News/Press Releases

WHY I FLY.

As of the end of 2017, in the US, there were an estimated 609,306 active certificated pilots. Did you know that less than 7% are women? Each year, we ask new racers why they fly. Read what one said here:

I fly to learn.

Sure, there is the technical knowledge: what the controls do and why; how to make them do it better. But there's also learning about the world around me. In flight, I see things I'd never noticed from the ground: oxbow lakes excised from a river by impatient currents; low spots that distort farm fields so they look like rumpled plaid. The lily-pad patterns of ice breaking up over a spring harbor. Then there are the clouds! The wind, illustrated! A cumulus cloud is turbulence made visible – but below that flat bottom, there's lift. Enjoy the ride!

More importantly, I learn about myself. Flying taught me to make my own decisions and manage old uncertainties. I was shunned in junior high for being "bossy" until I deferred to everyone; flying taught me instead how to be Pilot In Command. I learned to collect information, choose a plan, act, then reassess, if necessary. What freedom! What responsibility! I learned not to mind if someone called me an Uppity Woman. In my book, an Uppity Woman is a Whole Human Being.

Whenever I fly, I look at the conditions – not only of my airplane and the weather, but also of myself. It's a constant assessment, and it takes honesty.

Oh, but wait…I also fly because it's fun!           Nancy S.