On Saturday-12-March the Spin-Offs supported “Women Fly it Forward!” – a community-based aviation event designed to encourage women and girls to get involved in aviation.
The event was held at Frederick Airport near Washington, DC, and it was a huge success! Over the course of five hours 25 volunteer pilots gave 185 women and girls their first taste of flight in a small aircraft!
Hosted by Victoria Neuville, a 26-year-old local aviatrix, this event was part of "Women in Aviation Worldwide Week," a international effort to introduce women and girls to the joys of aviation. To that end, the event not only featured flying activities, but also educational displays by a number of aviation organizations such as the USAF and the FAA.
As you may know, the Spin-Offs organization is, at its heart, an aviation-oriented entity. Thus we are very active in promoting the interests of the FAA & USAF, and building relationships between the two organizations.
To that end The Spin-Offs ensured that the FAA & USAF were well represented at this event!
The Spin-Offs arranged to set up a FAA table in the event’s Educational Display Hangar and stock it with educational literature about careers with the Agency, as well as aviation-related giveaways such as balsa-wood flyers (a favorite item among the little girls in attendance)!
These materials were generously provided by the:
• ATO Aviation Education & Outreach Program,
• ARC National Aviation & Space Education Program, and
• Professional Women Controllers, Inc.
In addition to receiving so much wonderful material with which to stock the FAA table, The Spin-Offs were also fortunate enough to recruit two equally wonderful female air traffic controllers to staff the table!
The volunteers were members of the National Black Coalition of FAA Employees (NBCFAE). Pam Dees is a Supervisory Air Traffic Control Specialist at FAA HQ, and Norma Ely is the Air Traffic Manager for the FAA tower at Andrews Air Force Base (home of Air Force One!).
Norma & Pam were accompanied by their daughters who not only helped represent the FAA, but also got their first ride in a helicopter!
And speaking of helicopters, with the kind assistance of many people throughout the USAF, we were able to set up a USAF table -- in front of a blue & white UH-1N Huey from the USAF's 1st Helicopter Squadron!
If you live or work in the DC area, you've seen these helicopters flying around low over the shores of the Potomac. Their boss is squadron commander Lt Col Julie Grundahl, who was kind enough to fly out for this event and bring some other female military personnel with her!
Female guests of all ages took great delight in climbing through the helo, donning a helmet, and trying out the pilot's seat. (And at least one little girl was heard to beg her father to buy her a helicopter!)
Additionally, the women and girls really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and talk with Lt. Col. Julie Grundahl and the other volunteers from Andrews Air Force Base!
Also, the control tower at Andrews Air Force Base is a FAA facility staffed by FAA controllers - such as the tower's air traffic manager and our volunteer, Norma Ely! So Lt. Col. Grundahl and Ms. Ely were both very pleased to have the opportunity to meet. The Lt. Col.'s pilots regularly talk with Ms. Ely's controllers over the radio - but have never met face to face! So as a result of this meeting 1st Helicopter personnel will begin visiting with the FAA tower staff as a way to build rapport between the two groups!
In conclusion, this was a very exciting day! And at the end of it, nearly 200 young women and girls went home to dream about future careers and hobbies in aviation!
Go Spin-Offs!
