“I flew upside down with my mom”

It’s exciting to read about mother pilots who are sharing their passion for flying with their children and how their stories are increasing. From Instagram to the local news- stories keep popping up about women flying with their children.

Take for example the mother, Laura Stants, who flew her daughter to OshKosh in 2016. As an airline pilot, she knew she wanted to share the love of flight with her daughter. At one point, she demonstrated acrobatics – including inverted flight- to her daughter in their T-6.

When her daughter, Kaylee, wrote about her experience in a trip report, it scared her teachers. But Laura was undeterred – she knew the value of showing her daughter flying, and she wanted her daughter to know exhilaration.

And then there is the story of the Delta captain, Wendy Rexton, who flew with her first officer daughter cross country and recorded it for the training school- and it scored the most hits for the school that it had received ever- an amazing recruiting tool.

Or finally the story that we heard Kathleen Cosand tell about her landing competition that she flew, and won, against her son on their American Airlines flight.

Women across the United States are sharing aviation careers with their children in increasing numbers. Because women only make up 7% of the aviation industry, it is even more remarkable- and vital- that the mother-child flying trend continues. There is no feeling like piloting a machine into the sky- one that a mother wants to show their kids. And it’s an experience that Milieux Project believes should be available to everyone.

It’s also the belief that the EAA has, and why they started and host their Young Eagle Program annually, why OBAP has their ACE Academy program, and why Milieux Project sponsors at least one girl a year to Preflight Aviation Camp.