Menu Close

Women in Aviation Celebration, A Look Back.

We celebrate the recent Girls in Aviation Day and the incredible cover of Aviation for Women magazine in the May/June edition 

 September 27, 2016 San Diego, CA

On Saturday, September 24th, Women in Aviation celebrated the 5th annual International Girls in Aviation Day . The goal was to connect with teen girls to encourage them to pursue careers in aviation. Created by Women in Aviation International (WAI), the event is already in 10 countries and over 30 states and connects women who are already working in aviation with girls who are curious about aviation as a career.

king-cover-wai-magazine-5-16
John & Martha King with Lindsey Dreiling, the winner of the inaugural Martha King Scholarship for Female Flight Instructors

Below is a look back at the 2016 WAI Conference in Nashville TN and the incredible interactions that led to this magazine cover.

Day 1, March 10 – John & Martha King along with King Schools CEO Barry Knutilla were greeted at Smyrna Airport by 2016 Martha King Scholarship for CFIs winner Lindsey Dreiling and her crew from Kansas Polytechnic School in Salina, Kansas. There was a brief tour of the Falcon and then the rain came down and the stories continued despite the rain setback.

WAI_1
Pictured left to right in photo: Christopher Van Nostrand, Katarina Szentkereztiova, Cody Lampe, Hernan Ensaldo, John King, Martha King, Lindsey Dreiling, Jason Helkenberg, Kendy Edmonds, Madison Perry
WAI_2
The rains came and put a damper on the Falcon tour, here’s everyone running for cover.

Day 2, March 11 –  John and Martha were surrounded at the morning General Session by sea of pink shirted Boeing employees. The enthusiasm of the crowd is genuine, passionate and inspiring.

WAI_5
Sea of pink shirted Boeing employees.
WAI_6
Long time friend, student and supporter of Kings School’s Pia Bergqvist, Executive Editor of Flying Magazine addresses the general session Friday morning.

 

WAI_7
King Schools and Cessna Pilot Centers partner Liberty University was busy the entire conference with enthusiastic interest in aviation. Here in the convention show room are Keegan Starkey (left) and Deanna Ludwig (right).

Day 3, March 12 – This was an action packed day from the morning general session until the end of the evening. During the day, the K State team had a Meet and Greet in the conference headquarters with Dr. Chabrian and a nice chat with John and Martha.

WAI_8
Dr. Chabrian. (L – R) Hernan Ensaldo, John King, Jason Helkenberg, Martha King, Katarina Szentkereztiova, Dr. Peggy Chabrian, Christopher Van Nostrand, Lindsey Dreiling, Cody Lampe, Madison Perry, Kendy Edmonds

Saturday night, WAI held their “$10 Million Banquet and WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame” event.  The highlight was just after the Martha King WAI Scholarship for Female CFIs was announced, WAI President Dr. Peggy Chabrian exclaimed the scholarship was the one that put the WAI over the $10,000,000 total of scholarships awarded.

WAI_9
This is just part of the estimated 2,000 that were packed in to the ballroom for the banquet.
WAI_10.jpg
Lindsey is presented the Scholarship and then something extraordinary happens.
20160312_211345
Dr. Chabrian invites past winners to the stage and a celebration ensues. An awesome tribute and success story.

Day 4, March 13 – Sunday, the conference is over and it’s time to head home. Scholarship winner Lindsey was invited to catch a ride on the Falcon to her home airport in Salina, Kansas. Lindsey comments that she has never flown into Salina in anything other than a small plane or as an instructor. Lindsey got the full treatment; from the walk around to greeting her family at the airport. What a great trip but it’s always nice to be back in San Diego.

WAI_11
Preflight check on the Falcon.
WAI_12
Cockpit Tour
WAI_13
Home sweet home, Lindsey’s family meets her at the Salina airport.

 

2 Comments

  1. Joy Slegers

    Thanks for publishing a picture of my granddaughter, Keegan Starkey. I just saw the picture for the first time. She enjoyed the Women in Aviation conference so much. She’ll be there again this year and she’s receiving a $5000 scholarship from United Airlines at the conference.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts