Day 3 of AcroCamp (Callsign spoilers!)

The next morning, I got up early to study. Perhaps you’ve heard me mention that I think that women need to feel like they understand something to feel comfortable doing it. This is me to a T. Me being me, I tweeted, “I have the takeoffs and landings down in the Pitts, but I still need to master that part in the middle.” Master. As if I ever could in a four day "Camp."

Day 3 (May 16th). We got back up into the Pitts in the morning, which I was kind of dreading because I felt I had showed Don the day before that I wasn’t getting this. Now my problem was that reading it in a book and doing it in an airplane (at least for me) were two different things. I am very visual, and needed to see what I need to do before I can do it. For example, the ½ Cuban dictates that you transition from level flight into 5/8s of a loop to the inverted 45° line, 1/2 roll to erect down 45° line, pull to level flight. Makes perfect sense, right? So having barely been there to do it the day before, I tried to put into practice what I had read in the book. As well as reverse ½ Cubans, which I prefer, inverted spin recoveries, loops, slow rolls etc. But by this time they had plugged the leak between the canopy and the airframe (if not the one in my head), so I could hear and I wasn’t freezing! And I got to tweet, “I made the mistake of sticking my tongue out during a reverse cuban. I had to wait til we pulled out to pick it up from the floor.” I am now scared to see the footage from the cameras. I can only imagine what funny faces were captured.

The rest of the day I spent entirely in the Decathlon and worked on my spins. The last time I had done any spins was during my transition from helicopters to fixed wing 15 years ago. During which I screamed. A lot. So Barry and I went out and talked about energy management and spins so he could give me my spin endorsement in preparation for my CFI training, which attests that I received “flight training in stall awareness, spin entry, spins and spin recover procedures…and find her to possess instructional proficiency and competency in these areas.” Posted “Sweet. Just got my spin endorsement. After all this training, those are such a non-event!” on twitter.

We all have our fears, though, don’t we? For one of the other campers, Paul, or “Gump” - you should hear his Forrest impression - it was formation flying. A good number of pilots have a fear of heights, me among them. But for Paul, he was really freaked out by flying side by side with another plane. I thought this was going to weird for me too when Don and Paul wanted to give it another shot, this time flying in formation with me and Barry. For whatever reason, it didn’t bother me at all. Even when Don pulled away in the Pitts and did some amazing rolls as he was flying away. It was like being IN an airshow as opposed to AT an airshow.

[P.S. The explanation for this picture, as given by Steve Tupper, the director of the documentary: Don told me during the camp that he had discovered some FOD (short for foreign object damage or stuff that can cause it - usually pocket change, the occasional mobile phone, etc.) in the cockpit during a flight with Paul on Day 3. I just happened upon the footage about 14:00 into the flight. Don rolls inverted and sees the FOD just above Paul's head. He taps Paul on the head to get him to move a little and then snatches it in this frame grab.]

During the down times we all mostly hung out in the lobby of the flight school, melting into the cushions of the couch. And what a comfortable couch it was. I posted, “I just had to take my first nap here at AcroCamp. This is a workout.” Sleeping at camp wasn’t the same, either. The hotel bed seemed to go inverted and executed up to and including steep turns at will. Picture taken by ISUHawkeye.

Don’s wife is a massage therapist, and she undid the damage from compressing our spines during the maneuvers. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you about the Gs, which are measured in the airplane on an accelerometer. The trick with aerobatics is actually to keep the G's as low as possible, so that the maneuvers are planned, smooth and under control. Positive, or "upward" g, drives blood downward to the feet of a seated or standing person (more naturally, the feet and body may be seen as being driven by the upward force of the floor and seat, upward around the blood). Resistance to positive g varies. A typical person can handle about 5 g before G- LOC (or Loss of Consciousness), but through the combination of special g-suits and efforts to strain muscles—both of which act to force blood back into the brain—modern pilots can typically handle 9 g sustained (for a period of time) or more (this is how Michele became 6G – almost forcing Don into G-LOC – which eventually became her call sign “G.”). BTW Resistance to "negative" or "downward" g, which drives blood to the head, is much lower. This limit is typically in the −2 to −3 g range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-force

So on this, the third day of AcroCamp, folks were coming in, like Rod, of myTransponder, who brought snacks (!), and Kent, another twitter friend who was returning from an aerial tour of Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, friends were also leaving. We said goodbye to Dave and then to fellow camper, Jim. Although Jim earned the callsign “Flubber” at the beginning of camp, he didn’t deserve it by the end of camp. Jim found a home in taildraggers and was able to solo the Citabria before he left. “G” soloed both the Citabria and the Super D! I was also hoping to solo an airplane and get the back cut out of my shirt.

Wait. What? Get the back cut out of my shirt?

In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student after successful completion of the 1st solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot's shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor ("instructor-less" flight). Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the (often) proud instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_solo_flight

Stay tuned for the next edition of my AcroCamp journal to find out if I my shirt stayed intact...

Tips on Funding Flight Training

I was doing a little website maintenance (I tell myself to do only a little at a time, or I tend to get overwhelmed - there's six years worth of work there on www.GirlsWithWings.com) and came across a page I wrote with advice for people looking for scholarships. Since we are now in the application window for the GWW Scholarship, it seemed a timely coincidence. I wrote this a couple of years ago after being frustrated yet again for getting an email that said something like, "I am very interested in your scholarship. Can you tell me if I'm eligible?" And I am so tempted to tell the person to go to the website and click on that little button on the navigation bar that says simply SCHOLARSHIP and start reading, for the love of all things obvious. And simple. Deep breath. I get enough of the emails that I thought a longer response necessary and so wrote the following webpage:

Scholarships and Financial Aid

(This is long, but "required reading." Please do not send an email to Girls With Wings asking about the scholarship before you read this information.)

So you want to fly (or dispatch or maintain, etc.) airplanes? Great! Aviation professionals are a special bunch and we usually have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for our pursuits. Well, you’re going to need it. Nothing in life is easy (how many times have you heard that before?), but more importantly, nothing in life worth anything is easy! So, it is time to hunker down and get to work on making your dream a reality. Feel free to take notes.

Funding a career in aviation can be quite intimidating (the necessary amount does, after all, involve a lot of digits). But just as we must do a lot of research and study before jumping in an airplane to go fly, we must also do our homework on scholarships, schools, instructors, etc. First, the bad news: there is no easy solution to getting money for training. Wouldn't it be great if we could send a message to a rich person or organization just informing them that we want to fly and get a check in the mail? Ha. You wouldn’t believe how many emails I receive from people thinking I am willing and able to do this just because they drop a quick email. You may be the most amazing person in the world, but it is not that effortless - unless you have a trust fund, and that still jumps only ONE of the many hurdles you’ll have to go through. From day one, the decision to learn to fly (or dispatch or maintain, etc.) is going to be a journey.

Write at the top of your notepaper what you want to do. “I want to be a Commercial Airline Pilot.” “I want to be launched into space by 2020” (hopefully you'll be an astronaut). And so on. There. That is your goal. Now everything you do from this point forward should move you toward this goal. This is your Mission in Life. The earlier you set yourself up in the beginning to achieve this, the more successful you’ll be. Get your Googler ready.  Now, start typing and try to find people that have been successful doing this – read their memoirs, send them emails, etc. Use the Girls With Wings role model page too! Learn from their experiences. You may even discover that you’ll change your mind and head towards a different goal.

So now, start figuring out where you’re going to get your training for your dream job. College? Flight School? Military? Post a message on the Girls With Wings message board so you can find out how it’s working for other people: the reality of it for people in every stage of their training. Sound like too much work? It may be a small investment of your time to avoid some major goofs later (just ask my friend who paid a lot of money to go to a flight school where half of his flight time could not be logged – wasted coinage, people!). Got your flight plan - your destination and your route - planned out? Good, let’s crank ‘er up and take off. Oh wait; we forgot to add the fuel: the funds, the moolah, the cold hard cash….

Unless you have the aforementioned trust fund, this is going to be expensive. Estimates on the cost of a private pilots license is anywhere from $7000 to $10,000. Yup, there it is in black and white (or rather navy and white). You can use grants (usually through the government), loans, an earned income (that’s another way of saying a job), or scholarships, to help you on your way. Of course, we would love the kinds of money that don’t have to be paid back later. For instance, FastWeb offers a free scholarship search. (Registration is required.) This resource will also help you search and compare colleges, as well as find jobs and internships. For the most part, I advise using loans as a last resort, since it will be a long time til you are making a decent living in aviation – and compounding interest is expensive.

Grants: The Federal Student Aid program awards billions of dollars in grants, work-study, and low-interest loans to students and their families. You apply for these with one form, the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), which is available in January of the year you plan to enroll in college. Talk to your school counselor and teachers for ideas. In addition to helping you acquire federal student aid, many colleges offer grants, scholarships, and other aid packages of their own. There are many resource centers dedicated to helping students obtain information that will help you plan and finance a college education. A great example is TERI, whose Web site offers valuable college planning resources and information. TERI manages college-planning centers that offer one-on-one student guidance. You can find similar access programs in your state by visiting the National College Access Program Directory.

You may not be going to college because you’ve already graduated, or don’t feel it’s right for you, etc., so then what? Are you a lost cause if you don’t go to study Aviation Operations at a University? ...Have I convinced you to visit the message board yet? There are special sections that address other ways of pursuing your dream. We try to post on there as soon as we hear about any new aviation opportunity. Also, consider asking the Girls With Wings role models featured on the website individually to ask how they researched, worked at and financed their goals. They might be able to direct you to industry specific assistance currently available. They may have even gone the “easy” route and had the military pay for their training. Is this for you? That’s a personal decision and it’s tough to get one of those rare flying slots in the military. Plus, you then have to WORK for the military, and this may be your job for years! And the work is not easy, take it from me. But this is an option to research.

So now to the most popular way of paying for training: Scholarships! Yes, just stand under the wealth-erfall with a bucket and catch all that money spouting out all over the place… Bzzz (that’s an alarm clock awaking you from that dream). Got your Google on yet? - Use the internet find scholarships! As silly as it sounds, there are so many scholarships out there that just go unused. Not only to organizations like Women in Aviation, International, have flight training and other scholarships, but also non-aviation organizations such as those for just women in general, or local scholarships, such as through your Rotary or Kiwanis because people either don’t find out about them or never get around to filling out the application. A good place to start is money2fly.googlepages.com or www.wolf-aviation.org/scholar. [p.s. The Wolf Aviation Fund made a contribution to Girls With Wings as we were getting started. This, as I will talk about in a sec, involved a thorough application process….]

Now all you have to do is send them an email – proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar optional. Just fire them off a fragment of a sentence (don’t even waste your time with a whole one), just telling them to send you a full bucket. By overnight delivery. Include a smiley face. Woo-hoo, that was easy.  Yeah, right. I assure you I take into consideration scholarship applications that are sent to me that I have to spell check before I can even comprehend them! It appears that the applicant doesn't care about the little things, and yes, as a pilot, it's those little things that can lead to big mistakes.

You have a choice to make here, people! Take the high road or the low lazy road. Invest some time and energy now and it will pay off later! What do I mean? Make yourself irresistible. Show your worth, your potential, and your strengths from Day 1.  What does your resume look like? Were you a Girl Scout? Were you in the Civil Air Patrol? Have you received any awards? What have your various jobs taught you? Aww, nothing, you say, nothing I can put on a resume….  I disagree (and I don’t even know you!). If you have the drive to get into aviation, you surely have accomplished other things in your life. That job working the counter at the fast food joint – wasn’t that “customer service?” Didn’t that teach you to deal with unhappy clients and resolve conflict (a very good skill to have in a two person cockpit)? Here is a link to a very basic resume starter. But don’t stop there.  Keep updating and improving your resume – the easiest and most professional way to inform a potential financial supporter of your worth (and why they should invest in you). Add a cover letter to it; explaining in paragraph form what you are seeking by sending your resume…  aw, you’re golden!

And to whom do you send this golden resume? I found information on and links to numerous scholarships by typing in a search for, you guessed it, “Aviation Scholarships.” Some of them are posted on message boards. An online search is always a useful place to start. Aviation Societies and Associations offer scholarship and other aid programs. Some may focus on a particular field or on a particular group of applicants (e.g., women or minorities). You can locate organizations by doing a Web search and by checking out the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center, which offers a comprehensive list of math, science, and engineering societies and associations.

But wait. Don’t just fire off that application until you search for and READ THE REQUIREMENTS! That’s in capitals because it’s important. I’ll even yell it out again. READ THE REQUIREMENTS!  What good will it do to send off a perfect resume if it's received two days past the deadline? What if you fax it and it was supposed to be mailed? Or mailed instead of faxed? What if the scholarship was for Inuits in Alaska and you’re a Southern girl, born and bred? Not only are you wasting your time, you’re wasting the organization’s time (aviation is a small community – and you don’t want to burn any bridges you might have to cross later on. Swimming tends to wrinkle our interview suits *hint-hint*). For example, why send an email to ask about a scholarship in March when the scholarship has been clearly defined as being announced in July (yes, I’m referring to the GWW scholarship, btw, but still people call and email anyway – renew my faith in my sisters, please!). READ the scholarship guidelines, look for a FAQ page, and if you still have a question, send a clear, professional, polite email to them (illustrating you read the information, but still have a point to clarify). The assumed faceless board of scholarship-awarding-people may be just one decision-making-person that appreciated/ remembered the email you sent (ah-ha, you made a good first impression!).

Uggh, you say. That’s a lot of work. I might get the scholarship anyway with little to zero effort, wouldn’t that be great? Yes, if you believe luck is going to get you what you want out of life. You buy lottery tickets, don’t you? Take ten minutes to scribble out an essay and it will take the scholarship evaluation board ten seconds to disregard your application (you will clearly convey that you don’t care all that much – and why would they give their money to someone who will fritter it away?). The first scholarship applications (like your college entrance apps, if you went that route) are tough. But then you learn the tricks of the trade, and get into the groove, and, hey, this is kind of fun (since it’s reminding me to keep my grades up, and do a little volunteer work, and do a better job of keeping my logbook up to date, etc.).

Finally, I wish I had an easy answer for you. I joke around a lot because if all I did was tell you it was tough, you’d stop reading and go get your bucket and wait for pennies from heaven. The scholarship process has been made a bit easier by the internet; now you can find out just how many there are available to you. What hasn’t - and will never change - is that the process is just as long as it’s ever been. Once you find out about an available scholarship, you still have to apply by the deadline and sit and wait to find out if you’ve won.

Did you read this whole thing? Awesome. See, you’re already willing to invest what it will take to be successful. Now, just keep it going! If you ever need any encouragement from Girls With Wings, get on the message board and let us know. We want to see you succeed, that’s why we’re here. Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress!

Ok, now read the requirements for the Girls With Wings Scholarship!


...Sadly, I don't think this often gets read because I still get emails asking the same questions time and again. You can lead a horse to water and all that. Thankfully, the vast majority of the scholarship applicants and, of course, winners, are truly gems. I only wish I could offer more scholarships.... Wait, we did go from one $1000 award to TWO this year... so maybe we can keep increasing the number of deserving applicants. With help from people like you. Donate to next year's scholarship here. Thank you.

Post Oshkosh Recap

Or should we call it Splosh-Kosh? Yes, this year's EAA AirVenture was a mire of muck and mud for the first few days, necessitating my car's rescue from my new best friend, John Deere. I wasn't the only one needing a tug, however, so bravo to those who made it in to Camp Scholler and, for the most part, kept their spirits up (and stayed civil) despite permanent dirt stains on everything from feet to tarp. We arrived on Friday evening, but within two days new arrivals were being turned away from Scholler and sent to stay in parking lots around Oshkosh until things dried out - which, thankfully, they eventually did. The mosquitoes didn't receive this message to stay away, and in fact invited all of their friends to come on by as well, so for the first time at an Oshkosh I leaked like a sieve every time I drank too much water. The officials at EAA say that attendance was down only 7%, but given the desolation of the North 40 - where people who fly in to KOSH stay under the wing of their plane - I would have thought the percentage would have been higher. However, people who have decided to visit the Mecca of Aviation Enthusiasts will find a way and so perhaps they walked, thumbed a ride or pedaled their bikes instead.

You can see my sister in the picture above - she lives about an hour away from Oshkosh and has come nearly all of the five times we've had a booth to help set up (you'd think she'd learn to lock the doors and turn off the phone by mid July). Her one week short of 13 year old son, Emmett, also helped to set up and "man" the booth on Monday. I was really quite proud of him. He jumped in with both feet to learn the pitch to tell people about Girls With Wings - so visitors know that we are a non-profit organization selling items for fundraising, not to pad our pockets (note my 12 year old car in photo above...). After setting up the booth on Saturday, helping Grandpa on Sunday and then working the booth on opening day, Em was wiped out and was rescued again by mom on Monday afternoon. We hope to have him back next year - he said he's willing, now that he know the ropes.

I personally spent a few days at the beginning of Osh helping out with Women Soar You Soar -

"Now in its 6th year, the Women Soar You Soar program is shaping up to be one of the best thanks to the number of quality applications pouring in from young women and the generosity shown through scholarship contributions. A 3-day event at the EAA Aviation Center, is designed to engage, inspire, and educate young women from grades 9-12 to pursue their dreams in aviation and beyond. The program includes activities such as flight simulation, workshops, career exploration, and more." 

Shown in the picture to the right is Jill Long, a Girls With Wings Role Model, USAF Squadron Commander and Airshow Pilot, taking a few minutes to tell the girls how she caught the bug to start flying. This was a wonderful event - and in my informal polling of the girls the only criticism was that the program wasn't LONGER!

In between Women Soar events, I was running back and forth to the GWW booth to sign copies of our new book, Penelope Pilot and her First Day as Captain (you can purchase a copy online and get one signed as well). Despite attempting to have specific times to do author's signings, many folks wander the AirVenture grounds with no particular schedule so I put myself on a short leash to always be available to personalize the book especially for its eventual recipient. As far as I can tell, the book was purchased for a wide range of reasons - a keepsake for the airline pilot who had just become a Captain, for the kids of the family that the Oshkosh attendee rented a house from, for a daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister, etc., etc., etc., or other young girl in someone's life who could use an inspirational story with lessons in teamwork and responsibility.... But people also bought this book for the male equivalents in the list above. First, because this is not a book just for girls - though it does feature one as its main character, but also because BOYS also need to understand that "Yes, Girls Can Fly!" We sold hundreds of books onsite in one week! Alas, we should have thought to bring more of the matching Penelope Pilot t-shirt....  And our new Girls Need Flight Plans, Not Fairy Tales! dress.... But we're always learning how to do things better.


P.s. if you are looking for a way to schedule your time at Oshkosh, consider using OSHplanner. This is a wonderful tool to bookmark all of the events you would like to attend while at AirVenture.

Speaking of events, the guys from Youth Aviation Adventure and I again put on our popular seminar that we first presented at the Women in Aviation 2010 conference.

7/31/2010 - 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM - Forum Pavilion 11: Starting an Aviation Outreach Program for Kids - Love aviation? Like working with kids? Worried about the decline in the pilot population? Then start an outreach program to get kids excited about aviation. It's not that hard to do and it's fun. You'll find plenty of volunteer help with your fellow pilots. Come hear how two organizations started their programs from scratch. Learn not only how to do it, but how to avoid problems along the way. 

I will be honest with you here,  our talk on attracting kids into aviation was not well attended (thought several representatives from the FAA were there, a good sign). Maybe it was because it was held at 8:30 am on a hot, muggy, buggy, cloudy morning, but, as one of the people who did attend mention: the room should have been packed. Not because they should come see me (though I think that would be reason enough, no?) but because the future in aviation depends on getting the next generation(s) hyped up about it as much as we are!

Case in point, one of my honorary Dudes With Wings, Aiden, who came with his dad, Keith to Oshkosh for the first time. These two aviation fanatics spent a full week together exploring Oshkosh and helping out with the booth. Aiden also celebrated his 7th birthday there with a helicopter ride. How cool is that? [Note this DWW's super sweet unisex "Pi-let" t-shirt. The guy knows how to represent.]

Besides these two and my nephew, my Dad also (and always) helps getting ready, staffing and tearing down the booth. What a trooper! And Honorary Girl With Wings, Erika (Callsign Egg) helped for a second year. This was Blackhawk pilot Jacqui's first year working at the booth and she did so with a broken foot! Besides this core of volunteers, we also had, and I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart: Brenda S., Courtney G., Danika M., Barbara M., Carol S., Cindy H., Kate Z. and Lin C., another GWW Role Model. If I have forgotten to put your name here, I apologize. Commence berating.

As far as spreading the word about Girls With Wings, I partook (partaked?) in quite a few interviews, like this one for Aero News: "What if Little Girls Played with Airplanes?" [Several people rightly answered that they DID know some girls that played with airplanes... Fair enough. I didn't choose the title for the article and wasn't asserting they didn't. In fact, the homepage of GWW currently features my niece having a pretty good time with one.]  MySkyMom also published this great picture on her blog after we spoke (story forthcoming). We'll also soon be on Pilots Journey Podcast and FlightTime Radio. Who else did I miss? Oh, I also was interviewed on EAA Radio! Having attempted for over an hour to embed the mp3 file rather unsuccessfully, I'll have to ask you to jump on over to this page to listen to the interview. Sorry and thanks. I'm sure I've forgotten something - I should learn to take notes during this week as some information always gets lost in the melee. There's just always so much going on!

Amid all of this, we still found time (energy?) for some tweetups, like myTransponder's, some beer-and-brat-ing, and visiting with new and old friends - some of whom we'd never met, other than in cyberspace, but unfortunately too numerous to mention. It was, again, a whirlwind, exhausting experience for us all. And therefore I can't wait til Oshkosh 2011. Hope to see you there!

Day 2 of AcroCamp

Day 2. I think that Don and Barry really know what they’re doing. Instead of going right back into more advanced maneuvers, we had a little warmup session (remember, this was WAY out of my comfort zone and I needed to get back in the groove). I can’t read Barry’s writing of what we did that morning, but I tweeted, “Is it really only day 2 of #AcroCamp? Feels like longer, 'cause I feel like I'm getting the hang of it (hanging from my straps, that is).”

We campers were also having the time of our lives hanging out with some VIPs in the aviation world. Besides Steven Tupper, of Airspeed Online and the creator of this project, we had other folks you might have seen around twitter. The filming was being done by Will Hawkins, of A Pilot’s Story documentary, and David Allen, social networking extraordinaire, whose dream job is to be Ubiquitous Super-Plantery Test Pilot (the guy who flies anything and everything, anytime, anywhere, because he can). Together they do the Pilots Flight PodLog. We were visited by Roger Bishop, of IndyTransponder, who gave us some teaser videos for this year’s airshow in Indiana on June 11-13. Another podcaster, Jack Hodgson, of Uncontrolled Airspace, was there interviewing us for a yet-to-be-named-project featuring AcroCampers (I’ll let you know when he knows). We also saw Rod Rakic, of myTransponder: Making Aviation more Social. Ben Phillips, a photographer, was there as well. I know he got some great pictures of Michele, or “G”, so I’m hoping I’ll see more soon.

Oh, did I not mention MY call sign from the camp? Well, it became “La-La” because of the tendency to put my fingers in my ears and chant La La La La La when I think I’ma gonna hear something I won’t like. For example, when others were coming back from their flights raving about what they had done, I didn’t want to hear something I’d dread doing. Ignorant bliss.

Anyway, it didn’t seem to be necessary. This was May 15th, btw, so I tweeted, “I'm celebrating International Learn to Fly day by learning to feel comfortable upside down. It DOES get easier.” But then I got a ride in the Pitts. If you don’t know what a Pitts is, you probably would picture it exactly if someone were to say to you, “aerobatic airplane.” It’s smallish, with two stubby wings, and two small seats. Yes, the seat is small, but my legs are short. These airplanes were not made for us vertically challenged gals. My first ride in the Pitts had three major issues. One, I could barely reach the pedals or see over the dash. So I had to ..s..t..r..e..t..c..h.. to see to taxi the darn thing. The nose is up so high on this airplane on the ground that you have to point the aircraft toward one side of the taxiway, look ahead of you, then do nearly a 90 degree turn toward the other side of the taxiway, and look out the other side of the canopy to see that no one is in your way. By this time they were using the opposite end of the runway so this made for a very long taxi!

Two, there was a gap between the canopy and the airframe. May in Michigan is considered winter anywhere else and this made for a very cold bite at my neck and had me shivering (but only til we turned upside down again). The wind also caused problem three, because it was hitting the mike and breaking squelch. I had the volume up to try to hear Don over the noise, but the whole flight sounded as if I was in a metal box full of ball bearings! We soldiered on anyway and did some upright spins, aileron rolls, loops, inverted flight, hammerheads, ½ Cubans and reverse ½ Cubans, and Immelmans. I posted “Quick update: I did two flights in the Citabria... and then one in the Pitts! Yeah, buddy. You name a maneuver, and I most likely did it.”

What I learned from this flight was… don’t do “good enough” in getting ready to go fly an airplane. The above problems which distracted me from the training. I kept forgetting to look left. When Don said, “do a loop,” I couldn’t really hear him. Did he say, “do a loop?” “Did he mean now?” Which made me very hesitant in doing the maneuvers – which somewhat decreased the confidence I had built up, even though I was able to at least land the thing myself. I posted, “My dream airplane has always been a Pitts and it's exactly as I imagined. SO responsive and crisp. Immelmans, Hammerheads, Cubans, Spins. Landing the thing is interesting; you have to listen for the runway because you sure as heck can't see it.”

Before I went back to the hotel room, I celebrated a first with Don’s son, Andrew: “I also was the first passenger for the 17 year old son of one of the instructors. Guy doesn't even have his driver's license but he OWNS that Archer.” He’d been in that airplane since he was 2 months old, and was so completely comfortable in it. Truly impressive. Wish I had been able to come close to that kind of proficiency in two days!

Chapter 3 of AcroCamp

Day 1, or “The Flying Begins.”

So as I was being too scared to say I was too scared, the instructor, Barry, and I arrived out over an uncongested area to begin. Barry had me fly around for a bit, getting used to the airplane with some stalls and steep turns and such (which I do in the Citation X as well, but they’re not the same because of the extra engine, airframe design, etc). Then he demonstrated some wingovers, which, according to this Warbird website, featuring a cool graphic, are a common maneuver for attitude and position recovery after a diving attack. Especially after a diving attack on a ground target.

Of course, that’s not how Barry defined it. Given that we weren't under fire, that makes sense. Barry just demonstrated pulling up the nose, angling the wing to bisect the horizon until the nose was, um, about thiiiis much below the horizon, then initiating aft pressure on the stick to recover a level attitude. Cool.

We did quite a few of those. They were pretty mild, we didn’t pull a lot of Gs, the scenery was amazing (even if the ground was racing towards my face), and Barry was an encouraging instructor. By the time we got to the loops, I was hanging in there pretty well. Basically, you nose down to build up some speed (aerobatics is “energy management” after all) and then pull back on the stick. Once the horizon disappears over the nose, look left at the wing to keep you even (not one wing low) and when you can see (and feel) you’re coming over the top, release just a bit of back pressure so you float over the top (makes your loop a circle as opposed to an oval). Then look at the ground coming back under you and pick a line, like a road, to match up to as you pull back to level flight. Easy, right? So much so that when I got back I tweeted, “Just did wingovers, loops, rolls and a spin in the Citabria. Honestly, people, I don't know what you're making such a big deal about ;-)”

Okay, so I was pretty flippant, but understand, I was pretty nervous about all of this stuff. I was afraid of getting sick mostly, but my attention stayed mostly outside the airplane focusing on the horizon, instead of inside on the instruments, which is what a pilot who flies under IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) usually looks at. My next tweet as a response to someone’s “I hoped you whooped and hollered for the cameras then. Sure beats getting green. Glad you enjoyed, knew you would.” I said, “I think I was green BEFORE just anticipating things.”

The next aircraft was a Super Decathalon. Tweeted, “Preparing mentally for my 3rd flight of day where I hear we'll be flying inverted for a sustained length of time. I'm ok with that. (Right?)” Now, you should know (and I knew in advance from reading Basic Aerobatics from Szurovy/Goulian, that for the most part, an airplane doesn’t know its flying upside down (though an aircraft unable to access its fuel, oil, and other systems will soon get a sputtering reminder that it is). So there wasn’t really anything to fear as far as falling out of the sky. Again, the stomach would be upside down, and I didn’t know how I would handle that. My first tip if you’re going to fly inverted, make sure your seatbelt is TIGHT. No, Tighter. Ok, now just tighten it one more notch. There you go. Too tight? Trust me, it will loosen the first time you roll inverted. Remove the uncomfortable sensation of “hanging” upside down and it’s not so bad (until the blood starts to pool in your cranium – a sign it's time to roll back upright).

And now since we got warmed up and comfortable with the basics, it was time for my favorite maneuver, described as a maneuver “from a horizontal line. Pull the airplane up smoothly but aggressively to establish a vertical line. Hold the vertical line until the airplane almost runs out of airspeed, and just at that point, push full left rudder to make the airplane pivot, or cartwheel, around its left wing. Then establish and hold a vertical dive before pulling the nose back up to a horizontal line. The hammerhead ends with the airplane flying 180 degrees from its original heading.” http://www.bruceair.com/aerobatics/aerobatics.htm This is an unpoetic way to describe what has to be my favorite maneuver. Julie Clark, as graceful an aerobatic pilot there is, is shown in this video executing a hammerhead.

My maneuvers (and I did all of those shown in that video) did not involve smoke (since there was no smoke generator on the plane). So I posted, “I don't want to ruin the secret to leading a fulfilled life, but I think it has something to do with executing a hammerhead in a Decathlon. ”



Unfortunately, all of the aerobatics were starting to do me in. Back on the ground I tweeted, “I think I will stay right side up for a while. That 2d spin did me in!” So, I’ll admit that I twice felt sick, but I did maintain control over my stomach. An unforeseen advantage for me?: “The #AcroCamp Flight Instructor said my long hair makes a good G-meter. And white mentho gum can effectively cure nausea IMHO.” All of us soon got used to pulling the g’s and could recognize when we had too much.

On a later flight, Barry had asked me up there if my mouth was dry. Which, yeah, I guessed it was. He asked if my skin was feeling tight. Yes, that too. Ok, he said, then it’s time to head back.

Well, that was enough for one day. Yeah, that’s right. One Day. My logbook has these entries: Stalls, takeoffs and landings, 3 pts and wheelies, spins, loops, slow rolls, spin recoveries, aileron rolls, slow roll to inverted and sustained inverted flight. Everyone else went out to dinner and I went back to the hotel and executed a perfect three point landing on my king size bed.

More to come, I promise...

Girls With Wings Scholarship Announcement

Girls With Wings, Inc., announces their 4th Annual Scholarship Program for a future Girl With Wings. The application packet 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. Applicants must not have yet received a private pilot's license but have completed her solo. Entries are to be received between July 1st and August 31st, 2010. At least one $1000 scholarship winner will be notified October 1st and be sent funds to be used toward flying lessons. The awardee agrees to submit updates with at least three 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. Full details at www.girlswithwings.com/scholarship.html

Girls With Wings, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that 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. Fundraising for outreach activities is done through the sales of Girls With Wings™ merchandise designed to let everyone know “Yes, Girls Can Fly!” While some may view some of our products as just t-shirts, 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 Math based fields) from the time they are born.

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 primarily funded through private donations. If you wish to schedule a presentation, make a contribution or receive further details regarding program information, please contact Lynda Meeks at LMeeks@girlswithwings.com or 216.577.6131.

For more information, visit www.GirlsWithWings.com
or contact:
Lynda Meeks, Executive Director
Ph: 216.577.6131
LMeeks@girlswithwings.com

2010 Air Race Classic

We'd like to interrupt our regularly scheduled blog posts  about AcroCamp for a particularly timely notice...

Tomorrow is the launch for the Women's Transcontinental Air Race Classic! 

I participated in the race last year and blogged about it in a series of posts starting with this one.

I had the time of my life and hope to participate again next year. I know so many of the wonderful women participating this year that I hope you will visit the Air Race Classic website and see more about the FIFTY EIGHT teams this year (last year there were fewer than 40!) traveling June 22 to 25 on a 2157.7 nm/2483.0 sm trip from Fort Myers, FL to Frederick, MD. There is even a team fundraising for Girls With Wings:  Team Michigan 2010.

This is an amazing annual event that I wish more people in the general public were aware of and followed. Please spread the word!

The Teams and their websites:
(Girls With Wings Role Models are linked to their bio pages)

Classic 1: Judy Snow (MA) / Sheryl Cole (IN)

Classic 2: (Jacksonville University) *** COLLEGIATE Leah Hetzel (OH) / Sarah Morris (FL)

Classic 3: Marty Goppert (TX) / Kay Renfrow (TX)

http://www.teamcharley.blogspot.com

Classic 4: (Purdue University) *** COLLEGIATE Lauren Steele (IN)/Allison Springer (IN)

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/%7Eairrace1/AirRaceTeam

Classic 5: Phyllis Kollar (NJ) / Nancy Christian(NJ)

http://www.lpawnings.com

http://teamkollarchristian.shutterfly.com

Classic 6: Patricia Picornell (FL) / Theresa Castle (FL)

http://www.picornell.net/patricia

Classic 7: Robin Turner (PA) / Rebecca Hempel (TX)

Classic 8: (Southern Illinois University) *** COLLEGIATE Sabrina Zwego (IL) / Heather Heidinger (IL)

http://airrace.aviation.siuc.edu

Note: I did a blog entry on Sabrina - she started building her own airplane when she was 13!

Classic 9: Mary Wunder (PA) / Alison Chalker (PA)

http://adellesbelles.blogspot.com

Classic 10: Debi Dreyfuss (MD) / Pat Manos-Kraemer (MD) / Linda Litwin

http://www.flymall.org

Classic 11: Terry Carbonell (FL) / Ellen Herr (FL) / Laura Ying Gao (FL)

http://www.teamwildmama.com

Classic 12: Susan Carastro (FL) / Marie Carastro (AL)

Classic 13: Elaine Roehrig (NY) / Marolyn Wilson (NY)

http://www.hollandfarms.com

Classic 14: Sandy St. John (TX) / Kathy McDonald (MA)

http://www.theflyingnonny.com

Classic 15: Julia Matthews (TX) / Arlene Wohlgemuth (TX)

Classic 16: Judy Bolkema-Tokar(FL) / Ruby Sheldon (AZ)

Classic 17: Dottie Anderson (OH) / Jean Sloan (OH)

Classic 18: Anne Marie Radel(CA) / Julieann Sikora (CA)

http://www.teamflyingtigresses.blogspot.com

Classic 19: Jo Alcorn (FL) / Michelle Bostick(FL)

http://www.arcteam19.blogspot.com

Classic 20: Lin Caywood (MD) / Carolyn Van Newkirk(PA)

http://www.99lin.shutterfly.com

Classic 21: Jann Bowne (OH) / Meredith Frederick (OH) / Christine Mortine

Classic 22: Pam Palmieri (MI) / Rebecca Duggan (MI) / Rosemary Sieracki (MI)

http://www.teammi.org

Classic 23: Suzanne Braddock (NE) / Nicole Boettger (IA) / Sara Vanderpool (IA)

http://www.snoweaglesracingteam.blogspot.com

Classic 24: Joyce Wilson (TX) / Laura Berry (AR)

http://www.arkansasracers.com

Classic 25: Camelia Smith (AR) / Martha Molina (AR)

http://www.bign.com/bcsmith

http://arkansastravelaviatrix.com/index.html

Classic 26: Susan Beall (MD) / Nechama (Nicole) Novack (MD)

http://www.active.com/donate/TeamFight2010/Airrace

Classic 27: Rita Murray (OK) / Kiersten Orrick (OK)

http://www.pcgww.com

Classic 28: Ethel Bailey (PA) / Barbara Zeigler (PA)

Classic 29: Heather Woiciechowski (CT) / Sandra Terkelsen (MD)

http://www.warriorwomen2010.wordpress.com

Classic 30: (Southern Illinois University) *** COLLEGIATE Erin Jackson (IL) / Christine Zoerlein (IL)

http://www.aviation.siu.edu

Classic 31: Claudia deMayo (GA) / Barbara Ann Bowman (GA)

Classic 32: (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona, FL) *** COLLEGIATE Hannah Northern (CA) / Kimberly Ewing (CT)

http://www%2Eriddleraceriv@webs.com

Classic 33: Debbie Dukeman (NC) / Marlene Raseta (NC)

Classic 34: Mary Sittman (FL) / Leah Dunn (FL)

Classic 35: Donna Wilt (VA) / Catherine Adams (VA)

Classic 36: Tamra Sheffman (FL) / Becky Ritter (FL)

http://www.flying4awareness.org

Classic 37: Barbara Goodwin (MI) / Maureen Kenney (CA)

http://womenfly.net/cherokee_chicks

Classic 38: Amy Bogardus (KY) / Colburn Helppie-Schmieder (OK)

Classic 39: Minnetta Gardinier (IA) / Deborah McGee (IA)

http://www.iowawomenaviate.iowa99s.org

Classic 40: Kelly Burris (MI) / Theresa Whiting (MI)

http://airrace2010rous.blogspot.com

Classic 41:(Southern Illinois University) *** COLLEGIATE Katie Lake (IL) / Ashley Carder (IL)

http://www.airrace.aviation.siu.edu

Classic 42: (Dowling College) *** COLLEGIATE Cecilia Curley (CT) / Megan Chartrand (NY)

Classic 43: Kristen Jurn (FL) / Mayte Greco (FL)

http://www.airracechics.org

Classic 44: Cheryl Lynn Dratler (FL) / Jessica Stearns (FL)

Classic 45: Terry Nitz (VA) / Bobbi Boucher (VA)

Classic 47: Beverly Cleair (MO) / Teresa Camp (MO)

http://classic47.blogspot.com

Classic 48: (Indiana State University) *** COLLEGIATE Kay Brown (IN) / Jessica Campbell (IN)

Classic 49: Barbara Harris-Para (NC) / Laurie Zaleski (NJ)

Classic 50: Felicia Nelson (TX) / Louanne Stenger (TX)

Classic 51: Sue Jones (NY) / Jody Smith (FL)

Classic 52: Pamela Flesher (TX) / Mercedes Eulitt (CA)

http://teamlilred.com

Classic 53: Mary Helen Dunnam (TX) /Camille Griffin (TX)

Classic 55: Linda Street-Ely (TX) / Elizabeth Kummer (TX)

Note: Linda did a guest post on the blog about Air Racing

Classic 58: (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott, AZ)*** COLLEGIATE Kristen McTee (AZ) / Kim Turrell(AZ)

So as you can see, an amazing group of racers! If you're wondering what the "Collegiate designation means, the Air Race Classic makes a special effort to include collegiate women in the race. ARC welcomes teams to enter the collegiate division of the race. To be eligible for the collegiate division, at least one member of the team must be a student at the sponsoring college or university. Review the list of college teams that have raced previously. Read stories from past collegiate racers. Is your team in need of additional resources and finances to fly the Classic? Get some ideas on how to make it happen for you.

 

The Race ends on June 25th at 1700 - meaning every team must be across the finish line at this point (it's not a first one there wins kind of race  - each leg is tallied). There is a huge celebration planned at the Frederick Aiport, home of AOPA, which has been organized by Lin Caywood. Website.  I plan on being there with a table talking about Girls With Wings. I can't wait to congratulate all of the Racers!

And who knows? Maybe I can find a partner for next year's race...

Chapter 2 of The AcroCamp Recap

Day 1.

My first tweets from AcroCamp were, “Sitting in the FBO waiting for my turn to go fly upside down....” and "I knew this was going to happen. My stomach is starting to roll in anticipation of flying. I'm NOT nervous. I'm NOT nervous.” But then, I knew from my previous experience doing spins in a tomahawk that sometimes the “leading up to” made the actual “doing” that much worse. My twitter friend, Pilot2B, sent me this illustration as encouragement. [Sorry, the bumper sticker is only available in the greasy side down version.]

Barry took me out first to a Citabria to head out to the practice area. A Citabria is a two place airplane, which I'm used to, but with tandem seating, which I'm not. For Acrocamp, the camper was sitting in the front seat and the instructor in the back. The airplanes were fitted with cameras right in our faces, as well as on the wing strut to get a better angle. Additionally, our Lightspeed headsets were recording our every word. [Just so everything I’m saying here can be verified.] Once we were strapped in (did I mention we were wearing parachutes?), and the reality of what I was about to do came pressing down on me, one of my buddies, Will Hawkins showed me a little video he had on his iPhone.



Now who wouldn’t want to go fly aerobatics after that?

 p.s. if you don't know who the woman in the video is you must not be involved in aviation AT ALL other than reading my blog. Go to her website and then come back.

Barry is also a helicopter pilot and he compared a lot of what he was telling me to do in the taildragger to flying a helicopter. First, there’s a stick (not a yoke as in most airplanes) similar to the cyclic in a chopper - which demands a light touch – don’t want to stir the soup making the airplane do what you want to do. Second, the rudder pedals also demand small variable inputs. Just as in the helicopter, I had to tell myself to RELAX and unclench my thighs, bend my legs, and use just my toes. Lightly. Whatever it takes, and no more.

After takeoff we climbed up to altitude and leveled off. I had to do this, not the autopilot, as I am used to using. Barry had me look out the left window and align the camber of the wing with the horizon (to start) and wow, what a different sight picture. There was sky and ground everywhere. Compared to the forward view in what I’m used to flying, I saw what should have been a 20 degree nose down pitch. I kept climbing flying out to the practice area because I kept wanting to get the nose somewhere toward the horizon. Had to remind myself to look at the left wing (this comes into play a lot in aerobatics as you’ll see later).

What the sound recorders won’t pick up during this portion of the flight is the little voice in my head. There was a scaredy-cat in my head saying, “I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m going to open my mouth and use my out-loud voice and just tell Barry I want to go back to the airport. I quit.” Only, I couldn’t form the words. Paralysis? I don’t think so. It was really the not wanting to pull up to the hangar doors and have everyone ask me why I was back so early that made me keep my mouth shut so no such words were recorded. The camera might reflect this drama playing out in my face, though. Not sure I want to see it, though. And my Facebook post when I returned was, “Just finished my first flight in a tail dragger, the Citabria. At first during the flight as the airplane was just kind of burbling in the sky, I thought, "man, I can so not do this." But I am motivated by thinking there's just no way I am going to go back there in defeat.”

But I also had a group of Facebook friends looking out for me. I couldn't let them down, too!

Kris: you can do it! :)

Jan: You GO, Girl!! Once you've had that taste of taildraggin', you'll never think twice about it. It's REAL flying. By the seat of your pants, literally. My first tailwheel flight was last September, got my endorsement in January, and now I'm taking acro lessons! Wait until you solo in the Citabria for the first time - you will be soooo excited. YOU CAN DO IT!! :D

Sarah: I grew up in a PA-12 Super Cruiser and a PA-16 Clipper. All these little tri-gear airplanes are like lawnmowers compared to a real airplane. :)

Michelle: Go Lynda...you can do it.

Robert: Can't go wrong if you have Don or Barry in the back. I got my first tailwheel flight in with Don last year.

Ken: I learned to fly in tail draggers...

Cheryl: That's my girl! See me sitting there in MY citabria! I love that airplane! Kam: You're a fearless woman and an inspiration to me. Thanks for these status updates!

Linda: Got my tailwheel a few years ago. You CAN do it!!!! And you'll come to love it!

Denise: But you MUST! Some of us are out here living vicariously through YOU!!! YOU GO GIRL!

Martt: Hang in there... you're gonna love it, I promise : )

Lou: Congratulations on finding out what those foot rests are for!! Once you've dragged your tail you'll realise tricycles are for babies!!

I'm trying to keep these chapters brief, so next post I'll cover the actual maneuvers...

Honorary GWW Spokespeople, Mike and Donna

If you look very carefully, can you see what's in this guy's back pocket? Well, there's a reason for that...

In an earlier post, I spoke of being a Girls With Wings crewmember and mentioned a couple of members of my Canadian fan club who were doing such a great job promoting GWW on their travels. I found out that they were doing this after receiving an email from a woman in Georgia who signed up for a membership. She wrote me saying: 

"Well, I actually only heard about this website a couple of days ago. I work at an FBO and a pilot came in and asked if I knew any little girls who would be interested in flying. I told him that I have a six year old daughter and he gave me the flyer and two little tattoos for her. He also showed me the picture of his granddaughter in the flyer. I thought that was really neat. I thought what he was doing was great, giving out flyers and letting people know about the website. So since I work at an FBO and have access to a lot of pilots and passengers coming through, I am going to hand out flyers and let them know about the website. This is going to be how I support the flight plan and let other little girls know that this is out there. If that man had never let me know, my daughter would be missing out on all of this."

So here's a picture of the flyer and the said granddaughter. Of course I knew exactly who this was. This friend from Canada been one of my greatest supporters from day one. So I wrote him an email to ask him. Just to be sure. Because there are a lot of guys out there that do plug Girls With Wings. He has sent tons of pictures of Jaime, Jhennifer and Faith (and Connor!) for me to use on the website and brochures. I see him every year at the Oshkosh booth, but unfortunately rarely get a break to catch up with them. (BTW, we'll be in booth 1058 this year - a little ways off from the old one.)


Mike was on a trip in their Debonair with his wife from Canada to the southern U.S. as an early opportunity to thaw out a bit. Here was his response:

Hi Lynda;
Thanks so much for forwarding that letter from the FBO girl in Brunswick GA. She was very interested in your efforts to make little girls aware of their potential in aviation & technology; I think she will introduce her daughter to flying now. It continues to amaze me that even folks that already have a connection with flying don't think to get the girls involved.

I stick a brochure on every airport 'cork board' I stumble on & talk to 'flying people' about your efforts. They're always intrigued, especially women who have girls in their family. We'll continue passing along 'the word.'

And clearly he continued to do so. I just got an email from him wrapping up his trip. After you finish gawking at the Grand Canyon, note Donna's t-shirt.

Mike says, "Over the 8 weeks we had fun talking to a lot of nice folks who appreciate what you're doing Lynda." No wonder he says he needs more brochures and tattoos!  Again, thanks to Donna and Mike and all of the other folks that help with promoting Girls With Wings. I couldn't do it without you.

AcroCamp Recap

You’re probably wondering why it has taken me so long to publish a blog entry about AcroCamp.  Yeah, me too. AcroCamp, in case you are unfamiliar, was (is?) a documentary about “four pilots from different walks of life and around the country gathering in Michigan to take over a Part 61 flight school for four days and fly aerobatics for the first time” that took place May 13-17, 2010.

I’m not sure why it’s taking me so long to update the blog, other than the days of aerobatics left me physically and mentally exhausted (getting home at 2am after driving home to Cleveland on the last day didn’t help matters much either). Okay, so that explains the first week, maybe… well, then I had a conference - during which I got stuck at a friend’s private airstrip (time to spare? go by air!). As a result, I’ve just been getting caught up with other stuff. Slowing down to type down my memories is getting harder and harder at my age. Which is 29, for anyone who’s asking. Blame the rest on procrastination, I guess.

Obviously I was one of the campers. Remember my blog post about why I wanted to go to AcroCamp? I intend to let you know whether some or all of my goals have been achieved. They were pretty vague  goals, having more to do with "life affirming moments" than "don't puke." For the record, I didn't. However, my brains got a little scrambled during the four days of aerobatics, and relaxing (not journaling) during our down time was almost a necessity (but then again, so was mainlining triscuits and animal crackers to keep energy up and the contents of our stomachs down). I am now going to have to go back to the Facebook posts and tweets of all of those involved and try to recreate the event.  The last few days I've typed out everything I can remember about AcroCamp, which will be posted here in a series of entries. [I'd tell you how many, but I have no idea. It'll stop when I have no more to say.] If I've forgotten anything or don't explain anything well enough, just let me know.

The participants are the four campers, introduced in this AcroCamp blog entry. Shown left to right are Jim, a relatively new pilot, Michele, a CFI, me, and Paul, an airline pilot. Or as they became to be known – Flubber, G, La La and Gump. Our instructors were Don and Barry (in back). Why Don has his finger in his ear is beyond us. I'd like to think he was realigning his turn and slip indicator, but he won't say. Ancient Aerobatic Master's secret, most probably.

Day 0 (Arrival at Camp). We got started a day later than scheduled because of a definite lack of good weather (we need high cloud ceilings and good visibility for aerobatics). Therefore I had no excuse for showing up late, which is not usual for me, because I was trying to get things done before I left. A quick trip to mail some Penelope Pilot books off at the post office turned into a 45 minute ordeal. Then traffic and construction made it so I didn’t arrive until nearly 5pm. I felt horrible because the entire crew was hanging around waiting for me to show up so we could begin. It built up the anticipation for my arrival, at least. (Sorry, guys!)

As soon as I walked in the door, I was made to leave. Walk back out of the door, that is, and come back in with the cameras turned on. Everyone else had some time to get used to having a camera lens in their face, but for me it was kind of awkward still. We had cameramen sticking cameras into our conversations, "confession" cams after every flight, and recorded de-briefs with our instructors. By the end of camp we were totally ignoring the cameras filming everything we did. Ignoring the cameras, Will and Dave, not you guys!

The evening of Day 0 the campers and crew had a brief ground school in an absolutely FREEZING hangar with our instructors, Barry Sutton and Don Weaver. (Quick plug for the instructors, yo. If you EVER need an aerobatics instructor in Michigan, do me, nay you, the favor, and get in touch with these guys.)

This ground school, I must tell you, was a blur, despite the use of a super cool model airplane that the instructor’s son had built. And not just because I was shivering. [Did I mention the camp was in May? In any other state, this would be spring. In Michigan it's still mid winter, apparently.] And boy, did I need a refresher on p-factor, gyroscopic effect, and other aerodynamic principals more commonly seen flying single engine propeller driven airplanes (not to mention I have NEVER flown a taildragger) as opposed to the jets I’ve become used to. And seriously, some of these concepts that I had been studying for my CFI were still a bit of smoke and mirrors.

As soon became apparent during the next few days of flying, you can TELL me something, but you must SHOW me something for me to get it. The Aerobatics book we read prior to camp helped, and the ground school helped, but I had to get into the airplane to get an ah-ha moment. (Despite the picture to the right, just climbing into the Pitts didn't make it become clear automatically. I mean you have to fly the maneuvers too.) For example, Barry and Don actually later had me show them skidding and slipping turns (some of these airplanes don’t have turn coordinators, so you really have to “feel” it) and those other things I mentioned previously, so I could say, "hey, the airplane really can yaw if you don’t lead with a little rudder." Important lessons to remember if I am to become as good as a CFI as they. Plus, remaining coordinated is SO important in aerobatics. You can't be glancing down during a aerobatic sequence to see if you're in trim. Or would that be glancing up? Actually flying aerobatics, now that's the subject of the next few posts. Til next time. Smoke on.

Lessons from Penelope Pilot

Hopefully by now I've gotten the message to you (via one of the many social networking methods I try to keep up with) about the new Girls With Wings book, Penelope Pilot and her First Day as Captain, available now at the GWW Pilot Shop.

My plan to create a line of books featuring the entire crew of Girls With Wings dolls (others forthcoming) has been one of the tenets of the GWW program from day one. I want to develop a series of stories featuring aviation and all associated STEM disciplines in a entertaining yet educational format for the girls combining flying with geography, meteorology, science, etc.

Why do I think it will work? My niece, a voracious reader (she takes after her aunt), had purchased from her school a few volumes about weather fairies. What girl under the age of 10 is not fascinated with fairies (and princesses)? But, what the heck, these books, which appeal to her girly girl side, are also teaching her about weather. You could, after all, buy books about fairies and princesses that teach girls nothing about anything, so as long as that's what they're going for,  I say, yeah, buy the books explaining weather using fairies. It's unlikely you're going to get a girl to willingly pick up a more generic book. It'll seem too much like homework. We just won't tell her that the cutesy stuff is also educating her at the same time.

Well, deciding to write a children's book and getting one into print is two totally separate things. Here's the process as it developed.

Step 1: Write story. Easy enough. I just drew on my days as an airline pilot to come up with a plot. Step 2: Illustrate pages. I'm not sure even how I linked up with Rob the Designer on Twitter, but he mentioned he was looking to get into illustrating children's books and frankly I can't draw. Rob submitted a sample drawing of Penelope that we just loved (shown at right), so it was on to Step 3: Combine Steps 1 and 2.

Sounds simple. But alas, Rob, although an awesome illustrator, is not a pilot. My friend Cindy, a major airline pilot and GWW Role Model, agreed to manage the project and exchanged numerous emails with Rob regarding the technicalities of aviation. For example, at first Rob had drawn a windsock right in the middle of the departure end of the runway with a tailwind. There were two problems with that: you can't have an obstacle blocking the runway, especially since you would have been using the other end of the runway due to the winds.  I even paid a pilot in Rob's area to take him and his kids up for a flight to get a "bird's eye" view of an airport and he did a great job researching airport security and ground support vehicles, etc. Minor things, but we figured since our biggest audience for the book would be folks in aviation trying to encourage their girls to develop an interest, we might want to be accurate. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Cindy and Rob for their hard work ...and their ability to work together so well for so long!

While we were going through finalizing the illustrations (which as you can see are amazingly rich with color), I kept going through the text. It seemed like every time I read my script I found misspellings, grammatical errors and  awkward sentences. Did you know that "Jetway" is a registered trademark? Luckily I stumbled on to this fact so I could change the word to "Jetbridge" to avoid paying royalties.

Several times I took the book into a library and asked the librarians what they thought. One woman in particular was very unimpressed. She said the book had no "tension" (tension in this industry is one thing we DON'T want to focus on!). She also informed me that kids as old as 14 years or so would read a picture book if they liked the story. I decided to go back and expand on the story to make it longer and add more detail.. All along we had one word on each page to explain, like "Turbine: A type of airplane engine, but also Penelope's name for her cat," which the older kids enjoyed. Once I took it into a third grade class and read the main text, while the kids got to hold up each picture and read the definition at the bottom of each page. They loved it!


I also tried to think of the lessons parents try to teach their kids. Penelope has to get up early so she gets to the airport on time. She needs to stay healthy so she can keep her medical certificate. And she needs to act as part of a team, the whole crew concept.

Once the illustrations (note Rob's awesome touches with the details on  each page!) and the text were locked in, my dad stepped in to help find a printer. Although it's gotten easier to publish a book yourself, it is still a whole other world to navigate when you want to print a book (using an established publishing house is really difficult). A big thanks to my dad who spent days, no weeks, going back and forth with printers to make sure our (my) high standards were met. He was the one who insisted we do the standup Penelope Pilot doll in the back, too, which I think is a great touch.

All told, this process took a year!


I got some indication of the effect the Penelope Pilot book could have soon after receiving it when I stayed with my friend Keith and his family. Keith is training to become a pilot and he and his young son have a wonderful time sharing their love of aviation. One day, though, Keith asked his younger daughter if she would be interested in becoming a pilot. Her response, "Flying is for boys," sent him on an internet search  which resulted in his finding Girls With Wings. He immediately signed her up for a membership, writing "She is a very bright 4 1/2 year old and very interested in flying.  I'm currently acquiring my Private license and I look forward to taking her flying with me.  Her brother and I have a Dad/Son bond with flying, and she seems to think she can't do it because she is a girl.  I am signing her up to show her that girls can fly and have fun too... that it's not just a boy pastime. This club will be her first chance of something special she can be a part of that her brother cannot, and I hope she will be more active as she gets older."

I featured his daughter in the next newsletter and a couple of Girls With Wings Role Models, Christa and Amy (shown here), even got in touch with Keith to talk to Madeleine. We've been in touch ever since, and met once during a trip I made to D.C. Keith's son had a ton of questions for me, mostly about helicopters, some of which I could even answer. His daughter was  kind of quiet so I was trying really hard not to pressure her into talking about flying, and as a result, scare her away.

I went to D.C. last weekend to do another Girls With Wings presentation and had the pleasure of staying with Keith's family. His son warmed up to me again right away, asking me how much a missile weighs (for the record, I have no idea). His daughter, not so much. For as sassy as she can be with her parents (she's to the far right in the picture), she's reserved around strangers. The night before I left, though, I presented her with one of the Penelope Pilot books, which she immediately perused cover to cover, then in reverse, and then had me sign it. I asked her if she would like me to read it to her and she said yes. It's a rather long book so we only got halfway through when we were called for dinner.

After dinner she got back out the book and sidled up to me so I offered to finish reading it to her. She curled up next to me on the couch and listened attentively through the rest. Yeah, so? Most kids like being read to, right? Well, I happened to be in the kitchen when she got up the next morning and she went straight for the book on the counter and carried it with her all morning. That is, until Mom let her know they had gotten a book to donate to her class. Then she had to look through the other books to choose the second best one (the one that hadn't been signed by the author, of course) for her school.

I, of course, was beaming, hoping that the Penelope Book might be pivotal in her life - the one thing that convinces her, as her shirt says, "Yes, Girls Can Fly!" But I am a little biased, of course. Dad wrote to let me know, though, that “I was excited to see that Lynda Meeks from Girls With Wings published the Penelope Pilot book.  I have one son and two daughters, and all of them are interested in flying.  While it’s pretty easy to find toys, magazines, and books that appeal to my son, the Penelope Pilot book was something special just for my daughter Madeleine that we can share together.  I really enjoyed seeing the look on her face when she realized Penelope was the Captain in the left seat of her plane!”

And from Madeleine herself, the following interview with Dad (remember, she's a girl of few words):

Dad. Madeleine, did you like the Penelope Pilot book?
Madeleine. Yes.
D.What did you think of the book?

M. Good.

D. What did you like best about the book?

M. The cat.

D. Besides the cat, did you like seeing things like the checklists that Penelope used to get her plane ready to fly?

M..Yes.

D. Ummmm, did you like the color of the book?  The pink?
M. Nooooo Dad, it had purple, not pink. (D: I rolled my eyes at this point. Madeleine is obsessed with pink.)
D. Madeleine, did you like how Penelope was the captain of the plane and not the boy?

M. Yes. She flew the plane. The man was her helper.

D. Did the book make you feel like you could fly a plane just like Penelope?

M. Yes. Jets are fast.

D. Did the book make you think that you could fly a plane better than your brother or Dad?

M. Yes. I can fly better than you guys.

D. Does that mean you could outfly your brother?

M. Yes.

D. How about your Dad?

M. Yes. I’d be a better pilot.

I said she's quiet, not lacking in self confidence.

Ok, so it's going to take some time to see the lasting effects of the book. It's one tool that Girls With Wings can use to get girls interested in aviation. All I know is that we can't stop trying. And we can't count on one approach to solve the lopsided numbers of men to women in aviation. The book may work for some, a girly girl airplane hair bow for another. Some of you may be fortunate enough to take the girl in question up for an actual flight, like Av8rdan blogs about in his post, It is Rare Moments Like These in a Pilot's Life That Need to be Cherished Forever,  about taking his granddaughter on her first flight.

And though you might think that older girls would be uninterested in what this old pilot has to say, I was flattered when middle and high school aged girls asked me for my autograph after my presentation in D.C. Sometimes all it takes is talking about what it is we do. Maybe these girls will become pilots, maybe not. I may never know. But I give out little postcard reminders of the Girls With Wings presentation hoping that they will throw it in a drawer and rediscover it when they're packing for college. If the Girls With Wings message (you can do whatever you strive for as long as you're willing to work at it) has stayed with them I hope they will drop me a line. And, Keith, Madeleine can let me know sooner than that.