In this episode of 'Chicks Who Fly,' we celebrate the stories of women pilots and their passion for aviation. Our guest, Jamie Yamamoto Swanson, shares her inspirational journey to becoming a private pilot, overcoming challenges, and balancing her roles as a mother, teacher, and beauty enthusiast. Jamie recounts her memorable first passenger flight with her father and emphasizes the importance of persistence, community support, and embracing failure. We also discuss the dynamics of flying with a supportive spouse who is also a pilot and dive into Jamie's unique experiences and insights in aviation. Tune in for an uplifting conversation that will motivate aspiring pilots to pursue their dreams. Don't forget to access our free PDF for aspiring FAA certificated ground instructors and subscribe to our podcast for more inspiring stories.

Today I share how I became a pilot and what took me so long. I share the story of my first solo and of my private pilot checkride. I talk about the things I’ve been doing since I became a pilot to keep developing my skills and to grow as a safe and competent pilot flying in the real world. I also share some of my plans to travel in my sailboat and continue my flight training.

Growing up, Lindsay was considering becoming a military pilot until she found out that her peanut allergy was a medical disqualifying factor.

So she applied for and received a scholarship to get her private in one summer and then went off to train at Embry Riddle, where she finished all her training in an impressive 2 1/2 years by staying on campus every summer and holiday season to work on her flight training. Lindsay shares about the things she did to maximize her flight training and save money while quickly moving towards her goal. We also get to talk about how Lindsay had to overcome a terrible propensity towards airsickness, as she got sick on her discovery flight and continued to struggle with that during her flight training.

Lindsay graduated from Embry Riddle right when COVID was hitting and her school put a pause on hiring instructors. Not only did Lindsay manage to find a jb as a flight instructor, but by the time Lindsay was close to getting her hours, she landed a job with a part 135 charter airline and is now a first officer working on her captain upgrade.

Santa Fe-based Flight Instructor (and MY flight instructor), Kristi Mc Fadden and I discuss common student pilot and new pilot challenges and how to approach and overcome them, how to master landings and how to handle those common issues that students face. We also discuss the problems of flying during a pandemic, the cool experimental aircraft that I saw at our marina and more.

In today’s episode, I get to have a chat with Christine Hannon of One Plane Jane. As a kid, Christine used to take walks with her grandfather to KAIY, Bader Field, in Atlantic City, pushing her favorite baby doll in its pink stroller. Together, they would watch the planes take off and land. Christine’s parents told her she could do anything. But she never got the idea to become a pilot until a bit later in her life.

Christine started out in the aviation industry as a ramp agent. A big part of the reason she took the job was because of the travel benefits but she grew to love the company and the aviation industry. While applying for a leadership position in her job, a friend recommended she learn to fly, and off she went.

Today, Christine is an instrument-rated Private Pilot, working on her Commercial Certificate. She lives in Madrid, Spain with her husband. She owns and runs One Plane Jane, a company that creates products to empower women, inspired by female aviators. Christine believes that it is our responsibility to show little girls they can be pilots and to celebrate not just what each woman does, but who she is and what she is capable of.

In today’s conversation, Christine and I talk about how she met her CFI, what her training was like & about her life in Madrid. We talk about her future aviation goals, her company, One Plane Jane, the life lessons and discipline that aviation gives you, using aviation to make a difference in the community and much more.

This was a fun, informative and inspiring conversation with a cool and badass pilot, adventurer & entrepreneur that I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

You can connect with Christine on IG , Facebook or on her website.

Theme music by Diego Jinkus.

Photos courtesy of One Plane Jane.

Check us out at: https://www.patreon.com/chickswhofly

In this 16th episode of Chicks Who Fly, I get to have a conversation with Pilot Annie, a Private Pilot out of Collingwood, Ontario working toward her Commercial License. She volunteers for many different organizations and also writes as a columnist and feature writer for COPA and Wings Magazine. She is on the Board of Directors for The Northern Lights Aero Foundation and a proud First Canadian Chapter Ninety-Nine.

In today’s conversation, we talk about the detours and scenic routes taken in her pilot training despite falling in love with aviation early on. We talk about online ground school training versus in-person ground school, the differences in training in Canada versus the US, the challenges and highlights of flight training, her love of adventure flying and bush flying, being in a relationship with another pilot and much more.

In today’s 14th episode of Chicks Who Fly, I get to have a conversation with Sammi McQ. Sammi is a Private Pilot with an Instrument Rating, who started flying while she was in high school, shortly after her dad accidentally purchased an airplane. Sammi is currently working on her Commercial Certificate.

In this conversation, Sammi and I discuss the challenges she faced during her instrument training, the impact of an incompatible flight instructor on her training process, the cool way she learned to always hit her wake when performing steep turns, her aviation bucket list and taking the FAA written exam in the midst of pandemic-related closures. We compare her experience at a Part 61 vs Part 141 flight school and Sammi also shares her experience volunteering at an event where little girls were being taken up for their their first flight.

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.