19 Year Old Woman Begins Attempt Of Solo Around The World Flight

steingar said:
Who the heck lands at JFK in a GA aircraft? I wouldn't even think about it!
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Could it have to do with the fact she's traveling on a Belgian passport? There might not be many airports of entry open to her during the pandemic.
 
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Hmmmm....just finally read my Aug AOPA rag....and the very last page is an article about a 19 year old boy who just circumnavigated the world.... Hello, anyone care bout that? lol :confused:
 
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Checkout_my_Six said:
Hmmmm....just finally reading my Aug AOPA rag....and the very last page is an article about a 19 year old boy who just circumnavigated the world.... Hello, anyone care bout that? lol :confused:
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Travis Ludlow also got lots of press. I hadn't seen as much nitpicking against him, but someone did manage to dig up a thread from PoA questioning all his choices too. :-/

Old f***s like many of us in PoA get insecure and quarrelsome whenever we see a young person getting attention for something we also do — I know I get that way with IT as well as aviation.

But poor Zara has committed the double crime of getting attention for flying while being young and female, so god help her in the pilot forums (or with grumpy old aviation journalists like Paul Bertorelli, who wrote a whole article patronising and belittling her).

Fortunately, young girls dreaming of a future in aviation will pay more attention to Zara than to us. Or at least, I hope so. Recreational general aviation will fade away if it stays a mostly old, white male pursuit, because we're dying off and there aren't enough new pilots coming in to replace us
 
David Megginson said:
Travis Ludlow also got lots of press. I hadn't seen as much nitpicking against him, but someone did manage to dig up a thread from PoA questioning all his choices too. :-/

Old f***s like many of us in PoA get insecure and quarrelsome whenever we see a young person getting attention for something we also do — I know I get that way with IT as well as aviation.

But poor Zara has committed the double crime of getting attention for flying while being young and female, so god help her in the pilot forums (or with grumpy old aviation journalists like Paul Bertorelli, who wrote a whole article patronising and belittling her).

Fortunately, young girls dreaming of a future in aviation will pay more attention to Zara than to us. Or at least, I hope so. Recreational general aviation will fade out and die if it stays a mostly old, white male pursuit, because we're dying off and there aren't enough new pilots coming in to replace us
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utter nonsense
 
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kath said:
Yes. Yes they do.
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/18-y-o-solo-pilot-rtw-in-a-c-172.132726/



No, it's pretty spot on. Six's posts are a good example.
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Curmudgeons have been around forever and will never go away.

I'm fortunate to rent from an organization that has at least a half dozen young female aviators in their employ. They are active pilots and instructors at various stages of what looks to me as promising careers and their enthusiasm for aviation is contagious.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
So you must think wimen are challenged and need some kind of minority status? lol o_O
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No, but if we want girls or children in any other group to grow up to be pilots (private or professional), they need role models who are like them. A bunch of grumpy old guys like us aren't going to inspire anyone buy other grumpy old guys (and maybe a few younger guys who aspire to grumpy-old-guy status some day).

old.jpg
 
hey....I try to get young girls to ride with me all the time.....o_O
David Megginson said:
No, but if we want girls or children in any other group to grow up to be pilots (private or professional), they need role models who are like them. A bunch of grumpy old guys like us aren't going to inspire anyone buy other grumpy old guys (and maybe a few younger guys who aspire to grumpy-old-guy status some day).

old.jpg
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Checkout_my_Six said:
So you must think wimen are challenged and need some kind of minority status? lol o_O
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They ARE a minority of pilots.

I also recall at least one thread that discussed the prejudice against female pilots that still exists among some people. We guys are less likely to have personal experience with that.
 
I think that's a really cool little aircraft. Looks like something Stelio Frati could have designed. Bummer that it doesn't fit into the FAAs LSA regulations.
 
I think some people are missing is that if you want equality in relation to your gender then there shouldn't be any special attention given to somebody who does something just because of their gender.

There should only be records, not records for women and not records for men. just plain old world records. Unless of course you want to eat that cake
 
EdFred said:
I think some people are missing is that if you want equality in relation to your gender then there shouldn't be any special attention given to somebody who does something just because of their gender.

There should only be records, not records for women and not records for men. just plain old world records. Unless of course you want to eat that cake
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Women are under-represented in aviation. Some of us would like to see that change. Publicizing women's achievements in aviation might help in that, by helping girls see that it's something that they could be involved in.
 
David Megginson said:
No, but if we want girls or children in any other group to grow up to be pilots (private or professional), they need role models who are like them. A bunch of grumpy old guys like us aren't going to inspire anyone buy other grumpy old guys (and maybe a few younger guys who aspire to grumpy-old-guy status some day).
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No we don’t. If anyone was a role model for me it was Neil Armstrong. My first CFI was a grumpy old guy and he inspired me. I’d be pretty sexist if I refused be inspired by someone unless they had the same plumbing I did.

Well, maybe some females do. I’m only speaking for myself. It seems to me if you can’t go fly airplanes without finding some other female to follow, you’re not a very strong minded woman. But you could be right, maybe most of them aren’t.
 
Palmpilot said:
Women are under-represented in aviation. Some of us would like to see that change. Publicizing women's achievements in aviation might help in that, by helping girls see that it's something that they could be involved in.
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Palmpilot said:
Women are under-represented in aviation. Some of us would like to see that change. Publicizing women's achievements in aviation might help in that, by helping girls see that it's something that they could be involved in.
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Are they really under-represented though? I mean maybe they just don't want to be involved in it. We aren't complaining about a serious lack of women in the garage door installation industry or the plumbing industry or the garbage collection industry.

I can't even begin to count the number of people I've asked to go flying. And the vast majority of females have zero interest in it or absolutely refuse to let their husband or kids go flying. So while the numbers may not be 50/50 at the percentage might actually fall in line with those that are actually interested and there is not an under-representation.
 
I've had a lot more men ride with me in the plane, but the ones that were most excited and have always jumped at the chance again are the women. I have three grand nieces all less than 12 that are highly offended if I stop by town and they don't get a ride before I leave.
 
Rushie said:
No we don’t. If anyone was a role model for me it was Neil Armstrong. My first CFI was a grumpy old guy and he inspired me. I’d be pretty sexist if I refused be inspired by someone unless they had the same plumbing I did.

Well, maybe some females do. I’m only speaking for myself. It seems to me if you can’t go fly airplanes without finding some other female to follow, you’re not a very strong minded woman. But you could be right, maybe most of them aren’t.
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I'm not sure I had a role model, either male or female. I know that people pointed out other female pilots to me, but that didn't influence me one way of another. I came to believe that the interactions between male and female pilots were often different, because of societal expectations, but it could be a double-edged sword. As far as the percentage of males vs. females, I never thought it was that important as long as both sides knew that the avenue was open to them. Maybe it wasn't that way in the 1970s, which is when I learned, but I can't believe that women don't know that in the 2020s.
 
Palmpilot said:
Women are under-represented in aviation. Some of us would like to see that change. Publicizing women's achievements in aviation might help in that, by helping girls see that it's something that they could be involved in.
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Why do you think women are underrepresented? What does that mean. How many women pilots should there be?
 
Lindberg said:
I've lost some respect for him.
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I didn't. I think he may be a bit too factual for some but he does make an excellent point:

These flights are catnip for the popular press. These editors don’t know risk assessment from a pile of horse dung so the people who dream these things up—nominally adults—think they have to break through the noise level by lowering the common denominator with ever younger pilots or less capable machinery just to see how low the crazy can go. I doubt if they promote aviation in any measurable way if they succeed, but they profoundly tarnish it if they don’t.
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I really hope she does well but there is risk involved and no one should think otherwise. Will this greatly impact aviation? It will but probably not much ... unless, God forbid, it turns out horribly bad. That is Paul's point and I don't see where he disparaged her at all.

YMMV ... but I doubt it!
 
EdFred said:
Are they really under-represented though? I mean maybe they just don't want to be involved in it. We aren't complaining about a serious lack of women in the garage door installation industry or the plumbing industry or the garbage collection industry.
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Exactly. I don’t think it’s as much of a problem as some like to make it out to be. Any female that desires involvement in aviation is freely able to make it a reality. At least here, there’s plenty of young women making their way into flying, including several female CFI’s. Maybe there’s just naturally more interest among males than there is females? Who knows…

Some of the folks who make the biggest stink about it, often forget about the career paths that tend to be female dominated (pre-school and elementary teachers, childcare, dental hygienists and assistants etc.) As far as I can tell, there’s nobody preventing anyone from choosing what hobbies or careers someone can and cannot pursue.
 
EdFred said:
Are they really under-represented though? I mean maybe they just don't want to be involved in it. We aren't complaining about a serious lack of women in the garage door installation industry or the plumbing industry or the garbage collection industry.

I can't even begin to count the number of people I've asked to go flying. And the vast majority of females have zero interest in it or absolutely refuse to let their husband or kids go flying.
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Lack of interest does not mean they're not under-represented. It's just a possible explanation for WHY they're under-represented.

So while the numbers may not be 50/50 at the percentage might actually fall in line with those that are actually interested and there is not an under-representation.
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By "under-represented," I meant the fact that the percentage of women in aviation is less than their percentage in the population. You appear to be using a different meaning for the term.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Why do you think women are underrepresented? What does that mean.
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When I use the term, I'm referring to the fact that they are a majority of the population, but far fewer than a majority of pilots.

How many women pilots should there be?
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I'd like there to be a lot more than there are, but my wishes have no bearing on how many there "should" be.
 
Palmpilot said:
Lack of interest does not mean they're not under-represented. It's just a possible explanation for WHY they're under-represented.



By "under-represented," I meant the fact that the percentage of women in aviation is less than their percentage in the population. You appear to be using a different meaning for the term.
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You are operating under the false assumption that interest in any particular activity should fall in line with what the percentage of population is. That's not necessarily true.
 
Just in the last year I've been a student of a female CFI, got turned down to do a check ride with a female DPE (she would not do an instrument check ride with a pilot with 600 hours in the type because the plane didn't have brakes on the right side), and been safety pilot for two female students working on their instrument rating. I don't think they currently are under represented at all from what I'm seeing.
 
RyanB said:
So how do you propose fixing that?
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I'm not sure that "fixing" it is possible.

Are there girls and women on planet Earth who think they would meet with disapproval if they took up aviation? Probably. Is it possible to "fix" that? I don't know, but maybe it's possible to at least make some progress.

You can’t force people to pursue something they’re not interested in just so they appear more represented.
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Who said anything about forcing people? Publicizing and discussing women's achievements is not forcing anyone to do anything.

Well, maybe it does force people like us to argue about it! ;)
 
Forcing your kid to make a flight they are not prepared for so that they can be a role model is certainly something to argue about. I'm not saying that happened here, but it HAS happened before, and this story sure looks bad on the surface.
 
RyanB said:
...As far as I can tell, there’s nobody preventing anyone from choosing what hobbies or careers someone can and cannot pursue.
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a billion times this. aint NOBODY stopping ANYONE from doing whatever the damn @#$^ they wanna do. hasn't been for decades and decades and then some. it's nobody's fault for not getting out there and doing what they want to do except themselves, period. the one's who wanted to do it, got it done.
 
Salty said:
Forcing your kid to make a flight they are not prepared for so that they can be a role model is certainly something to argue about. I'm not saying that happened here, but it HAS happened before, and this story sure looks bad on the surface.
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"I'm not saying that happened here" — actually, you just did (with no evidence to support the claim, but presumably hoping it will stick anyway).
 
Palmpilot said:
When I use the term, I'm referring to the fact that they are a majority of the population, but far fewer than a majority of pilots.



I'd like there to be a lot more than there are, but my wishes have no bearing on how many there "should" be.
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why is there a disparity between the population and the pilot demographic? In your opinion…
 
EdFred said:
You are operating under the false assumption that interest in any particular activity should fall in line with what the percentage of population is. That's not necessarily true.
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You're reading too much into what I wrote. In the post that you quoted, I explained what I meant by the term "under-represented," and said nothing about what "should" be. In a later post, I pointed out that my wishes in the matter have no bearing on what "should" be.
 
Salty said:
Just in the last year I've been a student of a female CFI, got turned down to do a check ride with a female DPE (she would not do an instrument check ride with a pilot with 600 hours in the type because the plane didn't have brakes on the right side), and been safety pilot for two female students working on their instrument rating. I don't think they currently are under represented at all from what I'm seeing.
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What percentage of pilots are women?
 
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