much better. The prebrief consisted of introducing new concepts of rotary wing flight that we would see demonstrated in the Huey. Sounds fair, right? I still remember one day that we sat down at the table and first thing my instructor says to me totally out of the blue, "A pound of torque equals five knots or 100 feet per minute." I stare back blankly. So he says it again. "A Pound Of Torque Equals Five Knots Or 100 Feet Per Minute." I got nothing. So he asks my stick buddy (as we called my training partner in those days - love ya, Marty, wherever you are), "do you understand me?" "Yes," says Marty, "but I majored in Aeronautical Engineering (or something similar)." [I can only assume my degree in History is why the question was directed toward me in the first place.] Screamerman wasn't listening. So, again, he repeats, "A POUND OF TORQUE EQUALS FIVE KNOTS OR 100 FEET PER MINUTE." This time so the whole room could hear how much trouble he was having getting through to me. [visual aid (the use of which is highly stressed in the FOI) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque]

I finally said to him something to the effect of "You know, you could be speaking Greek for all the sense those words are making to me. And saying it louder is certainly not going to make it any more clear." There was probably a sniff in there too. Then, and only then, did he explain that the power applied to the main rotor was measured in pounds of torque (force rotating around an axis) and an increase in this force could either manifest itself as an increase in airspeed (measured in knots) or a climb (in feet per minute). Or something like that.

Now. Wasn't that easier? Less hostile? Much more effective?

The good thing is that I made it through flight training. Yes, I struggled with the basics, but by the time we were in the practical application phase (Basic Combat Skills) I had no worries whatsoever. The residual effect of this method of training, though (yeah, I know, it WAS the Army), was that when I messed up in the helicopter, I would scream at myself. My first airplane instructor (also ex-military) chuckled every time we students messed up. Laid back, calm, constructively criticizing. I much prefer the latter, wouldn't you? My students won't have to choose; I don't have much of a voice for screaming anyway.

Furlough is now official.

I started this blog entry on what was officially my last day as a pilot with NetJets. I know that I used that designation a couple of times, but I previously was referring to my last day flying with them, then the last day of my tour, then January 16th, which was my official furlough day (I will have another 'last day' - that day that my pay and benefits end).

This has been a rough time. I've never been furloughed before so I am wading through a bunch of paperwork - trying to figure out all of the ins and outs of "pausing" employment, like getting my vacation days and PTO (personal time off) paid, filing my last expense report, updating my standing bid and contact information (when we get recalled I only have 7 days to respond - don't want "undeliverable mail") and sending my stuff (like my crackberry and ID) back to the company. Sunday I registered for Ohio's unemployment benefits - surprisingly a not too difficult task. I only wish that my unemployment check would exceed the amount of my mortgage - government doesn't want us to get too comfortable sitting on the couch eating bon-bons I guess.

That being said, I am so lucky in that I am being furloughed instead of my company going out of business. If they had, I would not have access to COBRA, which will allow me to continue medical and dental benefits during this time and I would not have the job to look forward to going back to. Any pilot will tell you, now is not a good time to be looking for a flying position, so I expect to be able to have quite a bit of time working on Girls With Wings -- and there is a lot to do!

One of the projects I am working on in this new venture with Girls With Wings as a non profit is to gain tax exempt status with the IRS. This is the infamous 501(c)(3) status will allow tax deductible contributions to the organization.

But just like any IRS form, it is long and convoluted. I am having to answer questions like: "Have you ever or will you ever, act, think, or plan to do any of the following activities or anything resembling such actions as it pertains to a past, present, or future endeavor your organization undertakes or is even remotely considering participation? If so, who will be responsible for these events and in which way are they qualified? Include any publicity methods and materials along with the specific criteria under which you will take part in said activities...." Or something quite similar to that. Sheesh. They do not make it easy. But then again, no one wants a impostor organization skimming funds for vacations to Europe, either. I would love to hand this off to my assistant, but.... I don't have one. [Applications for this unpaid position are being gratefully accepted.]

Another top priority? Getting my CFI/CFII/MEI. More on that next time...

Should that be "Life on the ROPES as a Pilot?"

For those readers of this blog that haven't heard yet: I am going to be furloughed this month from NetJets. Boo. I am completely bummed about this because I do believe that NetJets is about the best flying job out there to be found (and I've been a military, commercial airline and fractional pilot). However, in addition to working my 7 day tours earning my living, Girls With Wings (which sucks that salary back out again) has always kept me so busy on my days "off" that after 7 days at home I was ready to go back to "work" flying my beloved Citation X.

Frankly, I'm pooped.

In a way this furlough is very timely. There is so much potential with Girls With Wings - now a non profit organization officially (though it hasn't made a dime in its six years anyway) with 501(c)(3) status pending (or at least whenever I can finish that bleeping IRS paperwork) that I can finally take advantage of!

And so, as of mid January, I will be shaking the trees to find sources of revenue for Girls With Wings in the form of grants, sponsorships and donations so I can pursue the many many ideas for GWW. Meanwhile, I have to also be covering my mortgage because very few people will give money to homeless people. I mean, they do... but panhandling has never been my forte.

And though I could try to find another job and still work on GWW in my spare time, I just don't see my being able to grow the organization - as the situation seems to demand. Already I think people may be getting frustrated with thinking about the mission of Girls With Wings: "using women in aviation to inspire girls to achieve their full potential," and think yeah, but HOW are you doing that? I know I do. So many ideas; so little time.

Already I have had some amazing women(and men) raise their hands to help out. Folks are compiling events for the Penelope Pilot Project and resources for the presentations, asking for scholarship donations, creating informational multi-media materials, writing for the new Penelope's Page, etc. I know people out there want to assist me in our mission, but it takes time for me to get them into a position to be able to do so. Hours that right now I don't have.

So, what am I going to do to keep Mr. Ci T. Mortgage off my case? Start flight instructing. Yeah, I know, I know. There's, like, NO money in instructing. Plus, you're talking to (or reading about) a woman who went right into the Army's Flight School and flew helos and King Airs for seven years. Then went right into the regional airlines flying Beech 1900s and then got jet jobs with Flight Options and NetJets. So even though I have approximately 5000hrs (time to update my logbook, I should think), I have barely any single engine time. And even less flying around the pattern, flight following, VFR cross-country time. Which is what I'm going to be instructing in. Ha.

I am a curious case for sure. Most people get their basic certificates: private, instrument, commercial, and then instruct til they can get an airline job. I've had the airline job, now I have to turn around and get training as a student pilot. No kidding. How in the heck am I going to land an airplane that can't fly as fast as the speed my current airplane lands at? Chandelles? Lazy 8s? Uh... what?

p.s. am totally NOT looking forward to spins again.

Luckily I met up today with a highly recommended local instructor who is willing to take on the challenge of teaching me. He also, strangely enough, has more confidence in me than I think healthy at this point. He has told me what to study and what written tests to take first. Then we'll start the flying portion in order to become a CFI: Certified Flight Instructor, CFII, a CFI that can train students in instruments, and MEI: a multi engine airplane instructor.

I am really excited at the prospect of being an instructor. I don't know how many students are available out there right now, but I think I will bring an unusual perspective to the syllabus. As a pilot who has been out there in the real world flying a variety of missions, I hope to be able to impart some insight to my students. And, truth be told, I'm a little rusty on some of the fundamentals. I could use a little refresher myself. And there's no better way to learn than to teach.

I'm sure some of you reading this are a bit confused by some of the terminology I have used. My goal is to bring you along as I go through my training so you will know by the time I get signed off. [Especially since I won't have stories of my jet-setting lifestyle for SOME time to come.] Then I can share my experiences of flight instructing, too. My deadline is set for May. That's a little vague, but I've got to figure out exactly how much I will be on the road the next few months to fit in the flight portions. I think May is completely reasonable to complete all my ratings. First I have to start studying for the writtens.

I'm also looking into ways to fund this training, which will probably cost about $2000. Some of my options appear to be 1. GI benefits (which I kinda think I'm not eligible for anymore) 2. State Unemployment Funds (I understand Ohio is not too willing to pay for pilot training since, obviously, aviation is not exactly a "growth industry" these days) 3. Sponsorship (from companies and organizations willing to do a little cross-promoting of getting more women interested in pursuing flight lessons).

If you're intrigued with any of this, please leave your comments, questions and suggestions on the blog. I would love to hear them because I would like to know what you'd like to hear about as well.

2010 is going to be great. Happy New Year!

Flying Above the Glass Ceiling - A book review

I was asked to read the book Flying Above the Glass Ceiling and give the author my comments. I always feel under such pressure to do this (what to say if I don't like it?), especially since I'm writing my own book and know that you just can't please everyone. If I'm willing to blog about it, my feelings about the book must be ones I would like to pass along...

Captain Nina Anderson has compiled a book about the women in aviation between the era of the WASP up to the present day. The WASP were amazing in supporting the war effort in WWII but their efforts did not achieve full equality with their male counterparts though they did many of the same jobs - especially since they were only offered jobs as flight attendants instead of pilots by a major airline after they were disbanded by the government. If you don't know the history of the WASP. Stop Reading. This. Now. and proceed to Wikipedia to learn about these amazing women. Then come back. We'll wait.

Ok, so we now know it took thirty three years for these women to get official recognition for their efforts, so there were many years leading up to 1977 - and after - for women to gain acceptance as pilots and equals (some would say we're still waiting...). It was only just last year that the WASP received awards for their military service! But there has been and are so many other aviation careers available - and rarely do we hear stories of the first female major airline pilots, corporate pilots, aeronautical engineers, air traffic controllers, etc., and examples of their struggles to be able to get their turn at the controls.

Well, here, after a nod to the women who blazed the trail before them, is a book that talks about those women who punched through the glass ceiling that the WASP and others in the past could only crack. And Flying Above the Glass Ceiling tells their stories with all the facts - some of them a bit harsher than others. It could not have been easy to be a fully qualified (perhaps even over-qualified) female applicant and told that you weren't going to be hired for the job because there were no bathroom facilities appropriate for the "fairer sex." Or that the wives of the other pilots would be threatened by a woman working so closely with their husbands. Or laughed at as a child when voicing dreams of going into space. Luckily legislation has made some of this, at least, illegal. You'll have to read the book to hear get the stories about ridiculous treatment from the general public.

I found myself inspired by many of their stories. I remember the day in the Army Flight School when a senior officer said to me, "You know the only reason you're here is because you're a female." The wind left my sails with an audible whoosh (though that could have been the lungful of air that escaped when that verbal punch hit my gut). Here I had thought I had gotten there (and stayed there - seemed like a lot of folks wanted to wash me out) through all of the hard work I was putting into my classes.

Although I feel I had a bit of a struggle in my becoming and being a pilot, it was nothing compared to women being outright criticized and rejected merely because of their gender. I appreciate the honesty of the women in this book who share their stories and their frustrations of being hired only to be the only pilot in their flight department not able to do ________, since a woman's place was _______. [This was kind of a recurring theme, feel free to choose your own words to fill in the blank.] It is also an underlying message in all of the stories that everyone is responsible for creating her own success.

Just in case you think this might be a call to burn your bra and scream out an anti man tirade, it is far from it. A couple of the women even submit opinions such as "women who seem to attract harassment or discrimination expect it." I can't agree with this generalization, though I will offer that none of the chapters relate only negative experiences. The contributing authors also share moments where they had people offering an incredible level of support (made more obvious in the midst of some who only liked having female pilots around to hit on). The most important thing we current women in aviation can do is to mentor our successors and offer our support to those following in our footsteps in what is still, obviously and unarguably, a male dominated profession. Ignoring this fact does not make it go away. Encouraging more women into aviation so they can be successful there will achieve the equal acceptance women seek.

I believe this book helps with that goal because it gives wonderful insight into the career progression of all of the women so that people unfamiliar with the different ways of "building time" in a career in aviation will learn about various routes to achieve their goals - whatever they might be. The book closes with some well worded, well deserved tips on being a respected professional in the aviation world (some unfortunately need a little reminding). But mostly it allows us to know the women who wore our shoes first; and though the styles have changed the lessons still apply today. Their frustrations, motivations and inspiration and why they continued to fly against headwinds no matter how strong and gusty because they wanted their dreams to take flight.

If you like what I had to say and would like your purchase of the book to result in a donation to Girls With Wings from Amazon.com click here.

Part 3 of Changing Gender Stereotypes

Seriously, I receive some of the most wonderful emails. I just have to share this one with you because I think it is a great example to balance out the previous posts about perceived gender differences and attitudes in the cockpit. As I have said before, I have some personal experiences with some of the best male co-pilots ever and then some not so nice. Even the younger guys who you would expect to be more "enlightened" can be a woman's worst critic (just ask the guy trying to get into an airline's new hire class and hear his complaint about how "that one woman" took his spot - ignoring the other larger number of male pilots who beat him out). To have an older guy 1. show this kind of insight and fairness and 2. take the time to write me about it, is pretty darn cool in my book, er, ...uh, blog.

(I only did a slight bit of editing punctuation-wise.)

Lynda

I have followed you and GWW for over a year and really enjoyed your efforts and the blog stories.

I read with interest your latest comments on the Gender thing and females in the cockpit or for that matter, even on the airport, as anything but the "Gal behind the desk."

Having been around the patch a few times in aviation and, yes, from the old school of many moons ago, the changes for women have been a hard fought road in aviation. I am from the days of being in the cockpit and hearing a female voice on center freq and all the comments from the guys about, "another empty kitchen." I have flown with female FO's and have found over all that they are on the same line, ability wise, as the males that hold down the seat cushion in the right seat. Pilots are people and it does not make any difference to the airplane if it is being flown by a guy or a gal. I have had one female F/O that was not worth a hoot but I have had several males that were even worse. Yet I have flown with female pilots that were way above average. So what does it come down tooooo....ATTITUDE!!!

I know what it is like to get a phone call at night and listen to a friend that is an A&P and working as a line mechanic at a very well known LARGE flight school in Florida and listen, console, give advice, and yes, even say "Hang in there," after she went through a day of "girls should not bend wrenches." But on the same side I have had the call from her the first time she was getting ready to fly her first IFR night flight by herself and she just wanted to hear someone say...."the airplane does not know if it is day, night, VFR, or IFR so just get in and fly it." That same person also called on the day she was to take her ATP and Dash 8-400 sim check and we spent 30 minutes on the phone as she paced the parking lot before the check ride. But 3 hours later I got the call that made my day. "Well, they took away my instrument rating". And you know what that means on the ATP checkride.

[An ATP, or Airline Transport Pilot rating, is more advanced than an instrument rating. It's like saying you have your doctorate; you don't need to also say you have your master's degree. It's understood.]

I am 110% for anyone that wants to make aviation their choice, male or female. You're right that attitudes do change and as you know it takes time for some changes. I worked for a cargo airline that had the first all female flight crew on a L-382, (civil version of the C-130), and we also had two female 707 captains.

Just want to add that I think what you are doing is a labor of both love for aviation and also for the younger girls that want to experience what we have both seen and done in airplanes.

Keep up the good work and maybe sometime we will be on the same ramp somewhere and get to meet.

Walt.

...Could not have said it better myself! Thanks, Walt, and everyone else for keeping the discussion balanced and on-going.

Part 2 of Changing gender stereotypes

Recently I posted a blog entry on Changing gender stereotype, like, 50, 100 years at a time... about a couple of news articles about women in aviation and aerospace that had negative comments published by readers. I then followed with a recap of a conversation I had with an old salt flight instructor that prompted a reader to send me the following message:

I sure hope things are not as bad as you say. My 10 year old daughter is really eager to fly. I'm just an amateur at this flying thing (instrument rated, with maybe 600 hours over too many years).

It would be cruel to see her interest squashed by this sort of stupidity. I often point out all the female voices on the air when we fly.

She's practically counting the days before she can start glider training at age 14.

Let me emphasize, Dad, that "things" are not that bad (and I didn't SAY those things, just quoted them). Some people's perceptions of a woman on the flight deck may be horribly misguided, but this "flying thing" is awesome, incredible, fascinating and something I wouldn't give up in a million years no matter how many stories I could tell you about some Neanderthal who tried to ruin it for me. As a fellow Army helicopter pilot and I discussed not too long ago (ok, maybe in the last decade), I can't believe we women pilots are still considered "pioneers" in aviation. [And my friend is female AND African American.] Instead of being "squashed" by people's ignorance, the journey has made me stronger, more outgoing, more fulfilled and definitely into the person I am today (and I kinda like the way she turned out after all). Girls With Wings would have certainly never come about if I had thought it was going to be easy, just like I would have never become a pilot unless the career track hadn't been presented as a challenge.

As I have said countless times before, nothing of any value in life comes easily. Our male counterparts will tell your daughter, as I'm sure you have, that this flying thing itself is tough regardless of your gender! Yes, you throw in a few knuckleheads who think every woman should have a safety pilot at the controls at all times, but I dare anyone to say that to Nicole Malachowski, the first female Thunderbird pilot, or Jill "Raggz" Long, a military airshow pilot, both one of many women in aviation role models on the Girls With Wings website. Especially if he's the one sitting in the other seat. Without the benefit of holding a sick sack. None of the women on the GWW website have had their interest squashed by someone else's stupidity. I hope those women who have been turned away from aviation have found their passion elsewhere or have been able to resume their dreams of flight.

I believe the attitude of male pilots toward women performing duties in the cockpit could be drawn in a bell curve. There are always those few on one end that can barely contain their contempt for a woman with a pilot's license (or driver's license for that matter) or those on the opposite end to whom it truly doesn't matter what gender their co-pilot is (heck, they may even prefer a female in the other seat). The vast majority of men are somewhere in the middle. Some give a woman the benefit of the doubt, let her "prove her skills" as it were, before she is accepted as a full fledged crewmember, or they might be super critical of every mistake she makes (while ignoring his own) which just encourages her to make more in her self consciousness and prove their unspoken opinion that women make "lesser" pilots. [Trust me when I say I am not the only pilot that sometimes feels judged under this modified standard.] That gender would take precedence over skills, and even factor into the dynamics of perhaps sticking two people who may have never met into a technologically advanced airframe to climb thousands of feet into the air and hurtle at great speeds to a long stretch of concrete hours later on the other side of the country is a issue I hope will evolve in the next few, uh, decades, to where the female isn't subconsciously considered the inferior pilot. But there it is.

So I am still doing this pilot thing after 16 years. Why? Because I love it. Because there is no other way for me to get the same joy I get from accelerating down a runway for takeoff and piercing the big blue sky. I especially love making a turn-out over the airport that I just took off from, but I am now looking down at it over one MILE in the sky. Suh-wheet!

Being a pilot has allowed me to meet some of the most incredible people because of my involvement in aviation. Yes, my fellow women aviation enthusiasts, who always comment how they love to get together with other female pilots to bond by sharing their stories of trials and successes that their other girl friends just don't get. But I have also met some amazing men in aviation who have shown such support to me on a personal level, as their first officer or captain, or for Girls With Wings as a volunteer organization that they can get behind. There are too many to name, but it includes Don, who did so much getting together our GWW training day at Rhinebeck Aerodrome, Keith from Jones Dykestra and Associates, guys I have met on myTransponder.com, Dave and all the folks from Twitter, my 400+ friends on Facebook, companies like ForeFlight, oh, and last but definitely not least, my father, who has been cheering me on from day 1 and who, well, happens to be a man. Any of these people may be assisting behind the scenes or making contributions to our scholarship and other GWW projects. But most of all, a HUGE portion of the emails I get, the folks that come to talk to me in the booth, stay after the presentations to talk, call me to ask how they can get their daughters (or sisters or mothers!) more interested in aviation, are MEN.

So, hopefully I will be dispelling any residual perception of my own stereotyping of men. I try to reserve judgment until I find out the other person's point of view. And that pathetic guy who said he wouldn't "give this silver-spooned neophyte the least consideration for single pilot IFR ops?" I would not waste my time trying to open his closed little mind. "If ignorance is indeed bliss, it is a very low grade of the article." -Tehyi Hsieh Chinese Epigrams Inside Out and Proverbs. I've got more important things to do. Like some simulator flying to study for. So I can go fly again.

So please don't let my discussion of the unfortunate and minor negative realities of this occupation deter your daughter or your support of her reaching her dream. I look forward to talking to your daughter (and you) on the radio soon!

Changing gender stereotype, like, 50, 100 years at a time...

Sometimes things just BEG for a blog entry...

A Girls With Wings Role Model, Kristine, tweeted this question: "how do guys really feel about female pilots? are we inferior? apparently my entire human factors class thinks so."

Of course my initial reaction was "lemme at 'em!" I've been around too long and talked to too many people, from students, full-fledged pilots to instructors to know that is not the case. Men and women have their different strengths, but it would be awfully hard to prove that one gender is better than the other at flying. Men certainly have been logging a lot more time overall.

It's sparked quite a bit of discussion on twitter and on facebook, where people have been sending and posting links to me about a story about "Pilot wants to inspire other young women."

Malvika Matharoo, 24, is Earhart's heir. A native of Punjab, India, she grew up in the Middle Eastern nation Oman. Matharoo studied aviation at the University of North Dakota and moved to California in December 2007. She lives in Petaluma and works for North Coast Air in Santa Rosa. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/08/DD631AFTSK.DTL#ixzz0WUj3miHc

She says, "I just started a program called "Take to the Sky," with North Coast Air and Valley of the Moon Teen Center in Sonoma. It's a flight program where I'm trying to encourage young women to pursue their dreams, hopefully in aviation. To say, "You can do it. I've done it.""

Unfortunately, the first comment on the news story was the following:

"Just inspiring.

We're still rolling on the floor laughing at this one! It is really nice that Daddy BigBucks could finance her flight training to get into an industry where there are NO JOBS available - but as long as she's "pursuing her dreams of being a role model" I suppose it's fine.

I like the opart about your "flight" starting 24 hours ahead of time. So much for on-demand charter operations I guess. Hopefully (if she's lucky enough to land a real flying job the annoying naivete will give way to reality - but i hire anywhere from 10 to 20 pilots a year - and i can assure you I wouldn't give this silver-spooned neophyte the least consideration for single pilot IFR ops.

I'm sure she'll do well in the right seat of a regional airline as long as some guy is sitting beside her telling her what to do. But let's keep the accolades to a rational level please!" (my italics)

I didn't see the part in the story that talked about her silver spoon. I did see where she "even [flew] in temperatures of minus 45 degrees with wind chill." Blech. And did she earn a pilot's license or a co-pilot's license, mister? Who are you to judge?

Of course we women pilots know this attitude is out there. The husband of my best friend, a pilot on furlough from a major airline, currently flies for a major cargo carrier. He has told us both that no matter how bad the things that have been said to our face are, they are nothing compared to what is said behind our backs. *Sigh* [This of course, does not take away ANYTHING from all of those great, supportive, talented male aviation contemporaries (a necessary disclaimer). You know who you are.]

In fact, soon after there was this tweet: RT @USATODAY Lost in space race: Female pilots

The article, which starts, "Women had the "right stuff," too, back in the '60s. But the data on their performance tests were buried in the Mad Men era, and it was two decades before there was an American female astronaut," talks of "the "Mercury 13" members of the private Woman in Space Program of the early 1960s did about as well as, or better than, male candidates identically tested." Read it here: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2009-10-14-astronauts-women_N.htm?csp=usat.me

But also read THOSE comments if you can. There's 156 of them! For example:

citizen99 (0 friends, send message) wrote: 5m ago
The best way to explore space is with Women and Men as co-astronaut crews. That way the women can bake the pies and the men can eat them. The same way it has worked on earth for centuries. Women can do the dishes and the men can put them away, if they are not too busy with their experiments and flying the space ship.

Or: AngryRepublican2 (10 friends, send message) wrote: 1h 37m ago
More radical, socialist / feminist propaganda to make us feel "guilty." Frankly, I doubt the accuracy of these studies. Unless there was some double blind testing, I suspect bias. Second, the studies do not seem to measure temperament. And let's be realistic here: men and women are different. Men are much better at making command decisions -- yes / no in two seconds in an emergency. Women are more deliberative. They like to mull over an issue, consider all the angles. That may be good in household management (should little Jimmy wear his rain slicker today?) or social work, but not when you are hurtling through space at 36,000 MPH and something goes wrong as in Apollo 13. This is why you see so few women CEOs. So few race car drivers. So few pilots. They are not wired for quick reactions.

Of course one guy had to write: The only female astronaut that I can think of just now, is that crazy one that drove cross-country wearing a diaper so she could assault a romantic rival.

...and then I just couldn't read any more. Well, one more, to be fair. Andrewnbham wrote:

"Sure, its possible the neanderthal bigots on this blog are right, without 'double blind' studies as some mention we can't be certain about the qualifications of women compared to men for anything (including being a housewife).

Its also possible that those bigots are just demonstrating the effects of centuries (millenia really) of socialization that taught them to feel the way they do, with no basis in fact for their opinions. There is NO objective, scientific evidence that women are any less able to do virtually anythnig men can do, and frequently do it as well or better. There IS centuries of ingrained prejudice and stereotypes passed down through generations very much alive today (as evidenced by this blog)."

Which brings me full circle back to the reason for this post. Last week was the AOPA Summit. Girls With Wings had a booth, and was assisted by Sara, shown at left, and Mikel, to whom I owe many thanks for their help! It is always so great meeting people face to face, as I talk about often at Oshkosh, to get their feedback on the GWW organization and whether they "agree" with our mission of encouraging more girls to have an interest in aviation.

For example, I had an insightful conversation with a visitor to the GWW booth at AOPA. The older gentleman reluctantly accepted a brochure that we present with the explanation that Girls With Wings is a volunteer organization that uses women in aviation as role models to inspire girls to achieve their full potential. And that we sell items at the booth to raise funds for our outreach efforts, such as the website, our presentations to girls groups, and the annual scholarship. He read the brochure and the part about "6% of pilots are women."

He says to me, "that number seems to be increasing." To which I say, "Yes, 12% of student pilots are women." And just in case he thought I was making those numbers up, "those statistics come from the FAA."

"Well," he says, "I've been seeing more women in the cockpits of regional airlines." (Clearly, since they're just finally starting to filter in enmasse to such professional careers.) But I say, "I've been a military, commercial, and private airline pilot for 16 years and only flown with another woman pilot 4 times."

He tells me he has trained 11-12 women pilots so I ask him how long he's been a flight instructor. He says proudly, "For about 40 years." I ask, "How many male pilots have you trained in that time?" and he says, rather boastfully, "Oh, thousands." I return, "Then, percentage-wise, that's still not very women pilots overall, is it?"

Although a dim light dawns, he just has to get the last word in. "It's not going to happen overnight, you know."

To which I reply, "No it's taken over a 100 years, and we're still working on it."

See a video about Girls With Wings at the AOPA Summit:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McvpS3IoBBo

Wind Gusts

I haven't posted a long while just about flying stuff. So I've got some things I'd like to tell you about that happened yesterday. Last night we landed the Citation X in South Dakota after taking off from Sun Valley, Idaho, which is a trip of nearly 500 miles straight east. We were doing a "repo" or a reposition leg (this is opposed to a "repossession" - economy isn't that bad yet!) for today's trips with passengers. We flew directly over the Black Hills National Forest. The scenery I enjoy outside of my "office" windows is some of the most amazing ever and it's one of the biggest reasons I enjoy my job as a pilot. The name "Black Hills" comes from the Lakota words Paha Sapa, which mean "hills that are black." Seen from a distance, these pine-covered hills, rising several thousand feet above the surrounding prairie, appear black.

Unfortunately, one of the realities of flying at altitude over famous landmarks is that they just don't quite have the same impact as from the ground. The air traffic controller that was vectoring us around to the airport (I think) was kind enough to bring us close to a very famous location. Unfortunately, he brought us right over the top of this site, Mt Rushmore, so we were unable to see any of it. The picture on the left is obviously not what I fly, and it appears to have been photoshopped. The perspective just doesn't make sense! Check out the official website at http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm

Anyway, after we finished our scenic tour it was time to make our long anticipated approach into Rapid City. The reason there was some anticipation was because of this METAR: KRAP 021952Z 32035G42KT 10SM CLR 12/M06 A2988 RMK AO2 PK WND 33048/1926 Translated, this means on October 2nd at 1952Z(Zulu) the winds were out of the northwest (320 degrees) at 35knots, gusting to 42kts. Later in the weather report it says, PK WND (peak wind) 48kts at 1926Z. As a comparison here is a conversion for the equivalent miles per hour:

35	Knots	=	40.3	MPH
40	Knots	=	46.1	MPH
45	Knots	=	51.8	MPH
50	Knots	=	57.6	MPH

What does that really mean? Well, according to the Beaufort Scale:

32 - 38	Moderate gale whole trees in motion; inconvenience in walking against wind
39 - 46	Fresh gale breaks twigs off trees; generally impedes progress
47 - 54	Strong gale slight structural damage occurs; chimney pots and slates removed

So the captain and I discussed the weather before we left Idaho. Although I've been flying the X for a year and a half, the CPT has been flying it for seven. He gave me the option of flying the leg, but we figured that the gusty winds could cause some difficulties as far as the landing would go. It's not that we didn't think I could handle it, but IF something were to happen, it'd be pretty awkward trying to explain why we didn't have the more experienced crewmember on the controls. Especially with all of the bad press the aviation industry is getting lately.

Luckily the winds were right down the runway and turned out to not be an issue. It was kind of funny seeing less than 100kts of groundspeed in a X, and seeing traffic on the highway below almost matching our speed! Once we landed, we had more of a battle packing up the airplane and getting into the van without being blown over! In the van a fellow passenger (not a pilot) asked us if we had to learn to land faster in such high winds. Actually, we explained, that airplanes land INTO the wind, so actually we were landing more slowly. Our low ground speed was our airspeed (about 130kts) - the wind speed (30kts) = 100kts. The airplane doesn't fly in relation to the speed over the ground, however, but the relative speed with which is moving through the air.

From the van I took this picture of a helicopter whose blades were just going crazy with the wind blowing. This is a Sikorsky 58T, a military helicopter originally designed for service in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role. It is now often used in construction, like Desiree does and blogs about in The Adventures of Chopper Chick! Not also does Desiree support Girls With Wings but she has also received great publicity for all of the amazing things she's done flying helicopters in many different capacities. p.s. I also love that "Chopper" also refers to her having a motorcycle, which I do as well!