Girls fly Atlantic
In September 2019, Amanda Farnsworth and Katie Pribyl are piloting Farnsworth’s Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet from North America to Europe to honor the pioneering women pilots of World War II, and to inspire the next generation of girls to pursue aviation careers.
The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) paved the way for future female aviators by flying ferry flights, towing aerial targets, transporting cargo, and performing a variety of other missions during World War II. By December 1944, WASPs had flown every type of military aircraft manufactured for the war. The WASPs proved themselves again and again, logging more than 60 million miles in more than 12,000 aircraft.
The number of women involved in the aviation industry has since steadily increased, yet the numbers remain small. Women pilots, for example, represent only 7 percent of the total U.S. pilot population. Farnsworth, a member of the AOPA Board of Trustees, and Pribyl, senior advisor at AOPA and former head of AOPA’s You Can Fly program, aim to shine a light on the opportunities available to women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and stimulate interest in STEM careers.
A cornerstone of AOPA’s You Can Fly program is its High School Initiative, which introduces students to careers in aviation and aerospace through a rigorous four-year STEM-based curriculum. More than 3,500 students have used the ninth and tenth grade courses to date—a number that is poised to more than double in the 2019-2020 school year. These students bring with them a variety of backgrounds and a degree of diversity unheard of in the aviation community.
| Students using AOPA’s 9th grade courses in 2018 | Employed Pilots and Flight Engineers* |
|---|---|
| 25% Female | 6.2% Female |
| 22% African American | 1.8% African American |
| 26% Hispanic | 8% Hispanic |
| 3% Asian | 1.5% Asian |
Farnsworth and Pribyl departed from Frederick Municipal Airport in Frederick, Maryland, on September 11 and plan to arrive in Normandy, France, around September 15. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the hashtag #girlsflyatlantic. While en route in Farnsworth’s high-tech single-engine jet, the pair will be recording video segments about weather, navigation, and communication to be used in the AOPA high school curriculum.
Farnsworth was the first woman to get type rated in the Vision Jet after it was certified in 2016. Following along in a second Vision Jet is Dale Klapmeier, co-founder of Cirrus Aircraft and current senior advisor to the Duluth, Minnesota, company.
Check back to aopa.org/girlsflyatlantic regularly for updates on the trip.
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