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| Encouraging more women and girls to have an interest in aviation... |
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Sarah:
My family claims that my aspiration to take to the sky started when I was still in a crib. From
the time I was able to stand I would go outside in my backyard and point at airplanes flying
overhead, and at the age of four I knew what a stall was just by the way the engine sounded
when an airplane was practicing one overhead. I owe my inspiration to my late grandfather,
who was a top turret gunner on a B-24 in World War II. He always wanted to pursue his
pilots license after the war, but couldn’t because of blood pressure problems. However, he
would always go down after church to the local airport with my grandmother and watch
airplanes takeoff and land. Eventually I was initiated into the Sunday afternoon ritual, and I
can still remember gorgeous spring days when there was a seemingly endless stream of air
traffic around the airport. One day when we watched a helicopter practice landings, my
grandfather told me that one day he would find someone to take us up for a helicopter ride
because he hadn’t been in one since the war. A week later he suffered from a sudden blood
clot in his leg and had to be flown by helicopter to the local hospital. His last words were, “Tell
Sarah I finally took that helicopter ride. Now it’s her turn.”
I was only six when he passed away, but I never fully lost my interest in aviation. My
grandfather’s last words were my motivation to become a pilot. It wasn’t until sixth grade that
I really became serious about learning to fly. One of the sixth grade teachers was a pilot, and
he “took me under his wing” from that year forward. I went up for the first time in a small
airplane in June 2003 thanks to the Young Eagles program. In seventh grade I officially
started flying lessons right after my 13th birthday and in eighth grade I won the school science
fair and regional science fair with a project titled “Which are more efficient; jets or
turboprops?” I am currently sixteen and a junior at Chatham High School. I’m working
diligently towards soloing, and I have around 35 hours of dual instruction. I plan on going to
college somewhere relatively close and majoring in political science. I am also planning on
getting my flight instructors rating, instrument rating, and commercial rating before I graduate
high school. I would really like to be able to offer flight instruction to people in college as a
part-time job and extend my love for aviation to others.
I think I would be a great role model for Girls With Wings because I love to help others,
especially young women, pursue their dream of becoming a pilot. I believe that every girl
should never feel that they cannot fly simply because aviation is perceived as a “guy thing”. I
have talked to many girls who wanted to learn how to fly but never followed through with it
because they felt that they would stand out too much, and after taking them to the airport for
a day they quickly changed their mind. If I was a role model for GWW, I believe I could inspire
girls to not be afraid to follow their dreams and let nothing stand in their way.
Links to two Flying Magazine articles that I was featured in:
http://www.flyingmag.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=665&page_number=1
http://www.flyingmag.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=756
My family claims that my aspiration to take to the sky started when I was still in a crib. From
the time I was able to stand I would go outside in my backyard and point at airplanes flying
overhead, and at the age of four I knew what a stall was just by the way the engine sounded
when an airplane was practicing one overhead. I owe my inspiration to my late grandfather,
who was a top turret gunner on a B-24 in World War II. He always wanted to pursue his
pilots license after the war, but couldn’t because of blood pressure problems. However, he
would always go down after church to the local airport with my grandmother and watch
airplanes takeoff and land. Eventually I was initiated into the Sunday afternoon ritual, and I
can still remember gorgeous spring days when there was a seemingly endless stream of air
traffic around the airport. One day when we watched a helicopter practice landings, my
grandfather told me that one day he would find someone to take us up for a helicopter ride
because he hadn’t been in one since the war. A week later he suffered from a sudden blood
clot in his leg and had to be flown by helicopter to the local hospital. His last words were, “Tell
Sarah I finally took that helicopter ride. Now it’s her turn.”
I was only six when he passed away, but I never fully lost my interest in aviation. My
grandfather’s last words were my motivation to become a pilot. It wasn’t until sixth grade that
I really became serious about learning to fly. One of the sixth grade teachers was a pilot, and
he “took me under his wing” from that year forward. I went up for the first time in a small
airplane in June 2003 thanks to the Young Eagles program. In seventh grade I officially
started flying lessons right after my 13th birthday and in eighth grade I won the school science
fair and regional science fair with a project titled “Which are more efficient; jets or
turboprops?” I am currently sixteen and a junior at Chatham High School. I’m working
diligently towards soloing, and I have around 35 hours of dual instruction. I plan on going to
college somewhere relatively close and majoring in political science. I am also planning on
getting my flight instructors rating, instrument rating, and commercial rating before I graduate
high school. I would really like to be able to offer flight instruction to people in college as a
part-time job and extend my love for aviation to others.
I think I would be a great role model for Girls With Wings because I love to help others,
especially young women, pursue their dream of becoming a pilot. I believe that every girl
should never feel that they cannot fly simply because aviation is perceived as a “guy thing”. I
have talked to many girls who wanted to learn how to fly but never followed through with it
because they felt that they would stand out too much, and after taking them to the airport for
a day they quickly changed their mind. If I was a role model for GWW, I believe I could inspire
girls to not be afraid to follow their dreams and let nothing stand in their way.
Links to two Flying Magazine articles that I was featured in:
http://www.flyingmag.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=665&page_number=1
http://www.flyingmag.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=756
