San Carlos Flight Center (SCFC) has released a short video celebrating the women students and pilots of general aviation.
The video brings together present and future women pilots, and shows the positive impact that aviation had in their lives.
The video, “It All Began,” shows the path that women can take to become licensed pilots. From looking out a window, to taking the initial steps into a flight school, the transformation that occurs in a flight training process is displayed in full detail.
The video was inspired by the song “A Piece of Sky” written by Michel Legrand with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the movie Yentl. The song chronicles the journey of a woman realizing her potential to follow her dreams, and SCFC’s video includes a cover recorded by Nita Whitaker.
The video was created as a summer project, filmed and directed by SCFC staff member Michelle Karpishin, a past winner of the Upwind Summer Scholarship. Karpishin invited all of the women SCFC pilots to participate in the filming, and many responded, eager to share their experiences with the next generation of women pilots, officials noted.
Congratulations, Michelle and SCFC – and the pilots. An important message to women and girls, who might never have thought of flying, or who misperceive GA as The He-Man Wimmin-Haters Club – in my experience it is definitely not.
(FYI – Yentl is based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, about a young Jewish woman in 19th-century Europe who disguises herself as a man to attend rabbinical school. Funny and touching, and the song “A Piece of Sky” ends with the line, “Papa, watch me fly!”)