Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Today, the field of aviation is dominated by men, but two women haven't let their gender or their age stop them from pursuing their dreams.
Daphne Fautin and Donna Tucker will be flying their plane, the Cessna Skyhawk, in the AirRace Classic, an all-women, eight-leg, cross-country air race, that starts today.
Both of the University of Kansas professors will have a common goal next week — to win, or at least finish, the first air race of their lives. But they got into flying for very different reasons. Daphne has wanted to fly since dating a pilot at the age of 15.
Video
BoomerGirls take to the skies
Daphne Fautin and Donna Tucker will be flying their plane, the Cessna Skyhawk, in the AirRace Classic, an all-women, eight-leg, cross-country air race.
“I was a high school student and it wasn’t really practical at that time, and throughout my career I’ve been to lots of places in small airplanes,” says Daphne, “and finally I decided when I got divorced that my life was my own and I could do what I wanted. And that’s what prompted me at the age of 38 to actually to do what I wanted to do all my life.”
For Donna, getting her pilot’s license six years ago was an extension of her job teaching atmospheric science at KU.
“I was looking into some aviation meteorology applications and I thought about going to ground school,” said Donna, “and I mentioned this to my husband and he said to me, ‘well, why stop at ground school,’ and I guess I thought, ‘well, why not?’”
The race will start in Oklahoma City and end in St. John’s, New Brunswick in Canada. As co-pilot and team meteorologist, Donna is in charge of negotiating the weather.
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“We get four days to do the entire trip and it’s strategic in terms of exactly when you leave, and when you take off and so forth. You want to choose the best conditions,” Donna said.
For Daphne, who’s piloting her personal plane in the race, the challenge is similarly scientific.
“I enjoy the navigation, for one thing, so it’s a scientific challenge, it’s a geometric puzzle. It’s being — having to do something very well. Flying is not dangerous, but it’s not forgiving,” Daphne said.
Video
Behind the race
Daphne Fautin on why she loves to fly.
Video
Behind the race
Donna Tucker on gender discrimination in aviation.
Comments
bornin1955 (anonymous) says...
Best of luck to these modern day Amelia Earhardts! Fly on, girls, fly on!
June 19, 2007 at 8:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cathy (cathy) says...
BoomerGirl will be monitoring Daphne and Donna's progress in the 4-day race and posting daily updates in the Comments area of this story. Check back every day to see how they're doing!
- Cathy
June 19, 2007 at 8:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cathy (cathy) says...
Unfortunately, the pilot's Web site appears not to be working this morning. We will try to get updates on the race as best we can and report on the final outcome on Monday. Thanks.
June 20, 2007 at 10:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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