It has long been a tradition for aviation enthusiasts to be perceived as elitists who shun outsiders. There is a factual basis for that belief, but its time is largely past. However, the dearth of minority participants in aviation is obvious to anyone who spends a day on the ramp. That’s changing, thank goodness.
When I got into aviation way back when, I didn’t know about Harriett Quimby, or Bessie Coleman, or even the WASP. But I knew Rose Cook. She was a CFII at the flight school where I earned the majority of my tickets. I was assigned to fly with her on a stage check. She was the first woman I ever flew with, and she was in the right seat calling the shots.
Rose was good. Really good. She knew her stuff and put me through the stage check like a real pro. Better than that, she did it without any of the ridiculous intimidation tactics so many male CFIs tended to use to illustrate their dominance.
They say aviation involves a small group of people in an already small world. My flight with Rose suggested that to be true. Because while we were in Florida and associated with the same flight school, our conversation revealed we’d been born in the same hospital 2,000 miles away – in Arizona.
I haven’t seen Rose in nearly 30 years. I hope she’s doing well. If you know her, say Hi for me, will ya?
There may be a few dinosaurs who disagree with me on this, but I think the reason my experiences with women in aviation have been so enjoyable is because most women in aviation are pretty darned good at what they do. There are more than a few who I look up to and admire, including…
Laurel Ramey was barely an adult when I first met her. She was a good friend though. A private pilot with aspirations for a career in aviation, Laurel made great use of the mentors she could find on the local field.
Cal Hanks took Laurel under his wing. He was an old man with a knack for covering equally old aircraft with fabric. He encouraged her, gave her insights she might not have found otherwise, and nudged her toward getting outside her comfort zone to seek out her dreams.
She did. First as an A&P, then as a flight instructor. She worked her way up the ladder one rung and a time. And true to the old adage, that ladder actually led her to her dream job. Today, Laurel’s profession puts her at the controls of an airliner.
Genesah Duffy is one of the new age of aviation professionals. Young, smart, personable, and fun to be with. She’s a total professional in the air. The fact that she’s female is only a factor in the sense that she’s lighter than your average cheeseburger loving American male, and so she’s got a size advantage in the cockpit.
We met when she was working at Propellerhead Aviation, a maintenance shop about three hangars away from my own. She was ordering parts, scheduling inspections and repairs, and generally keeping the work flow flowing on the shop floor. A US Navy veteran who had recently graduated the flight training program at Polk State College in central Florida, Genesah was ready to move from the desk to the cockpit on a full time basis – so she did.
My friend Genesah is now ICON Aircraft’s Chief Pilot on the East Coast. She’s demonstrated the A5 to me over Tampa Bay and allowed me to take the controls for a little aerial ballet followed by a splash and go. If I could grow up to be just like her, I’d be satisfied.
Joanne Alcorn is a regular participant in the Air Race Classic. She’s got more cross-country time under her belt than I ever will, I’m sure. And she’s as willing to help others, share her knowledge, encourage kids, and make you believe you can live out your dreams as well as anyone I’ve ever met. Jo is a force of nature.
I’m not sure when or where I met Janeen Kochan, but I’m pretty sure I’ve known her for longer than either one of us has been alive. She’s solidly on my list of the five smartest people I’ve ever met. She’s a former captain of transport category aircraft, a CFI, a designated examiner, an A&P with IA privileges, and one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen take the controls of anything. She’s amazing times ten. Oh yeah, and she earned a PhD along the way, too.
When my youngest daughter decided she was interested in learning to fly, I didn’t take her. I hooked her up with Janeen instead. It was a good decision. That girl has done well in life and I’m pretty sure the example Janeen set over the course of a handful of flights trumped all my best efforts as a dad for the previous decade or so.
Women are everywhere in aviation. For example, my flying club received delivery of an airplane we bought from a seller in Texas. We hired a ferry pilot to fly it to us here in central Florida. On Saturday our club president (who is female) along with our club vice president (who is female) met up with the ferry pilot (who is female) to complete the transaction.
I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a real trend here. Women excel at all things aviation. I’m just wondering why it has taken so long for the word to get out.
Girl power is real. It’s alive and well right down the road and miles overhead. Believe it.
When I asked if my flight instructor knew any women pilots, he introduced me to Betty. Her aerobatic airplane (N22EZ) a Pitts, is now part of the Smithsonian’s Air & Space museum. She told me to go have fun.
I have. Every gentleman pilot I’ve encountered has been gracious and encouraging, save one. That clown flew under my plane on final approach, saying, “I’m just gonna scoot under you, darling.”
I was a student then, and had to go around the pattern to avoid him. Later, I learned that the other pilots saw and heard the whole thing and chewed him out as he passed through the FBO. Would he have flown under a male pilot? Probably. But aside from one moron, all the men and women in aviation I’ve met have been wonderful and encouraging. Jaime Beckett has greatly encouraged me to get more involved in aviation, so I have.
I will never forget a pilot (whose name I now can’t remember) who instructed in the fine art of taildragger at my old hangaround. She taught in her Decathlon at Gardner Muni and other nearby Kansas airports, and shared the same respect and friendship as old and young pilots there gave each other. Aviation, if anything, is one activity in which any participant can be an equal—regardless of gender.
I had the honor of meeting Fran Bera in the early ’60s. My Dad was an FAA Flight Examiner (remember those?) at the KLGB GADO (remember those?). Fran sent many of her students there for flight exams. My Dad was always impressed by the caliber of the students she produced, and told me so. I was flight instructing out of Aircraft Associates at LGB at the time.
Fran motivated many women over the years, and I have one today as a neighbor. Alas, Fran flew west a short while ago. A life well lived.
GAMA notes this in its annual report: there are now 42,694 active women pilots, 7.01% of the pilot population, a new record:
https://gama.aero/wp-content/uploads/GAMA_2017_AnnualReport_ForWeb.pdf
Yes, demographics can be over-emphasized, but they are important. Cheers to the ladies – and the men who cheer them.
Nothing new here. Women have been excelling in aviation since its early years. I have personally known numerous great female aviation professionals in my nearly 40 years in the business. This includes pilots, mechanics, dispatchers, managers, etc. I cannot figure out why we must focus on one’s demographics. Success is success, regardless.
Agree with all. But not only women pilots, but as mechanics and other technical pros, aviation businesses – and don’t forget us gals on the airport administration side! Yes, as gbigs hints, we sometimes experience The Little Rascals’ He-Man Wimmin-Haters Club, but in my experience that was extremely rare; the great majority of the guys treated me like one of the guys, and my time spent at the airport owner’s GA facility was the best part of the work week.
With the many organizations, scholarship and other educational programs and the like focused on encouraging women in aviation, the trend will hopefully continue. (Besides, isn’t it always good to expand the gene pool?)
Aviation gets a bad name from the men who assumes ‘real’ flyers are male and ‘real’ planes are old. This group insist round gauges, paper charts, nothing modern like a chute or a glass panel, and 50 plus year old antiques not worth the scrap metal they are made of are what ‘real’ flying is about and anything deviating is to be riduculed. Women entering this world have it tougher which is probably why when you see one she is likely far better than the men at the sport.
Great article! Unfortunately gbigs once again has to remind us of his distaste for all of us who fly “lesser aircraft”.
In my 50 years of flying I have known and flown with a fair number of women pilots both professionally and pleasure flying. Quite a few of my aviator friends are women pilots and they also fly 50 year old antiques with round gauges, paper charts, and no chute or glass panel. Some of them even built their own airplanes!
I am proud to know them all.
Oh sure but you don’t have an attitude do you!
Great article, Jamie! Thanks for saying it so succinctly – “Girl power is real. It’s alive and well right down the road and miles overhead. Believe it.”
If they want more pilots, they have to buck up, pay is junk and you have to put up with passengers !!
More women in aviation is a very good thing. The system can only work if there are enough pilots out there to support it. As the pilot population continues to dwindle, the resources available to us also decline. It is a basic law of economic supply and demand. If the demand decreases, the supply will wither.
Gender in the cockpit means nothing today. Compared to 100 years ago, we have enclosed cockpits, reliable engines, capable airframes, and all the information we need to schedule and safely complete a flight. This stuff is not rocket surgery.
What it takes to become a pilot is the desire to slip the surly bonds of earth. That is what we have to create and build on. Take those ladies up in the air and show them what the Magic Carpet is all about.