Pilot
My name is Louise. I spend half of my time in California enjoying the warm
sunshine and big blue skies that are perfect for flying and the other half in
England where it’s cloudy and not so great for aviation.
I was a high school teacher for 8 years and really enjoyed my job, but I
would often find myself watching a plane fly overhead and would wish I was
up there in the sky looking down rather than being on the ground looking
up. I grew up in a part of England that has many old grass airfields that
were used during the war and before.
As a youngster I was fascinated by the old airplanes that looked like they
were made out of wood and cloth- most of them were! Enthusiastic people
spent many hours restoring these old airplanes and keeping them
airworthy. As I used to watch them fly overhead I would long to have a
leather flying jacket and goggles so that I could at least pretend to be a
pilot.
I joined the Air Training Corps when I was 13 and spent my evenings
learning about flight and the Royal Air Force. Through the ATC I was able to
gain my Glider Proficiency which meant training to fly a powered glider solo.
I also did a charity parachute jump and flew ultra light aircraft- fabric
covered wings and tiny engines!
Whilst teaching I wanted to get my pilots license and saved up to have
lessons. I came to a crossroads in my teaching career and decided not to
take either path but to finally achieve what I had always promised myself- I
would become a pilot. So I moved to California and left behind everything
familiar; family, friends, my home and job. It was a huge step but I am now
the proud owner of a pilot license and all the sacrifices have been worth it.
When I am in America I work for a company who offer scenic flights in
vintage aircraft. Two of the planes are from the 1920s and are the type of
airplane that took part in the first women’s air races and in which famous
female pilots such as Amelia Earhart and Louise Thaddon flew. It is a
fantastic job to be able to encourage other people to take to the skies in
planes with lots of history and character that are exactly like the planes that
inspired me to learn to fly.
My advice to any young girls who are thinking about flying would be simply
to believe that you can achieve it. Make the sky your playground! It is one
of the greatest things you can do. As Amelia Earhart once said ‘You haven’t
seen a tree until you have seen it from the air’. Being able to fly gives you a
whole new perspective on life and the world that we live in. And once you
have achieved your dream of flying, help someone else achieve theirs.
Read about the great female role models in aviation that have made our
journey into the skies easier. Find out about the first female pilots, the
pioneers of aviation, the WASPs and their amazing bravery. When you have
read their stories there will be nothing to hold you back from achieving
great things!
My name is Louise. I spend half of my time in California enjoying the warm
sunshine and big blue skies that are perfect for flying and the other half in
England where it’s cloudy and not so great for aviation.
I was a high school teacher for 8 years and really enjoyed my job, but I
would often find myself watching a plane fly overhead and would wish I was
up there in the sky looking down rather than being on the ground looking
up. I grew up in a part of England that has many old grass airfields that
were used during the war and before.
As a youngster I was fascinated by the old airplanes that looked like they
were made out of wood and cloth- most of them were! Enthusiastic people
spent many hours restoring these old airplanes and keeping them
airworthy. As I used to watch them fly overhead I would long to have a
leather flying jacket and goggles so that I could at least pretend to be a
pilot.
I joined the Air Training Corps when I was 13 and spent my evenings
learning about flight and the Royal Air Force. Through the ATC I was able to
gain my Glider Proficiency which meant training to fly a powered glider solo.
I also did a charity parachute jump and flew ultra light aircraft- fabric
covered wings and tiny engines!
Whilst teaching I wanted to get my pilots license and saved up to have
lessons. I came to a crossroads in my teaching career and decided not to
take either path but to finally achieve what I had always promised myself- I
would become a pilot. So I moved to California and left behind everything
familiar; family, friends, my home and job. It was a huge step but I am now
the proud owner of a pilot license and all the sacrifices have been worth it.
When I am in America I work for a company who offer scenic flights in
vintage aircraft. Two of the planes are from the 1920s and are the type of
airplane that took part in the first women’s air races and in which famous
female pilots such as Amelia Earhart and Louise Thaddon flew. It is a
fantastic job to be able to encourage other people to take to the skies in
planes with lots of history and character that are exactly like the planes that
inspired me to learn to fly.
My advice to any young girls who are thinking about flying would be simply
to believe that you can achieve it. Make the sky your playground! It is one
of the greatest things you can do. As Amelia Earhart once said ‘You haven’t
seen a tree until you have seen it from the air’. Being able to fly gives you a
whole new perspective on life and the world that we live in. And once you
have achieved your dream of flying, help someone else achieve theirs.
Read about the great female role models in aviation that have made our
journey into the skies easier. Find out about the first female pilots, the
pioneers of aviation, the WASPs and their amazing bravery. When you have
read their stories there will be nothing to hold you back from achieving
great things!
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TM
| Using aviation to entertain and educate girls about their limitless opportunities... |
