The Renaissance pilot of Texas

By JOE FERNANDEZ

While many young women dream of becoming singers or movie stars, Andrea McGilvray had her sights set on aviation.

It follows from her life’s mission: “Life needs to be about living every day to its fullest,” she says.

“Freedom from our earthbound chains and living in the moment are two reasons I love to fly,” she adds.

But she took a winding road to her aviation career.

Born in Bad Hall, Austria, she and her family immigrated to Alberta, Canada, when she was a child. Despite not speaking any English, Andrea successfully navigated school in her new environment.

While aviation was not yet part of her world, she became deeply involved in culinary arts, graduating as a “Red Seal Chef” from a culinary school in Calgary.

Though she was poised for a career as a chef, her passion soon shifted toward aviation.

During a night out with friends, she learned about ultralight flying, an experience that proved to be a pivotal moment in her life, sparking a passion that would lead to an aviation career. Andrea later moved to Ontario, Canada, with her flight instructor, where she completed her private pilot certificate.

However, due to financial constraints and uncertainty about how to stay involved in aviation, she took a break from flying for more than 20 years. During this time, she worked as an electrician apprentice and, after surviving two motorcycle accidents, founded her own company. Her business ventures eventually brought her to Texas.

In Texas, she was involved in several different businesses when, in 2007, she became a real estate agent and founded her own brokerage, Cowboy Capital Realty, which she still operates today.

Real estate is what actually brought Andrea back to aviation in 2015.

“I had always wanted to get back into flying but between money, not knowing anyone, and not being around it caused my absence,” she explains. “One day while I was with some real estate clients at lunch a man named Jerry was sitting close by and my client asked if he was still flying. My head swirled around since that caught my attention. I asked a few questions and after our meeting I went to see what he was about.”

She notes he rekindled her love for flying “in a whole new way.”

“He was looking for someone to go fly with him and did not recognize he caught an aviatrix,” she continues.

After flying with Jerry in his various airplanes, including a Luscombe, a replica P-51, and even a replica Jenny, she was ready to begin building her own fleet.

Her first purchase was an ultralight, a Hipp’s Superbirds J-3 Kitten.

“When I bought the J-3 Kitten, I did not know how to fly a tailwheel airplane, but really, how hard could it be?” she says with a smile, noting “ignorance is bliss.”

After she learned how hard it was, she went on to earn her tailwheel endorsement in a Champ.

Next came her purchase of a Hatz CB1 biplane and, a two years later, a Pitts S1C.

Today, the renaissance aviatrix owns two Pitts, a Cessna 172, a Decathlon, and a replica P-51 Mustang. All of her planes are based at South Texas Regional Airport (KHDO) in Hondo, located about 30 minutes west of San Antonio.

Soon after buying the Hatz, through an unexpected stroke of luck, she trained with legendary aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff, flying a Super Decathlon and an Extra 300 in Florida.

That same year she competed in her first aerobatic competition, an International Aerobatic Club event, in the Hatz.

“Then a year later, I purchased a Pitts,” she recalls. “To get the necessary training to fly the Pitts, I trained with Budd Davisson. Then I purchased my red Pitts and trained with Steve Wolf, a legend in the aircraft builder community.”

She notes that aerobatics “pushes my boundaries of flight and gives me a seriously good workout.”

“Competing also motivates me to build my skills for precision, building reflexes to provide the corrective actions,” she says.

During this time, she also earned her A&P certificate, added an instrument rating to her ticket, then a commercial fixed wing certificate, a rotor commercial certificate, a multi-engine certificate, and finally her Certified Flight Instructor tickets for both fixed wing and rotor flight.

Instructing has brought a new joy to her life.

“I love to share what I have learned to make pilots safer and show them how to fly by the seat of your pants — which is a true statement, not just a saying,” she says. “The smile I get from folks is worth every flight.”

In addition to her flying achievements, Andrea hosts a regional aerobatic contest in Hondo, Texas, and has excelled in multiple competitions. She claimed first place at Hammers over Hondo in both 2022 and 2023 and secured second place overall — with two first-place finishes — at The Texas Two Step aerobatic competition in Edna, Texas, in 2023.

Andrea’s journey doesn’t stop here. She received approval for an aerobatic box over KHDO and is in the process of building a hangar that will feature an FBO and a flight school for upset recovery, spin training, and basic aerobatic instruction.

The airport’s multiple runways, ample space, and location away from the busy San Antonio airspace make it an ideal setting for this project, she says, noting she hopes it will be completed within the next year or two.

Andrea’s adventures also will, no doubt, continue.

And on her own website, Adventures With Andrea, she sums up her life in a typically Andrea way:

• Me, Normal, Nope! But who is?
• Full of questions
• Need to know “why/who/when”
• Can I do it “NOW?”
• Patience is for doctors and nurses
• A friend calls me a “Renaissance woman.” I had to look that up. I did not think I was mid-evil.

You can learn more about Andrea at Adventures-With-Andrea.com