In December, Able Flight, a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization, will announce its first two flight training scholarship winners, who will participate in a three-week intensive training course leading to a Sport Pilot certificate. Up to 20 scholarships will be awarded in 2007, with up to 35% of those being provided to veterans with a disability.
“Experiencing the freedom and challenge of flying creates an emotional high,” said Charles Stites, Able Flight’s Executive Director. “But more importantly, learning to fly is a tremendous confidence booster and can motivate anyone, especially people with various physical disabilities, to reach for even higher goals in life.”
“Given the new Sport Pilot Rule and the availability of Light Sport Aircraft, the timing is right to launch a national scholarship program and reach a vastly underserved community,” said Stites. “We’re also working with several organizations to create vocational opportunities within aviation for scholarship award winners.”
The initial scholarship winners will be trained in a specially-equipped Sky Arrow 600 provided by the Hansen Air Group of Georgia. Unique among Light Sport Aircraft, the Sky Arrow 600 is available with factory-equipped hand controls that can be removed in seconds as needed, offering great flexibility in training students with varying disabilities.
Able Flight has attracted financial and in-kind support from individuals as well as aviation companies such as Jet Aviation, an international leader in support of business aviation, and Perrone Fine Aviation Leather, a major supplier of leather products for private and business aircraft. Other sponsors include Gulf Coast Avionics and Electronics International. To learn more about Able Flight, and how to support the scholarship program, visit: www.ableflight.org.
Patty is awarded the Amelia Earhart Award by the Greater Miami Avation Association
From the MIAMI HERALDNovember 30, 2006 MIAMIGala honors aviation contributorsFor the first time, the aviation community honored women's contributions to the industry with an award saluting Amelia Earhart.BY WENDY J. MENGASpecial to The Miami HeraldIt was a wild evening at Parrot Jungle's Treetop Ballroom. Women dressed in iridescent silk gowns walked arm-in-arm with men in black ties, displaying their finery, to honor and support the aviation industry.More than 400 guests showed up for the Wright Brothers Memorial Awards Gala Evening on Nov. 17.What made the evening special was that it included two new awards: The Amelia Earhart Award for outstanding achievement and The Neil Armstrong Award for aerospace leaders.Oscar Garcia, president of the Greater Miami Aviation Association, said candidates for the awards were selected for ``longevity, contribution, achievements for their companies and themselves, and especially for their support in the scholarships in aviation that we give for future leaders.''Garcia welcomed guest of honor Robert Crandall, former president and CEO of American Airlines, and said the evening was about keeping the aviation industry fresh by providing scholarships to students who choose the field as a career.Also on hand were NBC's Willard Sheppard and former Telemundo journalist Ana Bencomo, who co-hosted the event.The Amelia Earhart Award went to U.S. aerobatic Olympian Patty Wagstaff for outstanding achievement. The Neil Armstrong Award went to Peter Diamandis, chairman/CEO of X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes space tourism.''The new Neil Armstrong Award is meant to inspire the young,'' Garcia said.Wagstaff was not present to accept her award in person. It was accepted on her behalf by Jo-Ann Lizio, an artist from Naples.Wagstaff asked Lizio to accept her award because Lizio created artwork with parts from Wagstaff's plane.''We are the oldest aviation association in the U.S., and we are honoring women in aviation for their contribution through the years for the first time,'' Garcia said.''Miami is changing; Miami is growing; Miami is thriving. It is very easy to see the activity at our airports here and we are keeping up with the times in the aviation industry,'' he said.According to José Abreu, director of the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department, ``In Miami everyday is like the Super Bowl. More than 80,000 passengers pass through the gates of Miami International [Airport].''By the end of the evening, six awards were handed out.For his lifelong contribution to the aviation industry, The Wright Brothers Memorial Award went to Capt. Vito La Forgia. Enrique Cueto, CEO of LAN Airlines, got the Corporate Achievement Award.The Juan Trippe Award went to Peter Dolara for his dedication to aviation in the Latin America and the Caribbean. The Glen Curtiss Award went to Mauricio Botelho for extraordinary contributions to the air transport business and private sectors.
Amazing! This will be our 20th year of going to the annual International Council of Airshows (ICAS) convention in Las Vegas (and occasionally other environs). Twenty years ago we stopped in to the Riviera on the way home to Alaska after our second aerobatic competition season. Patty had flown a few airshows, and volunteered for them at aerobatic contests whenever she could and had been a member of ICAS for a couple of years. Airshows, she figured, were the perfect balance to the intensity of competition where every maneuver was scrutinized for perfection. So, after parking her airplane in her hangar at Avra Valley, Arizona, she headed back home to Anchorage, Alaska, via Las Vegas. The only performers she knew were the Red Baron Squadron, Lee Manelski, Bob Herendeen, and Brigette de St. Phalle. She knew she'd like to get more involved in airshows, but wanted to know what the people were like - and soon found out that a warmer, friendly, supportive and more wonderful group could not be found..and we still find that today. So, with another airshow year past, we prepare for yet another and again very proud to be sponsored by Cirrus Design and flying a beautiful Cirrus SR 22 GTS, N2000M, to and from airshows...ah, making life much much easier.Thank you Gene Powers for making life on the road easier this year by taking care of our airplane and ferrying the Extra to and from airshows. Next year will be even better now that you know the ropes. Thank you Denise (the Cookie Lady) for helping out at so many shows, and at ICAS again. We always know we will not only get cookies, but we'll get water at airshows when Denise is around. Thank you Big B. Even though you're not still wearing the PWAS logo we won't call you a traitor! You're as wonderful to us as you have always been! Thank you Keoki and Jan, Steve & Suzanne for being such great friends and for being there whenever we need it. See you on the circuit in 2007!
ICAS Foundation Selects 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees
The International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) Foundation has honored four past and current air show performers by inducting them into the ICAS Foundation Air Show Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was created in 1995 to recognize those who have made significant contributions to the air show industry.
Inductees for 2006 are Paul Mantz, Marion Cole, Eddie Green and Patty Wagstaff
Able Flight Awards First Two Scholarships, And Patty Wagstaff Endorses "One Thousand Giving $100", Able Flight's Grassroots Fundraising Campaign For 2007.In a ceremony at Atlanta's Shepherd Center, Able Flight kicked off its national scholarship program by announcing its first two scholarship award winners. Brad Jones is a a recent patient at Shepherd Center, a catastrophic care hospital that specializes in the medical care and rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular problems. Stephany Glassing has served as a peer counselor at Shepherd Center.With these awards, Brad and Stephany will take part in an intensive and demanding flight training program designed to build self-confidence and self-reliance. Learn more about Brad and Stephany and Able Flight Scholarships at www.ableflight.org. Able Flight also recently launched its 2007 grassroots campaign to raise $100,000 in scholarship funds through individual donations, a move applauded by Patty Wagstaff, "I'm honored to endorse Able Flight's flight training scholarships for people with disabilities. Learning to fly is truly a life-changing experience, and it's an experience that brings challenges and rewards. I'm often asked to lend my name to causes, and this time I did not hesitate to join. I've made my contribution, and encourage you to join me by making your own."How can you help? It's easy. Visit www.ableflight.org and make a secure on-line donation, or simply send a check to the address listed on the "You Can Help" page on the Able Flight website. Then, just spread the word by telling a friend why you donated to the Able Flight Scholarship Fund, and asking them to consider doing the same. Every month, Able Flight will post the results to date, and will proudly list your name on the update page. Able Flight is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, so you donation is tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
And from home base of beautiful St. Augustine, Florida, otherwise known as a "quaint drinking village with a fishing problem." Not us, we've been hard at work and not fishing at all, taking care of business and getting ready for the upcoming airshow season. We also realize that we are woefully - yes, woefully - behind on keeping our friends and fans up to date on this newsletter and would like to make amends for that by giving you a little recap of our winter (off season!).
For the sixth year in a row, Patty went to Kenya to fly. Due to finances and logistics, the Kenya Wildlife Service did not have an official training camp, so Patty visited KWS friends and flew a safari with guides Mark and Helen Ross, and close friends, the Lands, to some spectacular areas of Kenya. Flying two Cessna 206's, they started off the new year at Rusinga Island Lodge on Lake Victoria. On the eve of the new year, the group took two boats out to the Bird Islands, small islands filled with amazing bird life and huge monitor lizards, for a champagne toast. We looked around and realized we were surrounded by three countries in view - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Before arriving in Kenya there had been a lot of unseasonable rain, so the airstrips were muddy and rutty, but the day after we arrived at Rusinga (after an interesting scud running flight from Nairobi) the weather cleared and it was blue skies for the next two weeks.
At Rusinga we relaxed, caught up on sleep, rode bicycles, water skied, swam, watched birds, ate a lot and Patty walked the runway planning her take off. The short grass runway adjoining the Lodge still had mud and standing water in some places, so it had to be planned carefully. After a successful departure to the Masai Mara and a private camp along the Mara River, complete with 30' long crocodiles and many hippo, they went on game drives. The Land Rovers got stuck many times due to all the water (and gave birth to a new Mark Ross-ism: If the hippo are swimming in the road above you, choose another route); On the plus side they were almost the only people out in the park! After Mara it was north to Kitich Camp in the Matthews Range where we ran into flooding again, and had to do relays and hand carry bags up to the camp. The Land Rovers were up to the windshields in water try to cross some roads, but we made it and had a fantastic time courtesy of our host Guillio Bertolli. The elephants were not in the valley due to all the rain, but we saw a lot of wildlife and hiked every day. The runway at Kitich was in decent shape, thanks to Guillio's efforts, and it's great fun to land there uphill and one way. After Kitich they flew to Lewa Downs, one of the most fantastic places on earth, and did a lot of game drives seeing just about everything - elephant, rhino, cheetah, lions, zebra, oryx, impala, and more. The girls went horseback riding and everyone did a lot of hiking, and again, eating! Kenya and the people there are beautiful and it is always hard to leave.
Early one morning when we went to check on the airplanes at Musiara Airstrip, Masai Mara
A little muddy after landing at Rusinga Island
Our air show schedule is posted so please check it out. We are still adding a show or two and this year and it will be a fun season. Patty will probably not be flying the Texan II in air shows this year due to certification tests of the B model she's been flying, but will no doubt have a few surprises up her sleeve and will be flying other airplanes at air shows. Check back for more news!
In addition, Cirrus Design, our fantastic sponsor, decided that Patty needed an entirely new paint job for her Extra 300S. Wait until you see it - it is an entirely new look!! Pictures coming soon!!
In January, Patty went to Los Angeles to a birthday party for Bob Hoover's 85th. Bob looks and feels great and could go out and fly a great air show tomorrow.
It was a great night and we saw so many friends - Bill and Valerie Anders, Chuck and Victoria Yeager, F. Lee Bailey who organized the party; Dale and Alan Klapmeier and their families, Gene Cernan, Kermit Weeks, Ed Shipley, Jim Beasley, Angela West. It was a fitting tribute to Bob who we owe a great deal of respect to for his profound and positive affect on aviation.
Aside from aviation, Patty rode in several horse shows on her Irish jumper Bebo Gigolo this winter. It's a huge challenge and takes some bravery on the party of the rider. When you look into the arena and see a course of jumps set up and have to navigate around and over each one of them in order, it's daunting but exciting. Memorizing the course is no problem for Patty though after memorizing so many competition aerobatic sequences!
Patty recently went to the Women in Aviation Conference in Orlando. We think back to the first one we attended where there were 200 attendees. This year there were 2500 or more! Most major airlines, commuters and companies like Cirrus Design, Beechcraft Hawker, Garmin, and more, were exhibiting and recruiting. It was inspiring to see the level of enthusiasm and commitment.
Patty with Dorothy Cochrane and Carolyn Russo, from Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, at Women in Aviation Conference. Holding a print of Carolyn's book "Women and Flight."
We will try to keep you posted more often. We look forward to seeing old friends and fans on the circuit this year. Everyone needs to make it to at least one airshow in 2007!
Coming soon, pictures of the new Cirrus Extra 300S!.
Patty Wagstaff
Patty Wagstaff AirShows Inc.
National Aviation Hall
of Fame Inductee
Aerobatic Champion
Typical Pilot
FLYING® Reader
Anyone can do what? Win the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship three times? Have your aircraft enshrined in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum? Pull off an inverted ribbon cut twenty feet from the runway?
Actually, Patty Wagstaff is talking about something more basic yet more important as far as she’s concerned. It’s a theme she’ll repeat to anyone who will listen. Especially women. “Flying changed my life dramatically from the day I soloed. It gave me self-confidence. That’s what flying can do for you.”
Learning To Fly Is Learning To Live Most people who don’t fly believe it’s something that only a select few can do. Superhumans with laser vision, Einstein brains and blinding white teeth. She says, “When I tell people, ‘If I can do it, you can do it.’ Its true. I’m not any different than a lot of people. I’m a 5’4” woman without a college education. It’s not age related, either. People will ask me if it’s too late to learn to fly. No it’s not. You’ll be a lot better at it. You’ll have better judgment. Age, gender, we’re all victims of our own preconceived idea of what we can do and not do.” She’s not shy about saying, “A lot of women lack confidence. I did when I started flying.“
The moment she took the controls in her hands. It was, in a very real sense, taking control of her life, too. She knows it can do the same for others. “I try to explain that to people and to women in particular. That’s what flying can do for you. You don’t have to be an aerobatic pilot. Or an airshow pilot. Just the fact that you’ve accomplished that can change your life.”
What Sets Her Apart Brings Us All Together You may look at Patty Wagstaff and say she’s one in a million, but the point is that all pilots are like Patty. You don’t have to fly for a living to be crazy about it. You don’t have to be famous to feel that flying makes you different from the rest of the world. She says, “What’s so neat about it is there’s room for everyone to create his or her own niche. It attracts people with energy and drive, the winners. You go to an airport and everybody looks the same. You could have an internet billionaire here and a movie star there and a mechanic and they’re all sitting around drinking beers and talking about airplanes. What you do for a living is irrelevant. Can you land the plane? Can you work on it? Do you know how to speak aviation?”
Still Growing.
Still Reading FLYING. Of course, there’s something else that Patty has in common with most pilots. She reads FLYING Magazine. Just like 85% of the pilots who fly more than 150 hours a year. “I always tell people to read FLYING. I’ve learned a ton from it over the years and I still learn from every issue. Especially articles like I Learned About Flying From That. I love those first hand stories. I want to know what happened. Did they screw up? Why? How can I not do that? When the time comes that I’m faced with that situation that one little tiny bit of information might just be there and it will pop up when I need it.
She adds, “You know how pilots are.”
Yup. They’re just like Patty.
If you’re an advertiser, the surest way to reach aviation’s active pilots like Patty is to be in the magazine most of them read. FLYING.
Just arrived from Duluth, our newly painted Extra - courtesy of Cirrus Design. We love this paint scheme! It is simply beautiful. It's all Cirrus and Gene Niswonger of AirGraphics and a fantastic surprise. More pictures to come!
Golfers wife was struck in the head by a golf ball hit from 200yrds away. Doctors agree that had the lucky lady not been wearing the ball cap the injury most certainly would have been much worse, possibly even fatal. The ball struck on the lower seam of the hat absorbing some of the impact.
Thank you PWAS
We just returned from our first airshow of the season at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida. Each year the first airshow marks a milestone for us, much as the last airshow of the season does. Each year has a different flavor, brings new friends, takes us to new places and is like a birthday present. We unfold the wrapping slowly throughout the year and at the end of the year celebrate the surprise that was inside. Each year the journey is different.
Tyndall was well run, fun and a great airshow. We have always been well taken care of there. Starting with the press show on Friday, we also do an evening show in front of the Officers Club in the evening. It is one of the best places to fly - the evening air is really calm and still, we are right over the beach looking out toward the Gulf and it's simply just a beautiful time to fly. Patty usually deviates from her normal airshow routine and just flies, so it is even more fun for her.
We "unveiled" our new paint scheme and it got a great reception. The silver on the wings really catches and reflects the light and it really works!
Patty was joined by friends Steve and Suzanne Oliver, their pup Pax, and Judy Scholl of Art Scholl Aviation, at the National Air & Space Museum recently for two talks. NASM has a great group of volunteer "docents" who tell and teach people about the collection at both the Museum on the Mall and the new Museum at the Hazy Center in Dulles, Virginia. Since the opening of the Hazy Center and the installation of both Art Scholl's Chipmunk and Suzanne Oliver's 1929 Travel Air skywriter, the docents have been asking for us to describe life on the airshow circuit. We spent the morning on the Mall talking to a group and the evening at the Hazy Center.
Thanks to Margie Nataly and Dorothy Cochrane for putting this together. We enjoyed every minute of sharing stories and experiences of our lives in aviation and in airshows.
Patty to be inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame
Patty was selected by the San Diego Air & Space Museum to be inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2007, perhaps the most impressive group to be honored by the museum in the last two decades. The 2007 Hall of Fame Gala Celebration is slated for Saturday evening, November 17th, 2007 at the museum. Patty will be honored along with astronaut Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, Robert A. “Bob” Hoover famed USAF test pilot and aerobatic pilot and Fran Bera, pioneering woman pilot who has been setting records and shattering barriers for nearly seven decades.”
Patty and crew just returned from two airshows "Wings over Wayne" at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, and the McGuire AFB Airshow in New Jersey, both on the same weekend.
Joining us for both airshows was photographer and pilot, Mike Jorgensen, from the UK/Australia. Mike takes fantastic pictures and we will post a few of them on our photo gallery.
The men and women of Seymour Johnson AFB, an F-15 training base, really know how to put on a show. It was our first time flying this one and we enjoyed the hospitality and while the weather loomed to the west all day long, it stayed good for the entire Saturday airshow. SJAFB is a one day show and for seemingly being in the "middle of nowhere" estimated crowds were at about 80,000 people! Pretty good for a small town! Other performers included the Red Baron Squadron, Rob Holland flying a Model 12 Pitts - Rob always does a good job; Heritage flight with Ed Shipley in his beautiful F-86; the Golden Knights - Patty circled the flag jumper at the beginning of the airshow - and Tora Tora doing their WWII Pearl Harbor re-enactment - plus lots of pryo. And, finally, this was a comeback show for the US Navy Blue Angels. This Team is a class act and did a fantastic job after losing their #6 pilot several weeks ago.
On Saturday after the airshow, Patty and Gene flew the Extra and the Cirrus up to New Jersey for the McGuire AFB Airshow. We got out just in time, beating a big line of thunderstorms moving in from the west. This was our first time flying McGuire and again, we were really impressed with the hospitality and reception we received. Some other performers at McGuire were Dan Buchanan, Ed Hamill, the Skytypers and another great Heritage flight - this time with Jim Beasley's P51-D, an F-4 (cool jet!), and one of our other personal favorite jets, an A-10. There was also a Hornet demo.
This was a cool show for us, because it was Patty's first "official" P51/D Mustang Airshow. She really enjoys flying a new airplane, and is grateful for the opportunity to demo this particularly beautiful one, N51JB "Bald Eagle." After her morning Mustang demo, she flew her Extra demo. The crowds were huge and enthusiastic and we were happy to see old friends. It has been some time since we've flown a show in the Northeast.
Thank you McGuire and Seymour Johnson AFB for having us and for your hospitality.
In December, Able Flight, a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization, will announce its first two flight training scholarship winners, who will participate in a three-week intensive training course leading to a Sport Pilot certificate. Up to 20 scholarships will be awarded in 2007, with up to 35% of those being provided to veterans with a disability.
Check the