According to WAI, approximately 30,000 girls took part in the 185 events at airports, FBOs, and aviation museums in 33 countries, 43 states, and two U.S. territories.

• READ MORE: Frontier of Flight Museum Event to Celebrate Women in Aerospace

WAI boasts multiple chapters in the U.S., as well in Europe, Africa, and Asia, in addition to year-round virtual resources available for free through the Aviation for Girls (AFG) app.

The event is designed to appeal to girls ages 8-18 and show them what careers are available in aviation and meet women who hold these careers and can act as mentors. In addition to pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants, girls participating in the event have an opportunity to learn about engineering, dispatching, and the numerous technical applications that go along with aviation.

Participants had a chance to meet female role models, listen to career panels, and get up close with different aircraft. The events often also include age-appropriate, hands-on activities, such as scavenger hunts and model making.

“We know Girls in Aviation Day has been instrumental in introducing opportunities in aviation and STEM to thousands of participants all around the world,” said WAI CEO Lynda Coffman. 

The first WAI International Girls in Aviation Day was held in 2015 and featured 32 events. According to WAI, the day is made possible through the support of many, including the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, PPG Foundation, Emanuel Bachmann Foundation, Sporty’s Pilot Shop, and JCL Aviation Services.

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Wyche is set to speak at the “Women Take Flight: Fashion to Fission” luncheon at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas on October 1. The event is sponsored by JSX, a private jet service, and scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. CST.

As part of her anticipated keynote presentation, Wyche, who has been part of NASA’s leadership team for the past 20 years, is expected to discuss her professional journey and how STEM made it possible for her to pursue the career she enjoys.

“The Frontiers of Flight Museum is truly honored to have Vanessa Wyche as our phenomenal keynote speaker for our inaugural ‘Women Take Flight: Fashion to Fission’ luncheon,” said Abigail Erickson-Torres, president and CEO of the museum. 

The event includes a panel discussion featuring women who are leaders in the aerospace industry, including:

• Leanne Caret, retired president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security
• Dyan Medina Gibbens, pilot, SpaceWERX, and U.S. Space Force adviser
• Caeley Looney, CEO and founder of Reinvented Inc. and flight director at Firefly Aerospace
• Amy Spowart, CEO of the National Aeronautic Association

The panelists will be discussing the paths they took to achieve their successes in aerospace and offer suggestions on ways to support more girls and women with an interest in STEM.

Tickets for the lunch start at $185 and may be purchased here. Proceeds will go toward supporting future STEM programs at the museum, as well as creating a new permanent exhibit to honor women in aerospace.

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A member of Whirly-Girls will benefit from a scholarship sponsored by Coptersafety, an independent helicopter pilot training provider that specializes in simulator training for H125s, H145s, AW13s9, and AW169s. Training is done at Coptersafety’s facility near Helsinki Airport (EFHK). The independent training provider offers instruction for certification around the world.

The scholarship provides an opportunity for one Whirly-Girls member to complete an FAA H145 initial training and/or ATP training course, including technical ground training, full-flight simulator training, and practical tests.

The training is done using Level D full-flight simulators. 

Applications are open until early October, and the scholarship will be awarded in 2025. 

This is Coptersafety’s second scholarship sponsorship with Whirly-Girls, as earlier this year the company sponsored two FAA AW139 type rating scholarships.

“At Coptersafety, we recognize the importance of increasing diversity in the vertical aviation industry,” said Matt Presnal, chief theoretical knowledge instructor at Coptersafety. “We are proud to continue our collaboration with Whirly-Girls International. By investing in women in aviation, we not only promote gender equality but also cultivate a stronger, more inclusive workforce for the future of vertical aviation.”

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According to Ninety-Nines historians, Josephine Wood and her sister Francis took flying lessons in Santa Monica, California. After Josephine earned her private pilot certificate, she received a letter from famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart asking her to join an organization that was forming to promote and encourage women pilots. 

At the time, 117 women in the U.S. held private pilot certificates—and Earhart reached out to all of them. After 99 women responded favorably by the cutoff date, the group had its name: The Ninety-Nines.

In 1930 when Wood was interviewed by a newspaper reporter, she declared that flying was not her hobby—it was going to be her profession. She continued to fly, then just after she earned her commercial certificate, the Great Depression hit. Wood hung up her wings to take care of her mother and sister. She eventually married Frederic Wallingford and settled in Texas.

According to Bill Wallingford’s recollections, his mother rarely talked about flying but considered the letter from Earhart to be one of her most prized possessions. She was a member of the Houston Ninety-Nines chapter until her death in 2004.

Wallingford died in 2023, and as he had no heirs, he decided to leave his money to organizations he considered the most meaningful. The Ninety-Nines topped the list.

The Ninety-Nines are happy to honor both mother and son with the bequest, said Kristin Smith, a researcher with the organization.

“While this is not the first bequest that we have had, it certainly is the largest and most unexpected….to the Ninety-Nines,” Smith said.

According to Smith, the funds will be used to increase education outreach and leadership programs that support The Ninety-Nines chapters and sections around the world. In addition, some of the windfall will be used to address some building maintenance at the organization headquarters and the Museum of Women Pilots in Oklahoma City.

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The idea resulted in the famous “Mercury 13,” led by Jerrie Cobb and formed in 1960. Yet many in the U.S. believed that space was no place for a woman, and Russia would become the first country to produce a female astronaut. For many of the Mercury 13, an elite group of women aviators, their hopes were dashed. Yet one would touch space, albeit nearly 60 years later—Wally Funk. 

Mary Wallace Funk was born in 1939 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Flying was on her mind from an early age, and at 8 she attempted her first flight by jumping off her parents’ roof wearing a Superman cape. While this obviously didn’t work, her mother knew Funk had the grit needed to be a pilot, and at 9 she took her first flying lesson. 

By the time Funk reached high school, mechanics and aviation had captured her heart. She attempted to enroll in courses such as mechanical drawing yet was redirected to more “appropriate” subjects such as home economics. For Funk, this simply wouldn’t do, and she left high school to enroll at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. While there, she became a member of the “Flying Susies” and graduated first in her class of 24 pilots. Funk would go on to become a civilian flight instructor at 20, teaching U.S. Army officers. 

At 21, Funk volunteered for NASA’s “Woman in Space” program. Despite being younger than the recommended 25-40, she was selected and would go on to be a part of the elite Mercury 13. The rigorous tests were both physical and mental, and in some of them Funk scored even higher than John Glenn. Despite their success, however, the prevailing idea was that women didn’t belong in space, and the program would be canceled after two years.

Funk would go on to become the 58th woman to earn an airline transport pilot rating, yet could not find work with a carrier due to her gender. Not to be deterred, in 1971 she became the first female FAA flight inspector. In 1973, Funk was promoted to the FAA Systems Worthiness Analysis Program, and in ’74 she was hired by the National Transportation Safety Board as its first female air safety investigator. Funk would spend 11 years in that position until her retirement in 1985. Even in retirement, she kept herself busy as an FAA safety counselor. 

It was in 1995 that the first space shuttle to be piloted by a female (Eileen Collins) was launched. Funk was on hand with several other members of the Mercury 13 to watch their dreams come to fruition.

Yet for Funk, that wouldn’t be the end of her journey to space.

In 2021, Funk finally saw space on the first New Shepard mission, part of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin project. At the time, the trip made Funk the oldest (82) to fly to space, a record she took from Glenn (77) but was surpassed later that year by William Shatner (90). 

Funk has received countless honors and awards, including from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Smithsonian Institution, and alma mater Stephens College. Her time in aviation has included 7,000 students soloed, with 3,000 achieving a multitude of ratings.

Funk, now 85 and residing in Grapevine, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has logged more than 18,600 flight hours in her career. So it’s little wonder why her biography,  Higher, Faster, Longer: My Life in Aviation and My Quest for Spaceflight, remains an inspiring read for flying and space enthusiasts.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Plane & Pilot.

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Jessen was born in 1937 and raised in Chicago. As a teenager she joined the Civil Air Patrol, where she had her first opportunity to fly an airplane. Her interest in aviation continued at University of Oklahoma (OU) where she joined the school’s flight club, known as the Air Knockers. She was a skilled pilot and earned several flight trophies. She also became the first woman to work as a flight instructor at OU.

In the summer of 1961, when Jessen was 24, another woman flight instructor in Oklahoma, Wally Funk, told her about an opportunity to join an experiment to see if women pilots could become astronauts. Jessen applied, was accepted, and quit her job as a flight instructor to become part of the “Mercury 13” experimental program based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jessen passed the tests and was preparing to go to Florida with the rest of the trainees, but the program was canceled.

Jessen was always modest about her role in the space program. However, she served as a role model for several women who became flight crew for space shuttle missions. She received notes from them thanking her for her part in the space program.

In 1962, she was hired at Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, as a sales demonstration pilot.  She added additional ratings as she became qualified to fly everything Beech Aircraft produced.

She gained prominence as one of the “Three Musketeers,” a promotional event that involved Jessen and two other pilots flying formation across 48 states in 90 days to promote the new Beech Musketeer. She would later write about this experience in her 2009 book, The Fabulous Flight of the Three Musketeers.

It was at Beech that she met her husband Bob, who had been a B-29 pilot during World War II. Aviation was a key part of their relationship as the pair moved to Idaho in 1967 and started a series of aviation businesses while raising a family.

Jessen loved to fly and promote aviation. She served as President of The Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots, and was skilled at research. She was determined to chronicle the feats and accomplishments of the first women pilots. This led to her book, The Powder Puff Derby of 1929, published in 2001. She also penned Amelia Was Right, and Sky Girls: The True Story of the First Woman’s Cross-Country Air Race. In addition, she was a regular contributor for The Northwest Flyer and The Idaho Statesman.

Perhaps inspired by what she found during her research, Jessen began air racing herself and continued to fly until health challenges prompted her to hang up her wings in 2017.

While no memorial plans have been announced, those who wish to remember Jessen are invited to make a donation in her name to The Ninety-Nines, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports women pilots.

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The competition promotes skill over speed along the course that measures 2,610 sm. The race is set to end June 21 at Northern Colorado Regional Airport (KFNL) in Loveland.

The Air Race Classic (ARC) traces its roots to the 1929 Women’s Air Derby in which 20 female pilots, among them celebrity aviatrix such as Amelia Earhart, Florence “Pancho” Barnes, Ruth Elder, Louise Thaden, and Evelyn “Bobby” Trout, raced from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland.

The ARC continues in the spirit of that event, with women pilots of all ages and backgrounds.

Race organizers note that this year marks the 95th anniversary of the Women’s Air Derby.

• READ MORE: Fundraising Underway for 1929 Women’s Air Derby Film

“The ARC board of directors and volunteers have been hard at work preparing for our 47th race,” said Air Race Classic president Donna Harris. “We welcome back veteran racers and meet new competitors at our start in Carbondale, Illinois.”

The teams consist of at least two female pilots. Each team flies a normally aspirated, piston-powered airplane in visual flight conditions during daylight hours.

To qualify for the race, they must hold at least a private pilot certificate and have 100 hours as pilot in command (PIC). One of the teammates must hold a commercial certificate and have at least 500 hours as PIC or a current instrument rating. Teams can include an additional teammate provided they hold at least a student pilot certificate.

• READ MORE: The Legendary Life of Pancho Barnes, Aviatrix

The teams will launch from (KMDH) starting at 8 a.m. CDT in 30-second intervals. The route takes the aircraft over La Porte, Indiana; Cadillac, Michigan; Newark, Ohio; Monee, Illinois; Owatonna, Minnesota; Moberly, Missouri; Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and Dodge City, Kansas. Teams will execute high-speed flybys over a timing line at each of these intermediate airports, where they may also land to refuel, take a break, or stay the night.

• READ MORE: Air Race Classic Announces 2024 Route

Every aircraft has a handicap, and each team is responsible for its own flight planning. Each team also is assigned a handicap, and the best teams will beat that metric, so essentially the teams are competing against themselves.

Race organizers note that the official standings are not determined until all teams have crossed the finish line.

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The story follows the 20 women who took part in the “Powder Puff Derby,” which was humorist Will Rogers’ facetious name for the California-to-Ohio air race that was the first time females were allowed to compete. The participants included aviation notables such as Louise Thaden, Florence “Pancho” Barnes, Amelia Earhart, and Bobbi Trout. The women fought the elements, deliberate sabotage, and chauvinism to pursue aviation.

• READ MORE: The Legendary Life of Pancho Barnes, Aviatrix

According to Kara White, producer/director at Hemlock Films, the script focuses on Thaden, who was newly married and just 23 at the time of the race but already an accomplished pilot.

The racecourse from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland and took nine days to complete, and one racer died of carbon monoxide poisoning en route. At the time, women pilots were still a bit of a novelty, although 1929 would be the year the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of women pilots, was established. The name reflects the number of certificated women pilots at the time who  joined the fledgling group. 

This is not the first time Hemlock Films has decided to tell this story. In 2014, it produced a documentary on the Women’s Air Derby called, Beyond the Powder: The Legacy of the First Women’s Cross-Country Air Race.

• READ MORE: Ocean Exploration Company Thinks It Found Earhart’s Airplane

White said she was inspired to create a feature-length movie after reading aviatrix and author Gene Nora Jessen’s book Sky Girls: The True Story of the First Women’s Cross-Country Air Race.

“It was an incredible story, the book was a page turner and I thought, ‘How is this not a film?'” White said. “A story from history as a narrative is so much stronger than a documentary. The story resonates more as a narrative for most people.”

Part of the research was done at the Cleveland Public Library, where White asked librarians for newspaper clippings about the race.

“They brought me a folder with two photographs in it,” said White, who then did some sleuthing on her own and found more information. “The folders they brought me got bigger and bigger!”

Soon after, she said the script began to take shape. written in the same vein as A League Of Their Own, the 1992 biopic and later streaming TV series about women’s professional baseball in the 1940s.

White said the film company is currently in the throes of fundraising since it will take at least $10 million to complete the project, and that money needs to be in hand before it  begins. 

In addition, Hemlock Films is reaching out to actors who might be interested in playing a role in the movie and also trying to find period-correct aircraft that could be used for filming. Movie magic can be incorporated to create period-correct cockpits and the illusion of flying, White said, similar to the way it was done in this year’s Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air.

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In honor of Black History Month, we remember her with Gigi Coleman—her great niece—who performs a different kind of barnstorming, traveling the country in a one-woman show sharing Bessie’s story. FLYING caught up with Gigi at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

“It is a story that is not often told,” said Gigi, dressed in a period-correct costume of a 1920s aviatrix. “People don’t know about her. They just know about Amelia Earhart, who, by the way, earned her pilot certificate two years after Bessie earned hers in the U.S. Reeve Lindbergh, the youngest daughter of Charlies Lindbergh, spoke with my mother about it. Reeve wrote the book Nobody Owns the Sky and said she felt bad because her father was getting all the accolades from that time, and Aunt Bessie wasn’t getting anything.”

• READ MORE: Carole Hopson Propels Bessie Coleman’s Legacy Forward

During the presentation, Gigi Coleman, in character as Bessie and in the first person, tells the audience about being born into a family of sharecroppers, the 10th of 13 children, picking cotton. When she had the opportunity to get an education, she says she took it, even if it meant walking several miles to and from school every day. She says she enjoyed reading and learning, and when she was old enough, she went to work to make money to pay for more college, attending classes until the money ran out. This was at a time when so-called Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation, limiting opportunities for people of color.

Bessie Coleman refused to be deterred. She worked as a manicurist to earn the money for flying lessons, but even having the means didn’t mean you could learn to fly, Gigi tells the audience. She says her great aunt went to a flight school in Chicago and was dismissed not only for being a woman but also for being Black.

In the 1920s women in the U.S. were expected to be wives and mothers—very few had careers. It was different in France, as Bessie learned from a relative who had served in the Army during World War I. He came home with stories about the women there being much more than wives and mothers.

“They had careers!” proclaims Gigi as Bessie. Bessie went to France for flight training. She came home with an international pilot certificate in 1921—two years before Earhart earned her certificate.

Bessie then began a career as a barnstormer, a pilot who flew around the country often in surplus WWI aircraft, such as the Curtiss JN-4, known as the Jenny. Barnstorming involved doing aerobatics often over a farmer’s field or at a race track where people paid to see aviators risk their lives.

Bessie would only perform in exhibitions if the crowds were desegregated. This was a gutsy move on her part, as segregation was the law of the land. Her career as a barnstormer and her life were cut short on April 30, 1926, when she and her mechanic took to the air before an upcoming performance. The aircraft had been having engine trouble. During the flight it went into a nosedive, throwing her out of the cockpit. Bessie Coleman died when she hit the ground, and the mechanic was also killed in the crash. She was 34.

• READ MORE: Bessie Coleman: Remembering An Aviation Pioneer

Gigi Coleman grew up hearing stories about great aunt Bessie from her mother, who was adamant that Bessie would not be forgotten. “My mother got the United States Postal Service to put Bessie Coleman on a postage stamp in 1995 and made buttons with her likeness and got a local museum in Chicago to share her story,” Gigi said.

Other tributes include numerous books, a quarter with her image, and a doll from Mattel, the makers of Barbie, with her in a pilot’s uniform.

In Illinois, streets have been named for her, and according to Gigi, on the anniversary of her death her great aunt’s grave in Chicago earns a flyover from pilots who drop flowers.

When her mother died, it fell to Gigi to keep the legacy alive—hence the creation of the one-woman show in 2014. She doesn’t sugarcoat the opposition her great aunt faced during the time of Jim Crow but notes it still draws a reaction from her audience.

“It was her reality,” she said. “I am not trying to offend anyone, but this was the way it was and what she had to endure.”

Gigi does a lot of work with school groups, especially those with economically disadvantaged students. In a few weeks she will be part of a virtual program that will introduce children to different careers in aviation through guest speakers and activities.

Gig Coleman is also adding to her own education, taking flying lessons in Oklahoma in a Cessna 172.

Her message for people by way of aunt Bessie is simple: “You can do whatever you want to in life. Don’t let anybody tell you different. Don’t take no for an answer; every no is one step closer to yes.”

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According to the NAA, as a founding board member of WAI, Bosco helped create multiple platforms to nurture, educate, and inspire future generations of aviators. She helped establish WAI’s Young Professional Advisory Group, Super Mentor Program, and  Jobs Connect platform. One of her largest and most impactful collaborations was with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for the online course “‘Leadership for Women in Aerospace and Aviation,” which has drawn more than 2,200 attendees. 

At the present time, Bosco serves as co-chair of the Aviation Accreditation Board International Industry/Educator forum. The group’s focus is to promote collaboration of industry and educators to cultivate the next generation of aviation and aerospace professionals.

“I am thrilled and honored to be the recipient of the Brewer Trophy,” Bosco said. “Throughout my career, I have loved sharing the excitement of opportunities afforded by aviation and aerospace with both career seekers and enhancers—in the hope that they will power our industry forward to even greater heights. So many past Brewer recipients have been lifelong friends and mentors and an inspiration for my own passion for aviation education. I am humbled to be included among this esteemed group of professionals.”

Said Amy Spowart, NAA President and CEO: “Few people in our industry have the drive and passion that Cassandra has. Her impact has created meaningful exposure and lifelong opportunities for all who desire a place in our industry, especially women and minorities. She is a staunch ally and friend of aviation around the world.”

H2: About the Brewer Trophy

The Frank G. Brewer Trophy. established in 1943,  is awarded annually to an individual, group of individuals, or organization for significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States.

The Brewer Trophy is under the care of the National Aeronautic Association, a nonprofit membership organization devoted to fostering opportunities to participate fully in aviation activities and to promoting public understanding of the importance of aviation and space flight to the U.S..

Among the past recipients are the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s You Can Fly program, aviation educators and founders of King Schools John and Martha King, and Women in Aviation founder Dr. Peggy Chabrian.

The selection committee for the 2023 Frank G. Brewer Trophy includes Frank and Robert Brewer and Jana Denning, NAA board of directors; Jim Gregory, 2020 Brewer Trophy recipient’, Susan Mallett, 2022 Brewer Trophy recipient; and Shannon Weidekamp, Equus Flight Academy.

The Brewer Trophy will be presented on a future date and location to be determined. More information and a complete list of previous recipients can be found here.

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