That’s the question I asked myself when I saw the 1988 made-for-TV movie “The Pancho Barnes Story” starring Valerie Bertenelli. I was a fledgling aviator at the time and just stumbled across this movie. I was transfixed.

Who was this woman who evolved from a tomboy to a southern California debutante, entered into an arranged marriage with a minister, ran away to sea disguised as a man, ended up in Mexico with revolutionaries, raced horses, raised dogs, learned to fly airplanes, become a movie stunt pilot, competed in the 1929 Women’s Air Derby, set up a dude ranch next to an airbase and taught ground school to aviators as World War II approached?

This had to be all fiction, I thought. 

A day later I was in the school library doing research. Although Hollywood did take liberties with the TV movie, they really didn’t have too. Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes was more colorful than a bag of Skittles—so much so that when you read about her, you will find so many stories, you may wonder how much is fiction amid the facts.

Born into Privilege and Opportunity

Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes was born July 22, 1901, to Thaddeus Lowe and Florence Dobbins. Her grandfather, Thaddeus S.C. Lowe established the Army of the Potomac’s balloon corps during the American Civil War, creating America’s first military aviation unit. He is credited with taking his then 10-year-old granddaughter to an aviation meet. 

In those days, air meets were little more than demonstrations of airplanes flying around pylons set up at fairgrounds. As powered flight was still an emerging technology, these events drew a crowd similar to the way NASCAR does today.

In those days, women—especially those of privilege—were expected to marry early, often for convenience or to improve the family social position. At 18, Barnes married Reverend C. Ranklin Barnes. The marriage has been described by some biographers as loveless and passionless. It did, however, produce a son, William E. Barnes.

• READ MORE: The Women of Vintage Air

According to her contemporaries, Florence Barnes did not take well to either marriage or motherhood. After a few years as a minister’s wife, she disguised herself as a man and headed to sea. Eventually she ended up in Mexico, where she rode horses and spent time with revolutionaries. It was here that she picked up the nickname “Pancho,” which was a corruption of Sancho, the name of the sidekick of fictional Don Quixote.

She returned to the U.S. in 1928 after the death of her father. His death left Barnes with a large inheritance, and—intrigued by the idea of learning to fly—Barnes used the money to buy a Travel Air biplane. She then found an instructor to teach her. Six hours of instruction later, she soloed. 

In those days, once a pilot was soloed, their training was pretty complete, as this was decades before the FAA was created and experience requirements and rules for private pilots were established.

Flying was more than a bucket list item for Barnes. She traveled around the country performing impromptu aerial demonstrations and barnstorming. By 1929 she had enough flight time to enter the first Women’s Air Derby, a cross-country race from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland, Ohio. In order to participate, the women had to have at least 25 hours of cross-country flying and 100 hours of solo flight. These were the same experience requirements for men competing in the National Air Races.

• READ MORE: Mentoring Programs Aim To Boost Ranks of Women in Aviation

The idea of women performing in an air race was an oddity and to some, a joke. In fact, humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby.

Despite the derision thrown their way, several of the 20 women in the race were accomplished aviators. Among them was  Amelia Earhart, who had already set several records and was the most well-known aviatrix of the day. Also competing were record setters Louise Thaden, Ruth Nichols, Blanche W. Noyes, Phoebe Omlie, and Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout. 

In the news reels, newspapers, and magazines of the day, the women were photographed wearing dresses and peek-a-boo hats. The exception, however, was Barnes, who stood on the end of the photo in her boots, jodhpurs, and jacket. She looked like she had just landed, or was ready to hike out if her airplane went down in rough terrain.

During the first Air Derby, Barnes was in the lead in the second leg of the race, but collided with a motor vehicle that pulled onto the runway during landing. Forced to drop out, Barnes came back the next year, flying a Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship sponsored by Union Oil Company.

Earhart came in third during the first derby. According to several historians, Barnes and Earhart did not get along well. They were opposites in personality and temperament. Earhart was slim and from a modest background. She was trying to work her way into the upper rungs of society, often helped by her husband, publisher George Putnam. She knew she was very much in the public eye, and good publicity would lead to sponsorships.

Barnes, on the other hand, was described as the most unlady-like aviatrix of her day, as she often wore pants and boots and a beret and smoked cigars. Both women competed for aviation sponsors and were allegedly skeptical of each other’s abilities as a pilot. Barnes often referred to Earhart as a “puppet” or “windup toy,” operating at the whim of her husband or her sponsors.

Pancho Goes to Hollywood

After her contract with Union Oil expired, Barnes moved to Hollywood to work as a stunt pilot for movies. The movie industry began in 1903—the same year of the Wright brothers’ first flight. The two industries were linked, as many people saw their first airplane on the silver screen. During the silent film era, stunt pilots routinely crashed airplanes into barns, buildings and towers for the delight of the movie going audience. Sometimes the pilots emerged unscathed. Other times they were killed or seriously injured—all to make a few bucks.

Barnes flew in several action adventure movies, including Howard Hughes’ “Hell’s Angels.” She is credited with organizing the Associated Motion Picture Pilots union which gave the pilots bargaining power to set a standard for pay and gave the pilots more control over the stunts to make them safer. The union also acquired medical insurance for pilots and, in addition to a weekly paycheck, made sure there were bonuses for performing riskier stunts.

The Great Depression hit Barnes hard, and in 1933 she used the remainder of her inheritance to buy a ranch in the Mojave Desert next to an army base. That base would later become Edwards Air Force Base.

• READ MORE: Sewing for Boeing

Barnes and her then 12-year-old son William raised chickens and cows, and sold the eggs and milk to the servicemen stationed at the army base.

Barnes’ ranch was located on the Muroc Dry Lake bed. The hardpan was a perfect runway, so Barnes put in a small airport.

As the winds of war began to blow again, the number of men at the base began to increase. Barnes, seeing an opportunity, expanded her property to build a resort where the men could spend their off-duty hours. She offered horseback riding, and also added a large round swimming pool. It was one of the first pools in the county equipped with a ramp, which she used to ride her horse into the water to cool off after a ride.

The airport Barnes built on her property was expanded. When it was first constructed, her pilot friends landed there when they visited. When the Civilian Pilot Training Program began, Barnes taught ground school to persons who wanted to learn to fly. There were stories about her being goaded into providing the training after clumsy army pilot trainees crashed on her property or accidentally dropped a fake bomb that damaged a livestock pen.

The ‘Right Stuff’ Era

At the end of the war, the base evolved into Edwards Air Force Base, where Uncle Sam developed its most secretive airframes. The pilots who flew out of there were best of the best, with egos proportional to their skill. They often met their match in Barnes, who teased and taunted them in a friendly manner, offering a steak dinner to the first man to break the sound barrier.

The Barnes ranch had blossomed into a fly-in resort and dude ranch. In addition to the airport it had a motel, a bar, dance hall, restaurant, space for a rodeo and more than 60 horses for riding. In 1947 Barnes decided to limit the visitors to the ranch, making it a club for her closest friends—most of them famous aviators. It was said that none other than famed aviation pioneer and WWII commander Gen. Jimmy Doolittle came up with the name “The Happy Bottom Riding Club.’’

Barnes’ life was one of parties, flying, and relationships—she married four times. In the 1950s, a change of command at the base put her sideways with the U.S. military, which wanted to take the land for a runway extension. There were allegations that she ran a brothel—an allegation she vehemently denied, saying the women who worked for her danced with the men who visited and that was it.

A mysterious fire destroyed Barnes ranch in the 1950s, forcing her to move. Today, the property that was her ranch is part of Edwards AFB. The remains of her famous round swimming pool and the airport can be seen with Google Earth.

In her later years, Barnes’ health began to fail. She survived breast cancer and lived a simple existence in Hollywood, surviving by giving talks about her experiences and doing horseback stunts for the movies.

In March 1975, after failing to show up for a speaking engagement, a friend went to check on her and made a sad discovery. Barnes, who was living alone at the time, had been dead for several days. Her remains were cremated and her son, a pilot himself, received special permission from the USAF to scatter her ashes over the land that had once been her ranch.

Learn More about Pancho Barnes

• “Pancho: The biography of Florence Lowe Barnes” by Barbara H. Schultz
• “The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes” by Lauren Kessle
• “The Legend of Pancho Barnes the Happy Bottom Riding Club” available from Amazon

The post The Legendary Life of Pancho Barnes, Aviatrix appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

While there are women out there who own and fly these pieces of aviation history, they create a special cadre of pilots.

In honor of Women’s History month, FLYING caught up with a few of these pilots to find out what made them gravitate to the vintage machines.

A Rare Vintage Biplane, and Summer Martell, Port Townsend, Washington

Martell is a 15,000-hour pilot who holds CFI, CFII, and ATP MEL certificates and type ratings in the Gulfstream 100, Gulfstream 200, Falcon 2000, and Falcon 900 EX. She’s also a designated pilot examiner (DPE).

Martell is the proud owner of a 1931 Student Prince biplane that belonged to her father.

“He was a newly minted private pilot. He’d learned to fly in Cessnas but his friends that owned and flew vintage planes loaned him their books on vintage flying by authors Gordon Baxter, Ernie Gann, and Richard Bach, and he was swept away by the romance of the stories involving antique airplanes, especially biplanes. When he saw the Student Prince for sale at Harvey Field, he was smitten. He said, ‘It smiled at me, so I had to buy it.’”

As a teen she joined her father for flights, eventually learning to fly herself.

The Student Prince is an open cockpit design, which, according to Martell, makes the piloting experience much more visceral.

“I could feel the sky as I flew through it, I could feel the temperature, the humidity. I could smell the world at 80 mph. I felt like a dog riding in the back of a pickup, noting all the layers of smells. Saltwater, freshly mowed hay, and pine trees,” she recalls, adding that the Student Prince, which was designed to be a trainer, was a good fit for teenage Martell.

“The biplane is beautiful from any angle, and it always draws a crowd, so I was never lonesome when I landed somewhere. And it took good care of me from day one. Like a patient schooling horse, the Prince forgave my beginner’s fumbles as I began learning my way around the sky, and later, how to negotiate the transition of sky to earth in a brief few seconds while the world ahead of me became completely obscured by the rising nose of the biplane to its landing attitude, leaving me with a forward view of three of the Kinner engine’s five cylinders and nothing else. The Student Prince forgave my ricochets and hard landings, and somehow, despite my best efforts to do otherwise, it managed to stay between the runway lights as I struggled to keep the nose ahead of the tail.”

The airplane has produced some strong memories, such as the first time she flew solo.

“I hooted and hollered after takeoff, but became a bit somber on downwind without the view of the back of my instructor’s head in the front cockpit. Oh boy, I really was alone. But I did it! It felt so great. That airplane has always been my champion. The second favorite memory was hand-propping it for the first time. Scary, but very confidence boosting once I’d done it.”

When asked if she has a bucket list vintage airplane she would like to fly, Martell replies, “The Alexander Eaglerock biplane that hangs in perpetuity from the ceiling above the international arrivals and departures at Sea-Tac International Airport [KSEA]. I understand preservation has its place, but it always makes me a little sad when I see that plane, motionless in the rafters, gathering dust. It is so reminiscent of the Student Prince, that I feel I could easily slip into the back cockpit and take that airplane upstairs for some fun. And every time I pass by it, in my mind’s eye, I do just that. I fantasize that I fly it south with the setting sun, never to return.”

Her advice for people who want to buy and fly a vintage airplane?

“Talk to pilots who own/fly vintage planes. They love to talk about them. They may even offer to take you flying. Bribing them with pie can be effective. Read those stories by Baxter, Gann, and Bach. If the vintage airplane bug bites you hard enough, who knows? Perhaps a vintage airplane with a for sale sign will smile at you.”

Jan Johnson, First Lady of the L-birds, Hayward, California

Johnson, who has 1,060 hours total time, owns a 1944 Vultee Stinson L-5E Sentinel ambulance, a 1945 Vultee Stinson L-5G Sentinel ambulance, a 1951 Cessna LC-126C (military 195) ambulance.

Johnson began her aviation career as a flight attendant, then decades later after entering the medical field, she decided to pursue a private pilot certificate. To her, that meant getting an airplane of her own—and she was drawn to the classic lines of vintage taildraggers.

It was Johnson’s first visit to EAA AirVenture in 2010—in particular a walk through the Vintage parking—that activated her interest.

“My first visit, with two ‘AirVenture first-timer’ pilot buddies. Walking through Vintage, we came upon ‘Interstate 195’ parking, where all the Cessna 195s are lined up. Looking down a row of bumped-cowl classic taildraggers is a sight to behold. I was immediately smitten with the design of the long fuselage, the art deco interior styling, and the big Jacobs 300-hp, seven-cylinder radial powerplant standing proudly up front. They look sleek and fast even standing still. I researched the airplane that night in our motorhome in Camp Scholler, and upon returning home, I set forth on my quest to own one of these beautiful airplanes.”

“My very first airplane was a 1951 Cessna LC-126C. I was attracted to the gorgeous lines of the classic Businessliner. My particular LC-126C having documented military history was a bonus.”

The airplanes Johnson is drawn to are known in the warbird world as “L birds.” The term comes from their military designations that begin with the letter L for “liaison.” They were used as reconnaissance aircraft, artillery spotting, light transport, and air ambulances.

Johnson flew her LC-126C to Oshkosh in 2015 and 2016, and was invited to be part of the “Ladies Love Taildraggers Day” in EAA Vintage.

“It’s a real honor to have your airplane brought up to the Bill and Myrt Rose Park, near the Red Barn, and be interviewed by EAA Chairman Ray Johnson (no relation). Each year, he interviews three women who flew their vintage or classic airplanes to Oshkosh. Fifteen minutes of fame was never sweeter.”

Johnson sold the LC-126C after four years because she found another airplane, a 1945 Stinson L-5G that struck her fancy.

“It fits me perfectly!” she explains, noting that as she stands over six feet tall, finding an airplane that fits can be a challenge. “I ended up purchasing that plane after the Cessna left my hangar. What a great little airplane the L-5 was to fly! Responsive, nimble—and with controls as smooth as butter.”

Johnson flew the Stinson L-5G from Hayward, California, to Oshkosh in 2018, and once again found herself interviewed by Ray Johnson.

Last summer, she had the opportunity to acquire another Stinson, an  L-5E, “complete with World War II military history,” she says. “Each plane has a personality, and getting to know both of them has been fun. Then, in early 2023, I had another Cessna LC-126C fall into my lap. My partner and I purchased it together, and we’ll return this plane to flight after sitting for 30 years. When a Cessna 195/LC-126 comes into your life, you don’t think twice. You just let it happen. And consider yourself fortunate.” 

Johnson’s interest in vintage aircraft extends to multiengine designs as well, which she attributes to a ride aboard a Douglas DC-3 she took in the mid-1990s when she was working as a flight attendant for a national airline.

“I went for a scenic flight over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in a Douglas DC-3, owned by the Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Company. It was a breathtaking flight and unforgettable—the epitome of the glamorous ‘Golden Age of Aviation.’ The cockpit was open, and once airborne, we were free to ‘move about the cabin’ and make small talk with the pilots. It definitely ‘set the hook’ for me with vintage airplanes. After that flight, a pilot let me pose for photos in his beautiful Stearman.”

Johnson’s vintage airplane bucket list includes a Stearman, a Waco, a Beech Staggerwing, and a Howard DGA-15. She is currently learning to fly a 1940s-era Twin Beech.

“It has two Pratt & Whitney R-985 radials, a bullet-shaped nose in between, and a sleek tailwheel design that harkens back to 1940s Hollywood,” she says. “I envision Myrna Loy and Bette Grable stepping out of the luxuriously-appointed cabin and waving to their fans.”

Advice for people who want to buy and fly a vintage airplane?

“Do your research! Owning, maintaining, and flying a vintage airplane requires time and money. A lot of it. Find a pilot who you can trust and ask them a lot of questions. Join the various type clubs online and introduce yourself. If possible, talk to mechanics who know the old planes. Go imaginary ‘plane shopping’ at any of the large fly-ins across the country. Walk up to total strangers (well, there really are no ‘strangers’ in aviation) who own the type of airplane you like. Almost always, they’ll let you climb into the pilot seat. Try it on for size. Can you reach the rudder pedals? How is visibility?  Scrutinize each plane—things you like vs. things that may hinder you buying one. Availability, cost, maintenance, and spare parts. You can never go wrong with a 1940s Piper J-3 Cub, Taylorcraft, Aeronca, Stinson, or early Cessna.”

She also recommends getting your tailwheel endorsement, as most vintage airplanes are tailwheel-equipped.

For aircraft acquisition, the combination of the aging pilot population, persistence and determination, and being in the right place at the right time will get you there, says Johnson.

“Both my Stinsons came from pilots in their 80s who could no longer fly. I’m certain that all they want is for someone to take care of their airplane, fly it often, and display it at air shows and fly-ins. And keep the mystique and magic alive. That’s my personal mission with my airplanes. Share them with others and honor the history.”

Heather ‘Rat’ McNevin, Northfield, Minnesota

McNevin has 1,100 hours total time and holds a commercial certificate with single- and multiengine ratings, CFI/CFII/MEI instructor certificates, and type ratings in the DC-3 and B-25.

Heather McNevin, known as Rat (short for Ramp Rat), says she doesn’t own an airplane yet, partly because there are too many out there to fly. The aviation bug hit her early. She started taking lessons at age 14 at Aiken Municipal Airport—Steve Kurtz Field (KAIT) in Aiken, Minnesota. She trained in both a Piper Cherokee and a 1946 Aeronca Champ owned by her instructor and figured out pretty quickly she liked the Champ the best.

“The Champ felt most like flying a fighter plane to me, so it became my favorite,” she says. She soloed at the age of 16 in the Champ and, on the first landing—which she greased—she let out a whoop that, according to the people watching from the ramp, was heard over the sound of the airplane.

The Champ was the first in a long line of vintage airframes.

“Since my initial Champ flying, I’ve flown a few other vintage aircraft: Navion, Waco, DC-3, T-6, BT-13, B25, Stearman, PA-12, J-4, Aeronca Chief, Globe Swift, [and] PT-22. I feel more comfortable in an old, loud aircraft with just the basic instruments than I do in a brand new glass cockpit.”

According to McNevin, you don’t so much fly a vintage airplane as you become part of its legacy.

“I’ve flown many vintage aircraft and enjoyed something about each of them. When I’m flying that airplane, I’m part of a long line of aviators that have experienced the joy of flight in that aircraft, and it’s my responsibility to share that magic with others. It’s like when I have the privilege of flying warbirds, I think of the necessity to share the stories of the people that flew them during the war because some of them didn’t make it home. These old machines shaped the world. They reduced travel time, bolstered business, connected us all, and fought oppression. I like the feel of flying along and realizing ‘this is how aviation started, this is what it was like’ or ‘this was once the best, most luxurious method of travel!’ For me, it’s not just flying, but being a steward of history.”

Instead of a bucket list when it comes to airplanes, McNevin has a “to-do list” of airplanes she would like to fly.

“I have a type rating in the DC-3, but I have wanted to fly a specific DC-3 for over a decade. I remember seeing the yellow DC-3 ‘Duggy’ at Oshkosh for many years, and every time I’d see it I said I would one day fly that aircraft. I would even tell Duggy the DC-3 that one day we will fly together. Amazingly enough, I found out Duggy lives not that far from me and may be returning to the skies.

“My recent type rating was in the B-25, and I really enjoyed the training and learning how they designed and operated aircraft in the ‘30s and ‘40s. I’d like to continue to fly other bombers of the day and see how they compare. I think the B-29 would be amazing, as I’ve recently been on a reading binge involving their missions. I have decided it would be cool to fly every aircraft type that the WASPs flew.”

Her advice to people who want to buy and fly a vintage airplane? “Be prepared to maintain it correctly. These aircraft are old and a little TLC goes a long way. Don’t skimp on maintenance. Be a good caretaker of history. Also, make sure to get good training, as with any new venture into an unfamiliar aircraft, and share your aircraft with as many people as you can so they can see and appreciate it. You’ll make new friends and it’s always fun when someone admires your aircraft.”

The post The Women of Vintage Air appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Her dad wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and fly for the USAF, but his eyesight was not quite 20/20. So he took an airline job, retiring early after 13 years and earning a master’s degree in social work. He works as a counselor and a Part 135 pilot. 

About eight years ago, Robbins said, her dad bought an airplane and offered to teach his children to fly. That’s when she first got the flying bug. “It’s funny because growing up, I never thought I wanted to fly airplanes,” she recalled. “I didn’t think of it as an option as a kid.”

Growing up, she thought of being a mom as a career option: all of the daily work associated with that, like preparing meals, pickups, and drop-offs. “But after having two kids, I could feel my brain turning to mush,” she said with a laugh. Being a person doesn’t end with motherhood, she pointed out. “I’m still Nicole. I wanted to be mentally challenged.” That’s roughly when her dad bought his airplane and offered her flying lessons. 

And he didn’t come home with a typical trainer—Robbins learned to fly in her father’s American Champion Super Decathlon. “I’m kind of blown away that that was the airplane I started on,” she said. 

More Right Rudder

The flight instructor mantra, “More right rudder,” is even more critical in a Super Decathlon than in the relatively docile Cessna 172. While you may not need as much rudder input for tricycle-gear aircraft, a conventional-gear airplane is less forgiving, particularly on the ground. “I think I veered off the side at least three times,” Robbins said of her early attempts to taxi to the departure end of the runway. 

Luckily she had a patient flight instructor whose experience as a counselor may have informed his teaching style. Robbins described being overwhelmed the first time she tried to do towered radio communications, sitting on the ramp so frustrated she couldn’t get anything out. Her dad recognized that she needed a break, smoothly took over, and they flew home to debrief, decompress—and try again later. 

Since that day, she said she has been on top of radio communications, even fielding compliments from other pilots. Backing up and building skills incrementally made a difference. “He takes personal cues,” Robbins said of their relationship in the cockpit. “It’s interesting having my CFI be a counselor. He’s my dad, and I won’t always agree with him on everything. But I love him and appreciate everything he puts me through.”

When she flew her first solo, Robbins says she was pregnant with her third child. “And then I was so sick,” she said. She had to take medication to prevent vomiting, so she put flying on hold temporarily. It’s worth noting that not all pregnancies require prescription medication for sickness, and many women are able to use bracelets and ginger candy to keep mild morning sickness at bay and keep flying. After earning her private pilot certificate, Robbins took a break from training for a couple of years before beginning to work on her instrument rating.

• Read More: Hurling in the Heavens

And she makes time to have fun and cultivate her family bonds. The entire family piled into a Beechcraft King Air for a trip to visit the redwoods last summer. Meal time in her household is “sacred,” but that doesn’t mean every meal is home-cooked. The important aspect of the time is talking in a meaningful way. She and her husband take turns taking their kids on outings, asking them about their friendships and school. And that’s what it means to be a mom—not the tasks we often associate with motherhood, she says. 

“All of those chores, patching holes in the knees of long pants, and picking up and dropping off—that’s not what makes you a mom,” she said. “It’s all about the relationship you have with your kids, and how you show up for your kids. You can still follow your own dreams.” 

Now, Robbins is working on a commercial rating. She’s currently studying for her knowledge exam and has completed most of the flying requirements. She’s saving the last 20 or so hours until after her exam, so she can practice maneuvers for the check ride. She’s looking ahead to working on a multiengine rating, and is considering enrolling in an accelerated program. Robbins said she’d love to be able to fly with her dad in the Cessna Citation XLS, which will require 800 hours for insurance purposes. 

Looking Ahead to Part 135

Robbins says she’s worked with her dad at his Part 135 company, cleaning airplanes and doing bookwork. It’s her dream to get to fly professionally with him before he retires. And eventually, she thinks she’d be interested in flying for an airline—but not until her boys are a little older. Right now, they are 10, seven, and four. 

“My career is still second,” she emphasized. “I have a different career timeline compared to other pilots…But I’m not pressured to finish. My husband has a great job, which is a great blessing for me—I don’t have to rush through things while trying to figure out finances. I can pace myself to take on as little or as much as I need to, to still be there for my kids. That’s probably one of the most important things. And it’s incredible that in aviation, you can do that.”

The post The Family That Flies Together appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Women’s aviation clubs and organizations have a special interest in mentoring aspiring professionals to strengthen their networks and encourage colleagues to persist and excel in their careers, especially during difficult times.

• READ MORE: Seeing Yourself In the Left Seat

Airline pilots, for example, are expected to “pay their dues” on the path to the captain’s seat, and the journey can be long, rough, and even discouraging. This can be even more difficult for women, who might have less built-in support than their male colleagues. Having the guidance of a mentor who has successfully navigated the same process can make a significant positive impact.

A growing number of women’s groups in aviation offer structured mentoring programs that can make the difference between sticking with an aviation career or giving up. Below are just a few examples. There are many more based regionally, locally, or within individual companies.    

The Ninety-Nines

ninety-nines.org

The Ninety-Nines say leadership positions within the aviation industry are increasingly becoming available to women. Through its Professional Pilot Leadership initiative, or PPLI, the group says it is working to prepare its members for the additional challenges and responsibilities that come as one ascends the corporate ladder or an airline’s seniority list. The program is designed for actively flying members pursuing careers as professional pilots or who are established in their careers and looking to advance.

• READ MORE: When Women Earned Their Wings: the USAF’s First Crop of Female Pilots

The Professional Pilot Leadership Initiative (PPLI) aims to accelerate the advancement of women in all pilot professions, facilitate dynamic mentoring, and enhance our leadership role in the aviation community. The program provides highly motivated 99s with the tools to develop their careers and leadership abilities. Through guided activities and formal mentoring partnerships, it strengthens and expands the network of women pilots.

The PPLI includes three phases, starting with the five-month Captain phase, during which participants develop a formal “flight plan” for achieving career goals in the short term. Next comes the Captain’s Circle phase, which adds peer mentoring to continued work on the personal career plan. During the final Navigator phase, you have the opportunity to share your skills, experience, and guidance with another woman pilot in the Captain phase.

Women in Aviation International

Wai.org

Women in Aviation International’s mission is to encourage and promote women with careers and interests throughout aviation and aerospace. Its membership includes a wide range of professionals, including pilots, astronauts, maintenance technicians, engineers, flight attendants, educators, journalists, and many more.

WAI also offers educational outreach programs through its Girls in Aviation Day program for girls ages 8 to 17. The program seeks to raise awareness of aviation careers among young people and familiarize them with the range of professional possibilities across the industry. The organization has also taken its publication, Aviation For Girls, to twice a year to reach more young people.

• READ MORE: Building Tomorrow’s Aviation Mechanic Workforce with Women

The organization last year also began revamping its Mentor Connect program for members to take advantage of evolving technology that eases the process of matching mentors and mentees using their individual profiles. Mentor Connect is designed to help mentors and mentees schedule meetings, set goals and milestones, and track their progress.

International Aviation Womens Association

iawa.org

IAWA’s NextGen programs, including scholarships, internships, and mentoring, are designed to strengthen and expand the network of professional women pilots and engage its members in helping women navigate the path to careers in aviation. Through continued professional development, the group seeks to cultivate the next generation of leaders across the varied landscape of professional aviation.

In keeping with its stated mission to “connect, inspire, and lead,” the organization builds its membership through identifying and mentoring  “outstanding young women who are poised to make a difference in the future of the industry.”

• READ MORE: These Women Impact the Bottom Line for the Aviation Industry

The group’s volunteer mentors and mentoring committee help organize numerous events across the country aimed at attracting new members and supporting their aviation pursuits. New members seeking mentors can apply to the program, which includes developing a personal profile that helps ensure a good match between mentor and mentee.

Sisters of the Skies

sistersoftheskies.org

As an organization of and for professional women pilots of color, Sisters of the Skies focuses on youth outreach programs to give girls a chance to meet women pilots in uniform, take discovery flights and discuss possible careers in aviation. One of the group’s goals is to raise awareness of aviation as a realistic profession that they should consider. 

The group says its membership comprises professional black women pilots who represent less than one-half of 1 percent of the overall professional pilot population. There are fewer than 150 black women pilots in the U.S. who hold commercial, ATP, military, and/or CFI certificates, according to the organization’s statistics. Its goal is “to drastically improve these numbers” through mentorship, professional development, STEM education, and scholarships.

• READ MORE: Sewing for Boeing

Sisters of the Skies developed its Cohort Program to promote mentoring for women of color seeking careers as pilots. The program focuses on expanding and strengthening the professional network for its members and driving professional development. The Cohort Program uses the Slack app to group mentees with mentors and provides support and guidance based on each individual’s level of training.

The post Mentoring Programs Aim To Boost Ranks of Women in Aviation appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

But this wasn’t the first time women were part of mass aircraft construction.

In the 1920s when aircraft were constructed of wood and fabric, women were hired for their sewing skills by both The Boeing Company and Douglas Aircraft Company. At the time, they represented two of America’s largest aircraft producers. The women were hired to hand-stitch the fabric covering of the ribs on wings of the airplanes. The tools for this craft were a long needle, wax-covered thread, a thimble, and scissors.

Tedious Work

The women worked with reams of linen, cutting them into the proper shapes and joining the panels together using a sewing machine. The panels were then drawn over the wooden frame of the wing, with special care taken to line up the seams. 

It took 10 women to cover a wing. The women would pair up, one on either side of the wing, and pass the needle back and forth through the fabric, making sure the stitches covered the wing spars.

It was tedious work, notes Boeing historian Michael Lombardi. “(The wing) had to be meticulously covered to exacting specifications for planes to operate efficiently and safely,” he said.

According to Lombardi, advancing to using the sewing machine was considered a bit of a promotion, as the seamstresses who handled the rib stitching often suffered from numbness in their hands from the repetitive work.

Once the stitches were in place the wings were treated with a chemical known as dope, which would shrink, harden, and tighten the fabric.

Meanwhile, at the Douglas Aircraft factory in Santa Monica, California, a similar if not identical process was happening. There, the women were led by none other than Charlotte Douglas, the first wife of factory owner Donald Douglas.

In an early Douglas factory—within a repurposed film studio on Wilshire Boulevard—the teams of women carefully covered the six Douglas World Cruisers that would attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1924. Two airplanes, the Chicago and the New Orleans, completed the journey, carrying the efforts of those women around the world.

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As we’ve documented throughout Women’s History Month 2022, despite navigating the challenges of a male-dominated space, women are achieving great things in and for the aviation industry. Our final spotlight for this month shines on the women who make decisions every day that help shape the industry in many different sectors.

Apart from celebrating their amazing accomplishments, we hope that this list serves as inspiration for young women who might be just starting their aviation careers. We hope that this list lets them know that if they reach for the top, they can, in fact, change the world.

Cargo: Sarah C. Rhoads, Vice President, Amazon Global Air

After putting together a prolific 12-year military career as a U.S. Navy F-18 pilot, Sarah Rhoads didn’t expect that her next campaign would be to help Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZON) create a juggernaut air cargo network.

“I was a bit surprised when Amazon first contacted me as I had initially focused on pursuing a more traditional path of a transitioning military pilot,” Rhoads said in a company blog in 2016.

Rhoads admitted to an audience at the 2020 National Governors Association Winter Meeting that even she was caught off guard by how quickly Amazon built up its air cargo network. The company’s fast rise into air cargo essentially mirrored her ascent there.

“When I first joined Amazon nine years ago, it certainly wasn’t a thought that an e-commerce company would be building an air haul network,” Rhoads said.

By the time she spoke at the conference, the Montana native shared that she’d lived in 11 states, and her LinkedIn profile shows she’s completed stints for the company in London and Wales. Starting with Amazon as a regional director of operations, by 2017, Rhoads was appointed the director of Amazon Air, which evolved in 2019 into her current role as vice president of Amazon Global Air. That’s not the usual career trajectory of someone with a mechanical engineering degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, but based on the outcomes she’s achieved for Amazon, Rhoads is clearly well placed.

Today, Amazon Air operates a fleet of 97 airplanes, including ATR 72s and Boeing 737s and 767s, which it operates through partners. In 2020, when air carriers all over were grounded by vanishing passenger demand resulting from the pandemic, Amazon launched new gateway operations in Richmond, Virginia; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Austin, Texas; Maui and Kona, Hawaii; Los Angeles, California; and New Orleans, Louisiana, and regional hubs in Lakeland, Florida; Rockford, Illinois; and Baltimore, Maryland. And during this same timeframe, while Europe was closed off to the world because of stringent border restrictions, the company launched a new state-of-the-art facility at the Leipzig-Halle Airport (EDDP) in Germany.

In August 2021, Rhoads announced the company had begun operating out of its new air hub at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport (KCVG), a $1.5 billion investment spanning 600 acres.

Rhoads has been present for each successive step forward, which is why in 2018, Air Cargo World named her its Air Cargo executive of the year.

It’s hard to predict how vast Amazon’s Air Cargo network will become, but the broader cargo industry is certainly on notice with Rhoads at the helm.

Business: Phebe Novakovic, CEO, General Dynamics

If you listen to quarterly earnings calls for the 500 highest grossing companies, you won’t hear many female voices leading the reports and fielding questions from analysts and reporters. In fact, when you narrow that list down to companies in the aviation and aerospace sectors, chances are you’ll only hear one female voice: Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

Apart from those appearances, she doesn’t accept many interviews, perhaps from the insights she gained in her previous roles at both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Rest assured, however, when she speaks, people listen.

Since 2012, Novakovic has presided over General Dynamics businesses that also include marine, missile, combat, information systems, and more. With General Dynamics ownership of Gulfstream, she’s also privy to bringing to market some of the most in-demand business jets. In the 2021 end of year earnings call, Novakovic celebrated Gulfstream’s most prolific year since 2008, amid strong demand from new operators.

Altogether, this may explain why Forbes consistently recognizes Novakovic in its annual list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. 

Airlines: Joanna Geraghty, President and COO, JetBlue 

In 2018, Joanna Geraghty became the president and COO at JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU), making her the highest-ranking female executive in the U.S. airline industry. In her role, Geraghty is responsible for JetBlue’s operations and commercial performance including network, brand and marketing, and revenue management.

It’s not the typical career track for a trained lawyer, and former law partner from the prestigious Holland & Knight firm, but it’s in the vicinity of where she began at the then up and coming airline when she joined in 2005 as director of litigation and regulatory.

Since then, New York’s hometown airline has established its footprint throughout the northeastern U.S., the Caribbean, Latin America, and more recently, the U.K. Along the way, Geraghty had personal triumphs in multiple executive and vice president roles, including general counsel, people officer, and customer experience, before becoming only the second woman to run a major U.S. airline.

She’s helped the airline navigate the pandemic, especially given its location in New York City—one of the places hit hardest by COVID-19. Elsewhere, Geraghty has advocated for initiatives to expose more young people, especially girls, to the aviation industry and jobs as pilots.

Military: Jacqueline Van Ovost

U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost is the 14th commander of U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), one of 11 combatant commands in the Department of Defense. In 2021, she became the Defense Department’s only four-star female general, and the fifth in Air Force history, during a ceremony at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. When she joined the Air Force 32 years ago, Ovost didn’t expect that she’d climb this far, especially since she failed her first physical fitness test because she couldn’t complete the required number of pull-ups.

“Standing in the stadium, in 1988 at the Air Force Academy, about to throw my hat in the air, I never would have thought I [would become] a four-star,” Van Ovost said in Air Force Magazine.

Instead, she said she’d work hard to be the best pilot she could be. Over three decades, she flew more than 4,200 hours, piloting 30 different aircraft. When she initially tried to join, the Air Force wasn’t looking for female fighter pilots. She had to work her way up, a journey that began with flying the C-141 Starlifter before achieving her long-term desire to be a test pilot of whatever aircraft the Air Force would allow her to fly.

Now, in her new role, Van Ovost wants to make the Air Force a more attractive place to serve for diverse groups of people. In her interview with Air Force Magazine, she spoke about tangible changes the organization can make to attract women, such as changing flight gear and uniforms, creating a more accommodating fitness schedule and pregnancy programs, and easing old restrictions that are irrelevant. 

She’s also laser focused on bringing the KC-46 Pegasus—a Boeing 767 turned re-fueler—into full initial operational capability, and accelerating the use of new technologies, like virtual reality, to assist the command with missions and training.

Government: Jennifer Homendy, NTSB Chair

In August 2021, Jennifer Homendy took her oath as chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), becoming the fourth woman to lead the agency, and the 15th chair in its history.

Her role isn’t a simple one—she’s responsible for ensuring safety across all modes of transportation, aviation being just one. Thankfully, she’s leaning into the challenge and has the skills and experience to lead the board in its important work.

In her swearing in ceremony, Homendy shared, “We are in a time of dynamic change and growth within transportation—from automated vehicles to commercial space. This means that our mission to prevent tragedies and injuries and save lives is even more critical. The country needs a robust and energetic NTSB to ensure safety is well represented in all modes of transportation. I look forward to supporting our outstanding staff and their work as we endeavor to make transportation safer for all.”

Homendy’s experience, which includes work as a union official, as the Democratic staff director for the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Material, and as a member of the NTSB, should serve her well as head of the independent safety board.  

As a member of the NTSB since 2018, Homendy participated on the board’s investigation response team that uncovered the causes of the May 2019 midair collision of two aerial tour aircraft in Alaska; the June 2019 skydiving aircraft accident in Hawaii; and the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others.

Prominently, in the Kobe Bryant crash, she charged the FAA with failing to act on previous NTSB recommendations to improve safety systems. Specifically, on the NTSB’s most wanted list for aviation are safety management systems for all revenue passenger operations, and crash-resistant recorders and flight data monitoring programs.

With the latest wave of innovation, including the integration of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System, there will be plenty of new safety challenges for Homendy and the NTSB. This unique time in history and Homendy’s leadership experience place her in a position to make a difference for the industry.

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Until Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt rose to the top of the U.S. Navy, there was little reason to bring into the ranks the social change unfolding around the country during the 1960s and ’70s—except Zumwalt had a crisis of morale to confront, and a personnel shortage. Re-enlistment was at a low point, as was the incentive to join up once the draft ended.

In Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Beverly Weintraub outlines just how Zumwalt’s mission to create a better Navy led him to foster policies intended to weed out racism and other ills in his command. Those initiatives also led to the first class of women to train as naval aviators.

‘Equal Rights and Opportunities’

Zumwalt’s specific call to action came in the form of a missive titled “Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women in the Navy” in August 1972, and it proposed how opening up “challenging billets” to women within the service would spark needed improvement. Though the first billets approved didn’t involve flying, just two months later in October, naval flight training was added to the list.

Barbara Ann Allen, Judith Ann Neuffer, Jane Millen Skiles, Joellen Drag, Ana Maria Scott, and Rosemary Bryant Merims took the admiral up on his invitation. Allen would be the first to receive her “Wings of Gold”—the Navy pilot’s wings—on February 22, 1974.

Why Tell This Story?

Biographers know that the heavy lift of producing a book-length manuscript can only be accomplished when the author feels a connection to their subject. For Weintraub, the impetus to capture the story of the first female U.S. naval aviators came from an unexpected source.

“I’ve written several op-eds about women and aviation for the Washington Post at the request of a former New York Daily News colleague who’s now an opinion editor there,” said Weintraub in an interview with FLYING. 

“When the Navy did the first-ever all-woman missing man flyover at Capt. [Rosemary Merims Conaster] Mariner’s funeral, it made national headlines and my former colleague asked me to write [about it]. Several months later, an editor at Lyons Press [saw the piece, and] contacted me and asked if I was interested in writing a book based on the story. So it actually found me. 

“But as I did the research and talked to the women and their families, I was taken with how each had a personal story that illustrated the larger changes going on in the military and in the nation at large, and how they, in turn, undertook actions large and small to make change happen—not necessarily for themselves, but for generations of women pilots who followed.”

Agents of Change Who Just Want to Fly

Looking into the stories of the six pilots prior to their selection, there was no master plan in anyone’s mind other than to simply perform the mission of a full U.S. naval aviator. And if they were good with remaining “an experiment”—and not taking on the full measure of duty—obtaining their pilots’ wings would have been enough.

But earning those wings was only the first step. Because women were still excluded from serving in combat roles, the first U.S. naval aviators were limited not only in the billets they could accept, but also effectively barred from promotion above a certain level. It was a simple fact: In order to advance in the Navy at the time, you had to go to sea—and virtually all of those opportunities took place on ships designated for combat. 

Capt. Joellen Drag (now Oslund), for example, became the U.S. military’s first female helicopter pilot when she gained her wings on April 19, 1974. But an “unexpected roadblock” stood in her way. “Section 6015, banning women from combat, put any ship that could in theory engage in combat at any time off limits to women,” said Weintraub in Wings of Gold. “Flying to and from ships, however, was a primary job for navy helo pilots; Joellen was being evaluated by the same standards as her male colleagues for work she wasn’t allowed to do. 

“The law was depriving her of the flight time she needed to advance, and depriving the navy of a qualified pilot.”

It took 19 years for the bills removing the combat exclusion to pass through Congress and other halls of government into reality. By April 1993, Oslund had already retired from the military—but for Rosemary Mariner, the opportunity to command VAQ-34 had come just a couple of years earlier. “The more people you have competing for jobs, the higher quality you’ll get,” Mariner said in an Associated Press article on April 28, 1993, “At Long Last, Rosie the Riveter Can Be a Top Gun.” If only one female naval aviator qualified for a combat slot, she would be satisfied, Mariner said in another piece.

The Legacy of Wings of Gold

Indeed, Mariner’s wish came true many, many times over, as women took advantage of the opportunity to serve alongside their brethren in every capacity possible. Eight of those women flew over Mariner’s funeral in that missing man formation as a tribute to her efforts and those of the women honored in Wings of Gold.

I was a high school senior when I completed my private pilot certificate in 1988, and a close family friend and U.S. Air Force veteran talked with me about applying for a slot at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

I knew that I would have considered an air force berth if I could be a pilot—though the roles were still limited at that point. In fact, the USAFA had only graduated its first class eight years earlier. I recall weighing my options, and my eyesight—which was not 20/20 uncorrected—would have excluded me from an air force pilot slot (though I would have no problem flying with it in the civilian world). I was disappointed, because flying a C-130 sounded like an incredible mission.

By the time I would have graduated from the Academy, Section 6015 was gone—and I could have indeed stepped up to the jets if I made the cut. The USAF daydream that I still entertain lives on in young women now thanks to the work done by the class of navy and air force pilots who paved the way.

A YouTube video the Navy put together talking to the flyover pilots, showing the flyover at the end.

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When Kathy LaSauce graduated college in the early 1970s, she knew her career options were limited. She could be a school teacher, or perhaps a Pan-Am stewardess, a job that required applicants to be college educated and speak at least two languages.

Going a different route, she decided to follow her brother’s lead and walk into a U.S. Air Force recruitment station. It didn’t occur to her at the time that she was taking the first steps in making history—when she and nine other women would become the very first class of women accepted into the service’s undergraduate pilot training program.

It would be one of many “firsts” for LaSauce—who went on to achieve the rank of lieutenant colonel—as well as the women pilots of USAF UPT Class 77-08.

Up until the mid-1970s, opportunities remained very limited for women in the U.S. Air Force, as well as the other services. ROTC and military academies, such as the U.S. Air Force Academy, weren’t options.

The U.S. Navy made its first foray into opening flight training to women with an announcement in October 1972 inviting select women to apply to its experimental program. The first six would be pinned with “Wings of Gold” beginning in February 1974.

But women were ready to test the skies with Air Force wings—it was only a matter of a couple of years.

“The only way a woman [could] get in the Air Force as an officer was through Officer Training School (OTS), which was 90 days,” LaSauce told FLYING. In 1972, LaSauce gained one of only two available slots for Officer Training School in the Long Island, New York, area. 

Once in, she faced even more barriers.

“We were not allowed to do the obstacle course. We were not allowed to do small arms training. We didn’t do sports with the guys. We sat on the sideline and we cheered,” she said. 

“They really kind of didn’t want us, you know?”

While in OTS, more changes happened as the Air Force opened up some of the more non-traditional career fields to women. Following her training, LaSauce grabbed the opportunity, landing at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, where she joined what became the first maintenance officer class offered to women.

There, she learned about aircraft engines, hydraulics, electronics, and aerodynamics. When she landed at her first duty station as a C-141 maintenance officer, she encountered another unforeseen issue.

“They did not have a uniform for women on the flightline,” she said. She adapted by wearing men’s fatigues before it was sanctioned by the service. 

Just as uniforms were rapidly changing, so were laws. In late 1975, President Gerald Ford put pen to paper, signing into effect a new law that allowed women access to the U.S. Service Academies starting in 1976.

“Under the bill, women will be subject to the same academic and other relevant standards for appointment, admission, training, graduation, and commissioning (except for those minor adjustments required because of physiological differences) applicable to men,” the White House said in an October 8, 1975, statement.

Within the next year, the Air Force Academy would open its doors to women cadets, and would later graduate 157 women in its first female class in 1980. At the same time, the USAF also opened up flight training for women through a test program.

As the Air Force Academy opened up to women, another small opportunity emerged for women already in the Air Force—a test program to train a small number of female pilots. LaSauce, along with dozens of other women, applied.

“As a maintenance officer, that is what got me selected because a lot of the girls had private pilot’s licenses,” she said. LaSauce, however, knew a lot about C-141 Starlifters, C-5 Galaxies, and C-130s.

Once she was accepted into undergraduate pilot training (UPT), the gravity of what it meant settled in.

“I knew it was important that we do well. And I knew that my success would matter to women that would come after me,” LaSauce said. “But I really didn’t realize how important it was for us to succeed.” 

The First 10

“Prior to this class, there was already…this push to integrate women fully and completely into the United States Air Force, and throughout the DOD and all branches of the military service,” said Christina Douglass, museum curator at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. “In terms of setting the stage, [the opening of military academies] was landmark, but there were really big rocks that I think women and our country had to go through.”

More than four dozen women in the Air Force representing a variety of backgrounds and career services applied for the UPT test program, and 10 were selected, Douglass said. Their selection was based upon the same qualification requirements of men at the time, which meant they had to have recommendations, be physically fit, and possess an academic and superior service background. 

“The only difference is…and this was kind of a big one, none of these women had graduated from the United States Air Force Academy,” which didn’t graduate its first class with women until 1980,” Douglass said. 

Their integration into the training meant every aspect of their acceptance was based upon the same requirements of men. “It was done specifically in order to  hold women to the same standards as men, and not give anybody any excuse to say, ‘No, you’re not qualified,'” she said.

The Women of UPT Class 77-08

In September 1976, the 10 women joined 35 male classmates for training at what is now former Williams Air Force Base in Arizona. The 48-week course included nearly 800 hours in academic, flying and officer training, as well as 210 hours of flight time in a Cessna T-37 and Northrop T-38 trainers. One year later, all 10 earned their pilot wings.

“They had been in the Air Force and were ready to serve and wanted to serve,” Douglass said. “They wanted an opportunity to fly airplanes. They knew they weren’t going to be able to do everything they would have or were capable of, but they wanted to do it anyway because at the time, they were very aware that they were opening a door.”

The Challenges of Being First

Once in pilot training, another challenge cropped up for the women.

“Now the problem was that they had folks that really did not want us to succeed,” LaSauce recalled. Instructors had to write a daily report on the women’s performance in class and on flights. The reports then went up the chain of command, sometimes up to the Pentagon.

LaSauce said that, years later, she learned that a Pentagon official questioned the training program after reports that two of the female students got sick during flight training. The issue, however, was dropped when another Pentagon official asked for a comparison of the number of male students getting sick after sitting in 100-degree heat in an airplane on a ramp in Arizona.

“They showed the numbers for the men, and so that was no longer a valid reason to stop it,” she said.

Then, there was the patch for the 3526th Pilot Training Squadron, Tipper Flight. The patch, which features a Playboy bunny logo, had a history at Williams. And while the photo of the scantily clad Playboy model had been removed from the flight room, the patch remained on women’s uniforms.

Wearing the small patch didn’t bother the female students as much as what came from it.

“Playboy magazine got wind of that,” leading the magazine to run a photo of the 10 women in the magazine, LaSauce said, who noted that by that time, their photo was in the public domain. 

Just like the issues she and the other women pilots faced in male-dominanted environments, such as officer and pilot clubs, LaSauce chose to not complain about the Tipper patch.

“You had to pick what battles you had to fight,” she said.

Building a Legacy

In September 1977, UPT-77-08 graduated three pilots short of its original roster of students, but all 10 women made it through, LaSauce said.

The women went on to make even more history. 

The class graduates would become: the first female T-38 instructor, who also flew T-38 chase for the space shuttle program, according to Women in Aviation International; the first female instructor assigned to the Air Force Academy; the first female C-9 aircraft commander; and the first female tanker commander.

And LaSauce? She became the first woman to command a C-141 aircraft, the first female pilot to fly in the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, and the first woman to command an aerial port squadron.

Forty-five years later, the percentage of female pilots in the Air Force remains in the single digits, though it’s growing. In 2021, about 7.2 percent of active duty officers with a pilot rating were women, up from 5.6 percent reported in 2017, according to the service.

Female USAF Active Duty Officers with a Pilot Aeronautical Rating

The number of women interested in becoming pilots at the Academy is growing too, according to school officials.

“As an organization dedicated to developing officers of character for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, both women and men of the cadet wing tend to demonstrate extremely high interest in aviation and space careers throughout their four-year education,” said Col. John Garver, director of operations and analysis, U.S. Air Force Academy.

The percentage of women in the graduating class of the U.S. Air Force Academy interested in pilot careers

“The test program opened a door, which these women pushed through for others to follow,” according to Women in Aviation International, which inducted UPT Class 77-08 into its Pioneer Hall of Fame in 2016. “The results were increased opportunities for rank advancement, command opportunities, and ultimately, piloting the entire inventory of Air Force aircraft, test pilot programs, and spacecraft.”

For LaSauce, it was an opportunity to serve her country and see the world.

“I’m extremely pleased and honored that our role in history is finally being told,” she said. “America knows about the women who flew in World War II, and they know about the women fighter pilots, but I’m afraid history has sort of lost any of the stories of my class, my generation.”

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In the first story, Barrois describes an aviation industry that is not designed for, nor friendly to women—and a greater society ill-equipped to support girls and women who have a passion for flight. Despite the challenges, this woman sticks with it because she loves to fly, Barrois said. The story ends when the woman, now an airline pilot, has a child. Unable to balance the responsibilities of work and caregiving, and feeling overwhelmed, alone, and unsupported, she gives up her years of hard work and leaves the industry “because it’s just too hard,” Barrois said. 

In the second story, Barrois presents a futuristic model of an industry, education system, and culture providing support, encouragement, and financial assistance—from toddler age to retirement—to a woman aspiring to work in aviation. The story ends with the woman becoming a chief pilot, representing her fellow pilots at contract negotiations, and finally becoming senior vice president of flight operations for her airline. “She feels supported and included, and is able to serve her airline until she retires at age 65.” 

Through these stories, Barrois, a member of the WIAAB, depicts the Barriers Timeline Model, a web of interconnected, multi-layered obstacles, developed by the board and described in its final report to the FAA: “Breaking Barriers for Women in Aviation: A Flight Plan for the Future.” As seen in the second story, the model also demonstrates opportunities to leverage meaningful change.

“The Flight Plan for the Future is the how-to guide to tapping into 50 percent of the population—or women—that will be crucial to…the sustainability, profitability, safety, and innovative success of our industry,” Barrois said. 

In successive presentations during a YouTube livestream, various members of the 30-member, all-women board—chaired by former U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson—joined Barrois in presenting a snapshot of the 70-plus page report and its 55 recommendations. The board concluded its meeting by voting unanimously to approve the report, “subject to technical and conforming changes.” The full report will be delivered to the FAA and Congress in the next week or so, and at some later date will be made public. 

Appointed 22 months ago by then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao to develop strategies surrounding the education, training, mentorship, outreach, and recruitment of women to the aviation industry, the board’s recommendations are structured as calls to action to the FAA, Congress, the Department of Transportation, and the aviation industry. 

“There’s no one person or entity responsible for enacting change. It will take us all…working together to break down all of the barriers that exist for women today,” Barrois said. 

Central to creating the “Flight Path for the Future” was first identifying the problem. As aviation industry professionals themselves, the WIAAB members are all too familiar with the gender gap in the industry.

The Numbers Tell a Story

According to Rebecca “Becky” Lutte, WIAAB member, associate professor/researcher at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute, and author of Women in Aviation: A Workforce Report 2021 Edition, the gap is significant. The greatest gender disparities exist in the fields of aviation maintenance technicians (2.6 percent female), airline transport pilots (4.6 percent female), and in senior leadership positions (3.0 percent female). Still underrepresented—but in greater numbers—women make up 11 to 20 percent of aerospace engineers, aviation higher education faculty, airport managers, air traffic controllers, and dispatchers. 

Perhaps even more concerning than the low numbers of women in the industry is the “flatline effect” of women’s growth in the industry, Lutte said. While the actual number of women has increased over time, which is a positive, the percentage of women represented in the industry, or each job segment, is inconsequential, she said. “[For example] over a span of 60 years, the percentage of women commercial pilots has changed at a rate of about 1 percent a decade and mechanics have increased at about half that rate.”

These numbers, compounded with the need to grow and diversify the industry to address increasing workforce demands, prompted the establishment of the WIAAB. In his welcoming remarks to the board Monday, Steve Dickson, FAA administrator, emphasized the importance of the board’s work to enhancing the safety and effectiveness of the aviation industry.

“As the premier aviation safety authority in the world, the last thing we at the FAA can afford is groupthink,” he said. “Diversity makes us stronger, it brings new perspectives, increased innovation, and frankly, it makes for better decisions as well. Women are essential to the continued safety, innovation, and success of this industry.”

The Culture Challenge

According to the WIAAB report, a chief hindrance to further diversifying the aviation industry is a negative workplace culture for women. Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Lindsey Dreiling, WIAAB member and executive director of aviation strategy at Kansas State Polytechnic, said the board looked at current research and reached out to women in the industry to determine the reasons behind the large gender gap. 

“What we found is culture was and is a barrier throughout each stage of the journey for women in aviation,” she said. “Over and over…these studies and surveys of women in aviation all pointed to challenges with the workplace culture. This included implicit gender discrimination and bias, and also sexual harassment issues.” 

A 2018 survey conducted by Women in Aviation International (WAI) of its members supports this finding and will be included in the supporting materials delivered to the FAA with the WIAAB report. Of the 620 WAI members who completed the survey, 71.5 percent reported they had been subjected to sexual harrassment in the aviation workplace or another professional aviation setting, as reported in the Aviation for Women Magazine (2019). Lutte was on the volunteer task force that conducted the survey. 

“There’s no doubt, the research is overwhelming in evidence that bias, discrimination, sexual harassment, are clearly a deterrent  to the ability to recruit, retain, and advance women…We’ve got plenty of evidence to show that, unfortunately,” she said in an interview with FLYING. 

According to Dreiling, other studies identified bias and discrimination of women in aviation that ranged from being overlooked for opportunities, not being provided stretch opportunities to advance their careers, having their ideas dismissed or misattributed to someone else, and being viewed as overly aggressive, among others. She cited the International Aviation Womens Association’s (IAWA) 2019 study, Soaring Through the Glass Ceiling, where two-thirds of the respondents said they felt they had been treated differently because of their gender and 40 percent felt that their voices were not heard in the industry. 

A Systems Approach

In addition to the negative workplace culture interwoven throughout the industry’s job segments, the WIAAB also researched challenges related to recruitment, including economic factors and building awareness of aviation opportunities; retention and advancement, including mentoring and professional development; and the need for more gender-specific data.

“We believe it’s a systemic issue that requires a system-wide approach to solve it,” Lutte said.

Bobbi Wells, vice president for safety and airworthiness for FedEx Express and past president of IAWA, would agree. Because aviation was historically populated by men, it was a system designed for men, she said at the meeting. The culture of this system includes language, uniforms, policy, ceremonies, things that can be seen externally, as well as internal values, beliefs, and behaviors of the people who participate in the culture. 

“This doesn’t mean it was a system designed to exclude women. However, because of that system design, what it said to women was, come on into aviation and you have to find a way to fit in, rather than you’re welcome, you’re valued, we need you. Those are all elements we must change.” 

Recommendations for Change

The board’s 55 recommendations include calls to action that address culture, retention and advancement, recruitment, and improving data collection. 

Culture-related recommendations include implementing gender neutral and/or inclusive language across the indusry, providing uniforms that fit regardless of a person’s gender or build, creating an industry-wide reporting program to address bias, discrimination and sexual harassment, establishing enhanced FAA medical process information and reporting procedures for inappropriate medical exam actions, and increasing the visual representation of women in internal and external communications, to name a few. 

With regard to retention and advancement, the board calls on industry members to provide paid parental and family leave, childcare options, schedule flexibility and accommodations, mentoring programs for women, and to create communities for support for women and other underrepresented groups, as well as professional development programs, among others. 

Recruitment recommendations include establishing recruitment offices at airports and high school to post-secondary pathways, increasing the number of internships and field experiences, creating a one-stop-shop virtual resource center for people interested in aviation careers, and others. 

The board’s data recommendations call for an expansion of the FAA U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics to include reporting on gender-specific and racial/ethnic data; industry-wide annual public reporting/tracking of data; a Department of Transportation annual report on workforce data and pay parity, and more. 

The board also suggests that a permanent women in aviation advisory committee be established, to ensure that its recommendations are implemented and that their effectiveness is evaluated on an ongoing basis. 

“We [WIAAB] officially sunset when we hand the official report over [to the FAA]…but it certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t be pushing for the implementation of these recommendations,” Lutte said. “That effort will continue. The last thing anyone wants is for it to just be put on a shelf.”

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