[Music]
[Applause]
in the fall of 2019 I found myself
standing on a dry lake bed and what
seemed like the middle of nowhere with a
group of women I had only just met and
as we're standing on a makeshift flight
line on this dry lake bed we are joined
by what we consider one of the greatest
communities of folks the aviation
community with hundreds of people
singing on on either side of us we are
cheering as two bush planes raced by one
of the pilots is NAT she's a woman who
flew her bush plane down from Canada and
she's one of 16 pilots to make it
through the qualifiers you know me the
only woman to do so as I'm cheering on
that with this group of women that I
actually met through the power of social
media they stopped to take in the moment
this group of women that I'm with and
cheering on is made up of flight
instructors graphic designers medical
doctors engineers airline pilots writers
and lifelong students of aviation but
we're even more than that we are the 7%
the 7% of pilots that are female in the
u.s. only about 7% of all pilots are
female Canada is only about 5% it's a
staggering statistic and while I could
stand up here and say we need more women
what I really want to get at is that if
you're a female you should get while the
getting is good and if you are a parent
of a young daughter now is the time to
get her into an airplane and watch her
life change because the opportunities
for the minority in this industry right
now are unending and the benefits of a
pilot's license are limitless before we
talk about the benefits of a pilot's
license let's talk about the safety
aspect because I hear a lot of people
express concern about safety in a small
airplane the fact that the plane is
smaller does not seemingly make it any
less safe than a traditional airliner
you might find yourself on the forces of
flight are the same regardless of
size of airplane airplanes are designed
to fly they're designed to fly when
systems fail airplanes want to be in the
sky in addition to the fact that we're
flying machines designed to be in the
sky pilots are trained to always
anticipate any factor that could result
in a need to land the plane unexpectedly
getting your pilot's license is not like
learning to drive a car where they give
you the keys after a short doesn't say
good luck make good choices pilots are
trained to always anticipate the
unexpected I cannot tell you how many
times my flight instructor killed the
engine on me mid-flight and asked me
what I was going to do forcing me to
react it is integrated into our training
to always have a plan
I still fly with my first flight
instructor and like to keep an eye out
for a hand slowly making its way for the
throttle because I know he's gonna pull
it and test my reaction to a simulated
engine out the training involves via
pilot is designed to ensure that
although it is rare if something were to
go awry you have been equipped with the
tools to land that plane as safely as
possible
this training is why pilots such as
Captain Schulz and Captain Sully were
able to were able to bring their planes
down to safety despite the unexpected
damages to their aircraft I think the
fear of flight comes up from a lack of
understanding how flight works and how
much design goes into making an airplane
fly and sustain flight my first
experience with flight was on a major
airliner
it was a relatively short flight but I
was absolutely terrified the entire time
I hated it
what I would learn later on was I wasn't
so much afraid of being in the sky I
just simply don't do well was not
knowing what's going on
I work as a manufacturing engineer in my
careers based on understanding how and
why things work defining and controlling
processes control ving a key word I like
to be in control of my situation it
wasn't until I was gifted the experience
of flight in a small airplane that I
fell in love I was sitting in the
cockpit with a yoke in front of me
fascinated by an instrument panel that
was relaying everything I'd want to know
about what the aircraft was doing
there's a common phrase says
ask any pilot why they started flying
and you will probably hear a similar
love story when those wheels lift off
and you're airborne it's like something
in your soul stirrers deep and there's
part of you that you never even knew is
missing it's finally clicked into place
sounds a little cheesy but it's true it
is a true love affair with flights with
freedom I got my pilot's license when I
was 25 you only have to be 16 years old
to so low an airplane and 17 years old
to get your pilot's license
I cannot imagine where it'd be right now
had I started flying 10 years sooner
another common concern is well how much
is this going to cost me and this is
where being a minority comes into play
we live in a time where the need for
women pilots is so high and the issue of
gender equality is so prevalent but the
support to get women in the air to raise
that 7% statistic is astounding use your
minority status to your advantage
encourage your daughter to use it to
hers I used it to mine and I still do to
this day every year locally and
nationally there are scholarships
offered to women specifically to learn
how to fly just in Reno alone we have
years worth thousands of dollars of
scholarships go unclaimed or even if we
do have applicants sometimes your odds
for that money are one in four if not
better there are scholarships that will
pay for portions of your training there
are scholarships that will pay for all
of your training there's so much money
out there for women to learn how to fly
if you are willing to take the time to
prepare and submit a strong application
there's no reason you won't find
yourself winning some of those
scholarships in supporting your flight
training
aside from scholarships the power of
networking can open up many doors in the
aviation realm the community is
one-of-a-kind and it is filled with
people who want to see others make it to
the sky encourage your daughter to turn
wrenches in a maintenance shop on
airplanes she will see and learn about
countless different types of aircraft
and will likely find herself flying on
the fair share of them spend time at
your local airport join local aviation
organizations meet other pilots being a
female interested in aviation
is interesting to other pilots but you
have to show up you have to break out of
your comfort zone and start
intentionally meeting people use the
power of social media brands yourself as
a female pilot and watch the connections
begin to grow I've met so many
phenomenal women in aviation that
continue to support and encourage my
path I've also met a lot of male pilots
who are just as supportive and
encouraging engaging in the aviation
social media community will connect you
to countless people who want to share
the love of flight with others make
those connections and you will likely
find yourself racking up priceless
experiences aside from the cool factor
of being a pilot there are a multitude
of benefits to having a pilot's license
I can speak from personal experience and
the experience is shared by others I
asked a large group of women what they
would say if someone asked them why
their daughter should learn how to fly
and the response was overwhelming
oh why shouldn't she she learned
confidence and how to overcome her fears
it will help her excel in math and
science she'll develop independence and
self-esteem it helps with critical
thinking and decision-making the list
went on and on one woman even shared how
flying helped her overcome the traumas
of sexual assault that flight training
helped restore confidence in herself and
took away the feelings of worthlessness
your daughter will learn invaluable
skill sets in life lessons learning to
fly an airplane and these skill sets
will prove useful whether she decides to
fly professionally or not now most
people can only think of a handful of
jobs that would necessitate a pilot's
license in the most common is an airline
pilot other professional flying jobs
include flying for corporations being a
test pilot or a flight instructor you
can fly for the government such as the
military the Forest Service the police
department there's Kara fight their
search and rescue there's firefighting
however getting enough pilot's license
doesn't always mean flying
professionally some go into a career
such as engineering aviation management
aircraft sales airport operations so I'm
going to career that has nothing to do
with aviation but the skills they use
and continue to hone as an everyday
pilot are undoubtedly used in their
everyday life I mentioned earlier that I
work as a manufacturing engineer and I
do so in the aerospace
fence industry and I just fly for fun
but I used my personal knowledge of
aircraft and the skills my training
taught me to problem-solve in my
everyday job ad pilot license to a
resume and it is an immediate attention
grabber in conversation-starter
especially if you are a female going
back to that dry lake but not didn't win
the race that day she didn't even
advance in her bracket but she did fly
home at two thousand dollars in her
pocket and she did so in part because
she was the minority a couple of months
before the race one of the event
organizers put out a message and he said
I want to see more women racing so I
will personally give $1,000 to the
fastest female racer doesn't matter if
you actually win the competition it just
goes to the female with the fastest time
one of event sponsors like that emotion
so much that they not matched that
thousand dollars and it became two
thousand dollars for the fastest female
racer you know how many ones showed up
to race that day three there must have
been over thirty pilots who participated
in the qualifiers in only three less
than 10 percent were women that means
that day those woman had a one in three
chance at two thousand dollars in cash
pretty good odds now it worked hard to
show up for that opportunity and she
earned it I wasn't really in a position
to be racing the day but I still kind of
kicking myself for not taking that
opportunity and the woman standing next
to me they are grabbing their minority
status by the horns and taking hold of
every opportunity available to them as
women in aviation their networking they
are engaging in the community they're
giving him back they are working hard
and reaping the benefits of that hard
work because they have a love affair
with flight and the freedom surrounding
it I have a seven month old daughter
she's my first and the desire to protect
her is overwhelming the desire to see
her succeed far beyond anything I will
ever achieve is just as great so yes I
will encourage my daughter to use her
minority status to her advantage and to
work hard at grabbing ahold of every
opportunity available to her as a female
because I know when she takes her first
solo flight
and it's just her in the airplane she is
going to experience an indescribable
feeling of accomplishment and
empowerment that only comes from the
gift of the flight I encourage everyone
women and spent in to investigate
evasion but I specifically encourage the
women to go take a discovery flight and
experience something you may have never
even thought to try in parents if you
have young daughters please encourage
them to investigate the world of flight
being a minority in the aviation
industry is actually a one-up on
everyone else right now I encourage all
women especially the younger generation
to use that and go fly
[Applause]
you
[Applause]