As part of the sixth annual Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week, a global aviation awareness week for girls of any age, the Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide (iWOAW) is offering Apple Watches, iPad Minis, custom jackets and custom silk scarves to girls and women who dare to step out of bounds and try flying in a GA aircraft (maximum six seats) from March 7-13, 2016 anywhere in the world.
“All aviation vocations begin with a passion for flight,” says Mireille Goyer, iWOAW’s founder and president. “That passion is what motivates people to choose a career in aerospace. That’s why iWOAW focuses on addressing the significant and ongoing flight introduction gender gap.”
The outreach initiative launched by Goyer in 2010 is designed to spark aviation vocations within the female population and improve gender balance in the industry.
It offers girls and women not familiar with aviation a chance to experience various aviation activities, hands-on, as well as meet women of aviation face to face to learn about the reality of various careers from a woman’s perspective.
“My career goals were tweaked by the event, in a very exciting way!” declared Barbara of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, after her experience at one of the week’s many events.
“I would want to work on plane design, like the body or engine,” adds Shivana, of Titusville, Florida.
By far, the most emotional and life changing experience is flight, regardless of the type of aircraft. When free Fly It Forward flights are included among the activities, registrations close due to overwhelming demand within a matter of days after announcement, according to organizers.
iWOAW offers three flight training scholarships totaling $4,500 (CAD) to the first three eligible female candidates who fly solo.
Women who had never considered learning to fly before the week fly solo within six weeks of their first flight on average to win the scholarship.
More than five weeks before the week begins, nearly 1,000 aviation enthusiasts on three continents have already registered their intentions to introduce 7,200 girls and women to flying in gliders, ultralights, airplanes, and helicopters. Numbers will likely double before the end of the week, weather permitting, according to organizers.
Girls and women are invited to visit WomenOfAviationWeek.org to locate events offering free flights or flight training centers offering special discounts on trial flights.
To qualify for the prizes and scholarships, girls and women must report their free or paid flights in The Week’s official website before March 15, 2016, midnight.