Kathleen
Commercial and Military Airplane and Helicopter Pilot
Hi, My name is Kathleen but my friends call me Kat. Katelyn,
my adorable niece who is 7, asked me recently what it is like to
“drive” an airplane. Well, I have to tell you (and her) that it is
kind of like riding your two wheeler bicycle for the first time
without training wheels; the first time you do it alone you are
very happy and proud to realize all the wonderful things you
can do! It’s also kind of like Christmas morning when you get
to open all the presents, leaving a mess of paper everywhere
while you go play. It feels very fun and free.
My first flight was at the age of about 6 months. When I was
three years old, I flew as a passenger by myself for the first
time from Puerto Rico to a small town in Colorado. The flight
attendant (or stewardess, as they were called then) gave me
my own set of “pilot wings” to wear and brought me up to the
cockpit to meet the pilots. I remember standing in the middle,
just behind the center console, looking up at all the switches…
and then looking down at all the gauges and switches that the
pilots use to fly. There were switches and gauges
everywhere! I wondered to myself how in the world a person
would ever know what to do with all of those things, much less
what they were for.
Later, as I sat in my window seat gazing across the horizon, I
was amazed at the beauty of this world we live in. I’m sure I
was dreaming about angels jumping from cloud to cloud,
kissed by the sun as they leapt, having fun and feeling free. I
thought it would be wonderful fun to be able to look out at
puffy white clouds every day while at “work” and decided then
and there I wanted to be an airline pilot some day.
Life took a circuitous route. In college I had an Army ROTC
scholarship and during my senior year, I requested to be put in
the Aviation branch. I’d heard it was extremely difficult & didn’
t have the highest of hopes, but somehow it happened! I
became an Army helicopter pilot and went on active duty for
about seven years (flying the UH-1). I LOVE flying helicopters,
and I LOVE to hover! Then I went into the reserves where I
became an airplane pilot, also (flying the C-12). After a total of
13 years with the Army, I transferred to the Air National Guard
and began flying C-130s. During the Air Force training, I flew
the “Tweet” (T-37) and “Jayhawk” (T-1), which are both jets.
Every other airplane I have flown has propellers.
Commercial and Military Airplane and Helicopter Pilot
Hi, My name is Kathleen but my friends call me Kat. Katelyn,
my adorable niece who is 7, asked me recently what it is like to
“drive” an airplane. Well, I have to tell you (and her) that it is
kind of like riding your two wheeler bicycle for the first time
without training wheels; the first time you do it alone you are
very happy and proud to realize all the wonderful things you
can do! It’s also kind of like Christmas morning when you get
to open all the presents, leaving a mess of paper everywhere
while you go play. It feels very fun and free.
My first flight was at the age of about 6 months. When I was
three years old, I flew as a passenger by myself for the first
time from Puerto Rico to a small town in Colorado. The flight
attendant (or stewardess, as they were called then) gave me
my own set of “pilot wings” to wear and brought me up to the
cockpit to meet the pilots. I remember standing in the middle,
just behind the center console, looking up at all the switches…
and then looking down at all the gauges and switches that the
pilots use to fly. There were switches and gauges
everywhere! I wondered to myself how in the world a person
would ever know what to do with all of those things, much less
what they were for.
Later, as I sat in my window seat gazing across the horizon, I
was amazed at the beauty of this world we live in. I’m sure I
was dreaming about angels jumping from cloud to cloud,
kissed by the sun as they leapt, having fun and feeling free. I
thought it would be wonderful fun to be able to look out at
puffy white clouds every day while at “work” and decided then
and there I wanted to be an airline pilot some day.
Life took a circuitous route. In college I had an Army ROTC
scholarship and during my senior year, I requested to be put in
the Aviation branch. I’d heard it was extremely difficult & didn’
t have the highest of hopes, but somehow it happened! I
became an Army helicopter pilot and went on active duty for
about seven years (flying the UH-1). I LOVE flying helicopters,
and I LOVE to hover! Then I went into the reserves where I
became an airplane pilot, also (flying the C-12). After a total of
13 years with the Army, I transferred to the Air National Guard
and began flying C-130s. During the Air Force training, I flew
the “Tweet” (T-37) and “Jayhawk” (T-1), which are both jets.
Every other airplane I have flown has propellers.
In the meantime, while I was not on active duty, I took a job as
General Manager in charge of all the airline fuel for the airport in
Austin, TX. I flew airplanes a lot on the side for fun and built up a lot
of flight hours, and then applied for a job with the commuter
airlines. I was happy and surprised to get my wish of being an airline
pilot and got a job with United Express (Beech 1900s) mostly flying
out of Denver. At the time, flying in the Rocky Mountains was the
most fun I’d had in an airplane.
After September 11, 2001 I was activated by the Air Guard to be a
part of Operation Noble Eagle (Homeland Defense operations), then
later was sent to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in support of Operations
Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan). Even under
the worst of circumstances, flying in combat was a heck of a lot of
fun, although very dangerous…you have to pay close attention to
everything you do and everything around you. I flew about 90 hours
in combat and then went home early for a military education
program. The next year, I was sent to El Salvador to work at the US
Embassy in the Military Group.
I am still in the Air National Guard but have requested some time off
to attend graduate school to study International Security at American
University in Washington DC. International Security is a big term for
studying national defense, war and peace issues, and I’m especially
interested in it where the military and diplomats are involved.
Today, I know that it truly IS possible to understand all those cockpit
switches, gauges, and the mechanics behind them. I know what the
angels feel like when they dance among the clouds, because I have
surfed through them. I know what it is like to hover, and I think
hovering may be even a more amazing experience than landing. I
don’t have God as my co-pilot…he is my Captain, and I go where he
sends me. Sometimes I just rent a plane and fly somewhere for
lunch to get a hamburger…they call that the $100 hamburger.
I’m not sure how flying will fit into my future because higher
education is taking me in a different direction, but I will never stop
flying! We’ll have to see. As the song says, “Why walk when you
can fly?”
General Manager in charge of all the airline fuel for the airport in
Austin, TX. I flew airplanes a lot on the side for fun and built up a lot
of flight hours, and then applied for a job with the commuter
airlines. I was happy and surprised to get my wish of being an airline
pilot and got a job with United Express (Beech 1900s) mostly flying
out of Denver. At the time, flying in the Rocky Mountains was the
most fun I’d had in an airplane.
After September 11, 2001 I was activated by the Air Guard to be a
part of Operation Noble Eagle (Homeland Defense operations), then
later was sent to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in support of Operations
Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan). Even under
the worst of circumstances, flying in combat was a heck of a lot of
fun, although very dangerous…you have to pay close attention to
everything you do and everything around you. I flew about 90 hours
in combat and then went home early for a military education
program. The next year, I was sent to El Salvador to work at the US
Embassy in the Military Group.
I am still in the Air National Guard but have requested some time off
to attend graduate school to study International Security at American
University in Washington DC. International Security is a big term for
studying national defense, war and peace issues, and I’m especially
interested in it where the military and diplomats are involved.
Today, I know that it truly IS possible to understand all those cockpit
switches, gauges, and the mechanics behind them. I know what the
angels feel like when they dance among the clouds, because I have
surfed through them. I know what it is like to hover, and I think
hovering may be even a more amazing experience than landing. I
don’t have God as my co-pilot…he is my Captain, and I go where he
sends me. Sometimes I just rent a plane and fly somewhere for
lunch to get a hamburger…they call that the $100 hamburger.
I’m not sure how flying will fit into my future because higher
education is taking me in a different direction, but I will never stop
flying! We’ll have to see. As the song says, “Why walk when you
can fly?”
TM
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