What we do!
Girls in Flight Training Academy provides the opportunity for women in any phase of their flight training to come together to further motivate their aviation training. We are not a traditional flight school, yet we saw a need to reach out to women interested in learning about flying or continuing that have felt either intimidated, frustrated and even the factor of being the only female in the room at a flight school. This week long clinic is to address these issues and further women in their aviation endeavors. Women pilots
comprise of only 6% of the pilot population and this percentage has held steady for the last 100 years. Our goal is to identify and to address the various issues that may be causing women to abandon flight training, and to assist them earning their pilot certificates. We hope to create a network of peers, mentors, role models, and instructors to encourage women of all ages to pursue their goals in aviation and to overcome the obstacles that interfere with their flight training. It is our end goal to have other flight schools create their own GIFT academies across the coutnry. Some question if there is really a problem, which we say yes, when there is still a 95% drop out rate of women as student pilots should be enough indication to say yes there is still a problem. While we can do little about universal issues like money and time, we can educate, and motivate more women to their goals.
comprise of only 6% of the pilot population and this percentage has held steady for the last 100 years. Our goal is to identify and to address the various issues that may be causing women to abandon flight training, and to assist them earning their pilot certificates. We hope to create a network of peers, mentors, role models, and instructors to encourage women of all ages to pursue their goals in aviation and to overcome the obstacles that interfere with their flight training. It is our end goal to have other flight schools create their own GIFT academies across the coutnry. Some question if there is really a problem, which we say yes, when there is still a 95% drop out rate of women as student pilots should be enough indication to say yes there is still a problem. While we can do little about universal issues like money and time, we can educate, and motivate more women to their goals.
Who we are!
This clinic was conceived by Mary Latimer. Mary and her husband, Lawrence, will serve as the head instructors of this academy, with other instructors also volunteering their time and knowledge. Mary has been a flight instructor since 1974 and is also a designated pilot examiner (private, commercial, and instrument). She is a corporate pilot, flying a Conquest II, and an A&P mechanic with Inspection Authorization. She is a retired air traffic controller after twenty-four years. Lawrence is a flight instructor, corporate pilot, and mechanic. Their daughter, Tamara Giffith, a flight instructor and A&P with IA, also serves as one of the instructors and Tamara's daughter Amanda Griffith (third generation female pilot) will also be there assisting and joining in the fun as a CFI. We recently gained AOPA's interest in our academy! Flying magazine has also run an article on our program as well.
