Pilots

Patrice Clarke-Washington

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Born in 1961 in Nassau, The Bahamas, Patrice Clark-Washington, was the first black woman captain of a major U.S. air service. Her interest in aviation began at the young age of five when she took her first flight. She participated in career week activities in high school hoping to become a flight stewardess, but by the time she graduated she had hopes of becoming a pilot. She attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, and graduated with a commercial pilot’s certificate and B.S. in aeronautical science in 1982.

Source: National Air and Space Museum

She worked as a pilot for a charter company, Trans Island Airways, in the Bahamas between 1982 and 1984. She later flew as a first officer with Bahamasair and in 1988 she was hired as a flight engineer for United Parcel Service (UPS). She was promoted to first officer in 1990 and finally to captain in1994. She was only one of eleven female captains to command planes for a major U.S. airline.

Her husband Ray Washington flies for American Airlines. She and her husband are the only African American couple who both fly for a major commercial carrier.

Some of her major accomplishments include:

  • First black woman graduate of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida
  • First woman pilot of Bahamasair
  • First black female pilot hired by the United Parcel Service.
  • She was the first African American female pilot with a commercial airline

Patrice Clarke-Washington has retired from the public eye. In 2008, along with her husband Ray, she was recognized as an inaugural Founders and Pioneers Hall of Fame inductee by the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals. Her UPS uniform is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

March is Women History Month and Women of Aviation Month.

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Bonnie Tiburzi

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Born in August 1948 in Connecticut, Bonnie Linda Tiburzi, became the first female pilot for American Airlines at the young age of 24 years. Her father was an airline pilot who flew for the Scandinavian Airlines and later for Trans World Airlines, and owned and operated a flight school after leaving the airlines. Likely inspired by her father, her first job was as a flight instructor and charter pilot.

Source: National Air and Space Museum

At 24, she became the first female pilot for American Airlines and the first female pilot for a major American commercial airline. She started out as a Flight Engineer at American and later flew as a Captain on the Boeing 727, Boeing 757 and the Boeing 767. After 26 years in the aviation industry, she retired from aviation in 1998.

Bonni Tiburzi Caputo wrote her autobiography Takeoff: The Story of America’s First Woman Pilot for a Major Airline in 1976.  She received several awards throughout her career. Her American Airlines pilot uniform is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

March is Women History Month and Women of Aviation Month.

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Emily Howell Warner

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Born in October 1939 in Denver, Colorado, Emily Howell Warner was an American pilot and the first woman captain of a scheduled U.S. airline. She fell in love with flying when at age eighteen she flew on flight to Gunnison. Three days after that flight, she met James E. Muncey, the Chief Pilot at Clinton Aviation, and by February 18, 1958, she had her student pilot’s license in hand and by the age of 21 she had her pilot’s license. She went on to get her commercial, instrument, multi-engine and flight instructor ratings. Over the course of 15 years to accumulated 7000 hours.

Source: Wikipedia

She was hired by Frontier Airlines in 1973 and flew with them till they closed in 1986. She then flew for Continental and as a captain for UPS on the Boeing 737 from 1988 to 1990. The last decade of her career, she worked as an air carrier inspector, Aircrew Program Manager with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Denver.

Some of her achievements include:

  • First female pilot for a scheduled U.S. carrier
  • First female captain
  • Commanded the first all-female flight crew in the U.S (1986)
  • First woman member of the Airline Pilots Association

She retired in 2002 with 42 years in aviation and over 21,000 hours of flight time. Her career is recognized at the National Aviation Hall of Fame and National Women’s Hall of Fame and her pilot’s uniform is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

She passed away in 2020 due to complications of a fall and Alzheimer’s disease.

March is Women History Month and Women of Aviation Month.

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Matilde Moisant

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Born in 1877 in Indiana, aviation pioneer Matilde Moisant became the second woman to receive a pilot’s license certified by the Aero Club of America. The first woman was her friend Harriet Quimby.

Source: Wikipedia.

Her brothers were aviators and Moisant learned to fly at her brothers’ flight school – Moisant Aviation School – in Long Island, NY. She earned her pilot license on August 17, 1911, just a couple of weeks after her friend Harriet Quimby did. She was the 9th woman in the world to earn a pilot license. For one brilliant year in the early 1900s, these pioneering aviatrixes streaked across the sky together, becoming national heroes and media darlings—until tragedy grounded them permanently.

Moisant pursued a career in exhibition flying and some noteworthy events during her flying adventures include:

  • In September 1911, she soared to the breathtaking height of 1200 feet.
  • On another flight, she encountered the wrath of police officials, who attempted to ban flying on Sundays.
  • She became the first woman to fly over Mexico.

After a serious crash in 1912, Moisant stopped flying, even though she recovered from her injuries. She volunteered in France with the Red Cross during World War I.

She died in 1964 at the age of 85 in Glendale, CA.

March is Women History Month and Woman of Aviation Month.

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Sport Cruiser

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I smiled as I watched him open the door and place the cup brimming with hot coffee on the dashboard. Interesting I thought, that’s a first.

“We will follow the cold engine start check list,” he said.

It was a gorgeous day for flying: winds calm with not a cloud in sight. It was supposed to get warm into the upper 80s, but for now was pleasant weather. So far, the preflight steps were very similar to the Cessna 172 preflight procedures.

The SportCruiser is a 2-seat, low-wing monoplane with cantilevered wings and conventional empennage, and tricycle fixed landing gear of nose type. It is approved for operation in the US under the light sport aircraft (LSA) category. With max take-off weight of 1320 lbs., max cruise of 108 knots, and best glide speed of 60 knots, similar in performance to the C172. Each wing has a 67-litre fuel tank, carbon-glass composite wingtips with position and strobe lights and electronic flaps and ailerons, and electrical trim on right aileron. Inside, the cockpit was spacious with plexiglass canopy window with openable side windows, and dual flight control. The only downside for me was that the seat was not adjustable, and this meant I might or might not be able to reach the rudder pedals. Ultimately with two seat cushions, the feat was achieved.

 “Prop clear,” shouted Danny while he took another sip and placed the cup in the cup holder on his side of the door. I watched amused. I hoped he would be done with the coffee before take-off. Will I need to remind him where he placed the cup I wondered?

Taxing the SportCruiser was another interesting challenge. We meandered slightly as I figured out the dual pedal method of opposite rudder and brake to adjust for turns and maintain centerline as we taxied to the runup area for final checks. One final check and we were cleared for take-off. Very similar to the C172, within seconds we had achieved takeoff speed and the aircraft lifted off easily.

We climbed to 3,500 ft our planned altitude to fly the LAX Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) mini route mid field as we transitioned south to our final destination of Avalon airport on Catalina Island. Watching commercial airlines taking off beneath us, as we flew in our light sport two-seater aircraft, was totally awesome!

The LSA flight rules were first established in 2004 for aircraft that weigh no more than 1,320 pounds at takeoff and fly no faster than 120 knots calibrated airspeed, with a stall speed of 45 knots or less. In order to be a light sport pilot, you need to:

  • Be at least 17 years old
  • Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English.
  • Hold at least a third class medical, or hold a current and valid U.S. driver’s license for operations in light-sport aircraft other than a glider or balloon.

Flight training requires 20 hours of flight time with 15 of those dual training and 5 hours solo time. Similar to the private pilot requirements, the training includes take-off and landing, cross-country, ground training, knowledge and practical test. As of December 2022, there are more than 6000 sport pilots of whom 300 were women pilots.

Santa Monica Flyers has several LSA aircraft on their flight schedule and even several flight instructors just for sport aircraft flight instruction. When I first checked their website as I planned my adventure out west, my curiosity peaked when I saw CFI-S for the first time. I had not seen this at the flight schools out east. At least not yet.

In order to become a sport pilot instructor, you will have to:

  • Be at least 18 years old.
  • Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English.
  • Hold at least a current and valid sport pilot certificate with category and class ratings or privileges as applicable.
  • Receive a logbook endorsement and pass a knowledge test on the fundamentals of instruction listed in 61.407.
  • Meet the aeronautical experience requirements listed in 61.411 for the applicable aircraft sought.
  • Receive a logbook endorsement and pass a knowledge test on the aeronautical areas applicable to the aircraft category sought.
  • Receive a logbook endorsement and pass a practical test on the areas of operation listed in 61.409.

In July 2023, the FAA released a preview of notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes changes that could increase takeoff weight to around 3,000 pounds, raise maximum speed to about 250 knots, and boost the maximum stall speed to 54 knots.

Oh, and that coffee mug with hot coffee?  All gone.

As we completed our preflight checks, at one point Danny took the last sip, laughed and shared an anecdote about the time he was learning to fly and his instructor had done a similar thing.

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