Girls With Wings

Why "Girls With Wings?"

Aviation is the perfect "vehicle" for inspiring girls to set goals and to achieve them.
About Girls With Wings

How I got "here."
My fellow female pilots and I have many stories to tell about being mistaken for anything but the
"real" pilot. Together we commiserate on the struggle we have for just being accepted as "one
of the guys." Eventually, when I became Captain for an airline, I have heard many comments
about my "unusual" choice of occupation. People exclaim over the "novelty" of a female pilot,
though many of us have been flying for years. One of the best kernels of wisdom I've ever
gotten is to try to remember that these people really don't know they're offending us. Although
we women pilots have been flying around the world for decades, we just haven't been very
visible. I have heard similar stories from women in other aviation professions.

So there I was, learning to fly.

At the time, only 4% of military pilots were women. No one in my
family or anyone I had ever known had been a pilot, so I had no
experience from which to glean. It sure would have made things
easier! Learning to fly is not an easy thing to do for anyone, and as
I didn't even consider aviation as a career until my college Army
ROTC instructor told me that Army Aviation was the toughest branch
to get in. No one has ever issued a challenge like that to me and
gotten away with it! Seriously, I had gone through two years of
ROTC, spending all kinds of time around helicopters and being
lured by aviation branch representatives and NEVER even made
the connection between "hey, that looks cool" to "hey, I could do
that!"
it has been said, as a woman pilot, "they" always expect less of us, so they ask more of us.
Through the years as a UH-1 "Huey" Helicopter pilot and then as a C-12 (King Air 200) Fixed
Wing pilot, I always felt like I was proving myself over and over to every new pilot (usually male)
with whom I flew.
As my seven-year commitment with the Army drew to a close, I had
very nearly decided not to fly as a civilian. When I was only months
away from hanging up my headset, I was settling into my seat on a
commercial flight as the Captain made a standard announcement
over the intercom. I hardly paid attention to the message, but after he
was done, a very young girl sitting behind me said, "Mom, how come
you never hear any girl pilots?" I wish I would have turned to say to
her, "I am a girl pilot." I may not have said anything then, but that little
girl changed my life. I decided right then and there that I had been
given a fabulous opportunity and that I was not going to waste it. I left
the Army in November of 1999 and started flying for a regional airline.

How I got "here."

My fellow female pilots and I have many stories to tell about being mistaken for anything but the
"real" pilot. Together we commiserate on the struggle we have for just being accepted as "one
of the guys." Eventually, when I became Captain for an airline, I have heard many comments
about my "unusual" choice of occupation. People exclaim over the "novelty" of a female pilot,
though many of us have been flying for years. One of the best kernels of wisdom I've ever
gotten is to try to remember that these people really don't know they're offending us. Although
we women pilots have been flying around the world for decades, we just haven't been very
visible. I have heard similar stories from women in other aviation professions.

But that little girl's comment about the lack of awareness of female
pilots was why I started Girls With Wings. In August of 2002, I started
flying for a fractional airline and travel often on commercial flights.
There are always small girls on the airplane getting so excited about
the airport and the airplanes! But where can they continue this
interest? Very nearly everything that is aviation related is for boys.
Once girls are old enough to develop an interest in flying, they've often
realized that such things are geared to the boys, and they're driven
away.

Now, I love my job as a pilot, it's true. And I realize that being a pilot
isn't for everyone. That is why Girls With Wings encourages girls to
achieve their full potential no matter what they aspire to be. By
showing them women that are successful in aviation, a male dominated industry, they can take
these examples to heart and apply them personally to their own goals.