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"I recently flew our P210 into a rather high altitude, short dirt runway & stopped before halfway … then taxied to the avgas. Several guys came out to admire our plane & the first one to greet me said “that’s the most muscle plane we’ve had here in a while, and a GIRL flew it.” He repeated the “a GIRL flew it part multiple times. Mind you, I’m a 50 yr old girl. My husband gave him a annoyed look and as we were taking off told me that wasn’t a complement. My hubby has been a great support to me, he prodded me to start flying with him years ago and encourages me to keep flying, even though he can’t pass a medical anymore. How about a shirt with something like “women can fly anything and do it better”? Or something to honor those great husbands that support their wife-pilots?"
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"Just ordered the new shirt and thought you might like to hear this story! To keep insured in MY Baron, every year I go to the Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program and most of the time I feel like having my license tatooed on my forehead there! This year I wore my new "It's not my boyfriend's airplane" T-shirt for the flying day and got some chuckles, but there was one guy who honestly looked at my shirt and got a very quizzical look on his face. "Well, who's airplane is it? The bank's?" He was dead serious! My response was almost a growled, "no, its MINE!" You could have pushed him over with a feather! He was stunned!"
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"Don't get me wrong, I am not a feminist. I believe men and women still have different roles. I open the pickle jars in my house you know. And she will always have the babies, and not get as sick as I do around poopy diapers. Come to think of it, I usually mess up the laundry too. I'm not sure if it's a guy thing or a me thing. Oh well. But when it come to such things as flying, or riding a motorcycle ( I sponser a female racer through my shop), or driving a car (i.e. Danicka Patrick.....it's fun to watch her piss off the boys!) or anything else that doesn't require extra manliness (like how many times I've forgotten to turn off the breakers before doing electrical work on the house!) I think that women deserve just as much respect as anyone else. The fact that your site elevates women, without any degree whatsoever of man-bashing, makes it even more respectable."
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"A few years ago at a Young Eagles event, I saw a group of three young girls about 9-10 years old standing off to the side. I always seek out the girls to give rides to, and I asked them if they were waiting for their airplane ride. "Oh no" one of the girls said, "we are here waiting on my brother, he is getting a ride. It's his birthday." I asked the girls if they would like a ride, I would be happy to be their pilot. "You fly? Girls don't drive the plane" one of the girls stated. "As matter of fact, girls certainly can fly, we do not need boys to fly, we can do it ourselves, come with me and I will show you". I got the girls registered, and got them to the plane. When we were ready to depart I called the unicom frequency and announced "Cessna xxxxR, No Boys Allowed Flight is departing Runway 22" The girls just giggled and I heard one on the intercom "yeah, no boys." As soon as we lifted off the runway my eardrums nearly burst from the three giddy girls screams of delight!! We flew over their school and around some local landmarks. When I entered the pattern for landing I made all my calls as "No Boys Allowed Flight". They just laughed in delight. After landing I have never seen three bigger smiles on little faces before! They ran to their parents yelling " We can fly, we can do it with NO BOYS ALLOWED" As they left the Young Eagle area I could hear the girls chanting "No boys allowed, no boys allowed" It was the most memorable Young Eagle flight I have ever had. I hope I opened their eyes to what their futures can hold, and that there are no dreams too big."
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"First of all I would like to wish you “A happy new year !” and to let you know how surprised I was to discover a site only for women flying various aircrafts. Even though I’m only a beginner in the aviation field (I’m in the first year at the Romanian Academy of Civil Aviation at helicopter pilots) I would like to wear something special at the airfield and not only there so I have decided to buy something from your website. In 2003 I was admitted at the Embry-Riddle University at Daytona Beach Campus but because my financial situation didn't allow me to attend their courses I had to go at the Aeronautical Engineering Faculty at Polytechnic University in Bucharest (Romania) where I'm in the second year and from last November I'm first year at the Romanian Academy of Civil Aviation and I'm planning to continue them both. Regarding the fact that Romania had offered many professional pilots, this may be due to the fact that here we have to encounter many obstacles but the Romanian pilots truly believe that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger so I never saw a pilot here give up even though there are so many reasons to do it. In a way I think we are raised in such a way that we try to change all the impediments into the will and determination we need to push our limits further."
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"While visiting the Owls Head Museum in Maine, our daughter-in-law spotted a saleswoman in the gift shop wearing a "Women Fly" tee shirt. "That would be perfect for Aunt Minkie", she said. So we bought it, with the intent to send it off the following Monday for Aunt Minkie's 86th birthday. However, when we returned home there was a message waiting for us...At nearly the same time as when we were buying the tee shirt, my husband's favorite aunt, Mary Lincoln Heckman (aka Aunt Minkie) had passed away. The significance of the tee shirt, you ask? You see, Aunt Minkie was a WASP, and very proud of her career as a woman aviator. She instilled her love of flying in her nephew, my husband, Bob, and at the time of her death, Bob was sharing this passion with his two grandsons, Bradley age 5 and Josh, age 2, as we watched the antique air show in Maine. Coincidence - I think not."
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"I've always wondered who the 11 women were who flew the B-26. Your wonderful shirt with Libby Gardner's picture keeps this question floating around my head. I know part of the answer--Libby being one of the eleven, and two others were Pat Patterson and (Lela) Marjorie Gilbert. They are the pilots who landed a B-26 in Idaho on one engine down the middle of a runway with about a foot of clearance on either side. They cleared all the parked planes and coasted out to the end of the runway. They had to take this one as the other runway was closed and the plane was leaking fluids and they could only line up with this runway anyway. After the war, she married and became Marjorie Stewart. She was my mother-in-law. Here's a story that Mom told me. She said that the REAL reason that the WASP pilots had less trouble with the Marauder was that the women flew it as the manual said to fly it--no hot-dogging or such--and particularly when landing the plane. She also told me that the Martin Company was extremely appreciative of the WASP as they proved that the Marauder was a flyable plane and indeed the B-26 turned out to be a good airplane. Marjorie and her husband Ray were members of a B-26 veterans group in Indiana for several years before she died. She was the only woman in the group and actually had more flying hours in the Marauder than some of the men."
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"Love your web site! I'm close to getting my recreational pilot's license at age 52! No one in my family flies, but I've always loved planes. I am a kindergarten teacher, and some people told me I was too sweet and non aggressive to fly airplanes. I'm not kidding! I got a 97 on my FAA written exam- the only female in my ground school."
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"I am hoping to meet some women around my age who fly. Especially those who started later in life like I do. None of my friends are interested in planes- only teaching, crafts, shopping, men,relationships,etc.! I am truly non-domestic, would rather be out of the house as much as possible! Feel free to give my e mail to anyone who I could network with. Actually, my husband always liked planes too and everyone always told him he should take flying lessons. We don't have kids. Then, one day we were at Hartford WI. airport watching planes, and I thought, "I can do this!" and it freaked everyone out that I was the one to learn to fly instead of him!"
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"I came across your site while looking up Ameila Earhart with my 8 year old daughter. I have to say, tears came to my eyes as I read the quotes and the stories. I am 44 and I have gone back to college to become an RN. Just this year I walked across the stage and received my first diploma, I didn't graduate from high school. I have been trying to show my daughters that they can do anything. Thank you for showing them that, too."
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"Not so long ago I was flying my EMS helicopter into a hospital near my parents' house. Before we took off from the other hospital, I gave my parents a quick call so they could come watch me land. At 35-40 knots, It was a particularly windy day. As I was on final approach there was a small crowd gathered, watching us land. A man leaned into my step-dad and said "that guy is going to have a tough time landing in this wind." My step-dad said "that's no man, that's my daughter." One of the best things in my life is that I've made my parents proud of me."
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"Yesterday on my way to the airport I noticed the temperature on the Lakeland Bank sign, it read 101 degrees. I thought to myself “There is no way that Cal is going to get me into a plane on a day like this.” Getting into a Cessna on a hot day is like sitting in your car with the heat on. Of course Cal ignored my whining and made me perform my preflight. After my preflight we hopped in the plane and taxied to runway 21. Before I even finished my run up I was soaked in sweat. I started to tell Cal that I hated him for making me fly on such a hot day. Right before we took off, Damian announced over the radio that maybe we should hold off 15 minutes or so because it was kind of bumpy. I asked Cal what I should do and he looked at me like I had two heads and said “take off, you can handle a few bumps”. After my second landing Cal tried to get out but I added some throttle and ignored his request. We flew the traffic pattern again, landed and as we were taxiing past the tower he overpowered the brakes and jumped out. I started to shake and my eyes started to well up a little but I knew I had to do this. As I taxied to runway 21 all I could think of was I cannot die before my niece is born. I also thought about how my grandma wanted to be a pilot and for what ever reason she didn’t so I am going to do this for both of us. I configured the plane for takeoff, looked in the sky for traffic, announced my departure and proceeded to take off. As the plane lifted off the ground I hear over the radio “That’s ok Cessna I’ll do a go around”. I thought oh shit I just cut a plane off, I could have caused an accident, Cal is going to kill me, and they are never going to let me fly again. I looked around for the other plane but I did not see it. I flew to altitude and made my left hand crosswind turn. Still no plane in sight, I relaxed a little and figured if that plane was talking to me they obviously know where I am and will avoid me. On downwind I announced my position. I had a few minutes before I had to do anything so I started to nervously enjoy the view. I had seen it so many times before but this time it was different. It was calm, peaceful, and beautiful. I was by myself at 1000 feet above the earth’s surface and I was ok with that. Half way downwind I started to configure for my first solo landing. As the plane started to descend I made a left hand turn to base. Again, I announced my position and as I turned onto final I lined the plane up with the 21 painted on the runway. As I flew over the numbers only a few feet over the runway I leveled the plane off. Slowly, I pulled the yoke back to flare the plane and before I knew it I was on the ground again. I could not believe I did it. I was shaking so bad. I looked over to Cal and he was waving his hands with excitement. He ran over to the plane to congratulate me and tell me that I did an excellent job. I nervously asked him if I had cut off another plane on take off and he said that he had heard that too, but there was no one else in the traffic pattern. I found out later that the radio call was coming from a different airport and it had nothing to do with me. Whew, I felt so much better and immediately felt more confident."
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An excerpt from an article in a 1930 edition of Aero Digest which discusses training women pilots...
"...Not every instructor can teach women to fly. The "hells" and "damns" of an instructor's vocabulary must be eliminated entirely in the training of ladies. The instructor must make his corrections and explanations in a soft manner. There is no decided difference between the learning ability of the blonds or brunettes. It is found that the athletic type girl makes the better flier and learns faster than the domestic type. They require constant explanation and repetition of actual flight maneuvers and are a little slow to think quickly in a tight pinch. The "moneyed" young ladies are inclined to slide through their course with the least effort possible, as their objective is learning solely for the pleasure and exhilaration of flying. Those who work for their money and take up flying are more serious to get all that the course offers..."
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