Episode 10 - KTLA Reporter and Private Pilot, Christina Pascucci

In this 10th episode of Chicks Who Fly, I get to have a conversation with Emmy Award-winning journalist, KTLA reporter and private pilot, Christina Pascucci. We talk about how she learned to fly in order to overcome her paralyzing fear of flying in small planes, We talk about how she learned to fly in Palm Springs and documented her flight training and her first solo for a TV show. We talk about the news story Christina got to do where she was able to grant the wish of a 99-year-old WASP who wanted to fly once more. We talk about dealing with self-doubt, the time that Christina lost comms in her aircraft during a flight, and about the power that comes with taking on challenges in the service of something bigger than just yourself, how Christina is inspired by the idea of empowering women to face their fears and challenges head on, flying to OshKosh, how aviation can serve the community and the confidence that comes with flight training and getting your pilot certificate among other things.

Aviation, Flight Training, Airplanes, Flying, Interview, Pilot, Podcast, WomanInaia JimenezFebruary 25, 2020Aviation, podcast, Interview, empowerment, Christina Pascucci, aviation stories, ChicksWhoFly, Pilot, Woman Pilot

Episode 9 - Chicks Who Fly - Tamara Griffith of GIFT Academy

In today’s episode of Chicks Who Fly, I get to have a conversation with Tamara Griffith. Tamara’s certificates and ratings include being a Multi-engine ATP, a Commercial single-engine land and seaplane, CFI, CFII, MEI, AGI, IGI and an A&P and she has her Inspection Authorization.

Tamara is the daughter of Mary Latimer and her husband, Lawrence who founded and run GIFT (Girls In Flight Training ) Academy and whose 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. Tamara has been a freight pilot, a corporate pilot and a mechanic, chief inspector, among other things and serves as one of the head flight instructors for GIFT Academy which was presented with an AOPA Honor Roll for excellence in training 2013.

In this episode, Tamara and I get to talk about the support, community and camaraderie that is part of the GIFT Academy flight training experience, flying in different countries such as Dubai, Turkey, Italy and Mexico and the attitudes towards women pilots in each culture, flying for different charity and relief organizations, flying with her dog and how he reacted when she had an emergency, flying with her family and what it was like when having an emergency during a flight with them and how flight training can help with other jobs and life situations.

Airplanes, Aviation, Flight Training, Flying, Interview, Podcast, Pilot, WomanInaia JimenezFebruary 11, 2020Aviation, Interview, podcast, flight training, FLight Instructor, women, pilot, empowerment