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.

In this 3rd episode of the Chicks Who Fly Podcast, I get to speak with Pilar Wolfsteller. Pilar is a journalist and a private pilot. When Pilar was 16 years old, she was told by one of her teachers that she was “too dumb” to become an engineer and a pilot. Pilar dropped out of class but later in life, reconnected with her lifelong love for aviation and gave herself the gift of her private pilot certificate for her 30th birhtday. Today, Pilar has a job that combines her love for journalism and aviation. Pilar shares her journey and how she learned to fly in Germany and later, her FAA checkride in the US. Pilar is currently working on her Instrument Rating and is planning to go on to become a CFI in order to encourage and teach women of all ages that becoming a pilot is attainable for them.

If you would like to contact Pilar, you can do so at  linkedin.com/in/pilarwolfsteller