Aviation for Women

MAR-APR 2016

Aviation for Women is the flagship member publication of Women in Aviation International. Articles feature women who have made aviation history, professional development ideas, and current-topic articles.

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42 Aviation forWomen 2 7 T H A N N U A L I N T E R N A T I O N A L W O M E N I N A V I A T I O N C O N F E R E N C E K E Y N O T E S P E A K E R S Megan Barry Mayor of Nashville Megan Barry is the seventh mayor of the Met- ropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, and the frst female mayor of Nashville. Megan's electon is also historic in that she is the frst Metro Council member to ascend to the ofce of mayor. First elected in the runof electon of 2007 for the positon of council at-large, Barry went on to receive the most votes of the fve winning at-large candidates in 2011. She is married to Bruce Barry, a professor of or- ganizaton studies at Vanderbilt. Their son, Max, is a junior in college, and they share their home with two rescue dogs, Hank and Boris. Leanne Caret President, Global Services & Support Defense, Space & Security Leanne Caret, WAI 9029, is the president of Global Services & Support (GS&S;), a Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) business unit. She leads a team of more than 12,000 employees in 266 locatons that provide a wide variety of versatle products and ser- vices to customers worldwide. The thriving business is the U.S. Department of Defense's largest perfor- mance-based logistcs contractor and an industry leader in providing sustainment solutons for Boeing and select non-Boeing platorms. Leanne is president of the board of directors for AHS Internatonal—The Vertcal Flight Technical Society. She also serves on the board of direc- tors for Grand Center Inc., a 501(c)(3) organizaton whose mission is to coordinate and oversee the growth and development of St. Louis' historic arts and cultural district. Jessica Cox World's First Armless Pilot, Motvatonal Speaker Born without arms, Jessica Cox, WAI 41665, could have succumbed to the low expectatons that ush- ered her into this world. In spite of them all she grad- uated from college, learned to swim, drive a car, surf, scuba dive, fy an airplane, become a taekwondo state champion, and live independently using her feet in ways others who take their hands for granted can only imagine. She holds the ttle of the frst person without arms to get a black belt in ATA Martal Arts and the Guin- ness World Record for the frst pilot to fy with her feet. Yet, her greatest triumph in life stands far above any physical feat. It is her unrepentant regard for herself as a whole person, her high degree of self- acceptance that gives her the freedom and power to insist that society accept her, too, just as she is. Tracey Curts-Taylor Pilot, Adventurer Raised in Canada, Tracey Curts-Taylor naturally took to adventure and took her frst fying lessons at age 16. She returned to England with her family in the '70s. Her early working career in London included training with de Beers as a diamond valuer, and diplo- matc service at the Foreign Ofce in Whitehall. But she found it hard to resist the call of the wild and her ongoing fascinaton with Africa. She went to South Africa in 1982, where she worked for several months before returning to the U.K. by land in a Bed- ford truck—a journey that took fve months camping through savannah, jungle, and desert. Shortly afer her return, Tracey migrated to New Zealand and began fying in earnest. She gained her private pilot certfcate, commercial certfcate, and an instructor ratng and was trained by military pilots to fy World War II airplanes with the New Zealand Warbird Associaton. In tandem with her love of fying, an interest in ge- ology, landscape, and imagery led to Tracey pursuing another career in aerial photography and mapping, which was to hold her in good stead for her future fying pursuits. Always adventurous, she is also passionate about other forms of early pioneering transport and old cars in partcular. She took part in the 2007 cente- nary Peking to Paris classic car rally that retraced the route frst driven by Prince Borghese in 1907. This in- volved driving for six weeks through northern China, the Gobi Desert, across Russia to the Baltc and on to Paris—an epic experience that combined great ad- venture with rugged endurance. Robert "Hoot" Gibson Astronaut, Air Race Pilot Retred Navy Capt. Robert "Hoot" Gibson served as a fghter pilot, test pilot, and Navy astronaut be- fore joining Southwest Airlines as a pilot in 1996. He few fve missions aboard the space shutles Chal- lenger, Columbia, Atlants, and Endeavour, once as co-pilot and four tmes as the mission commander. Hoot has competed at the Reno Natonal Cham- pionship Air Races since 1998 in the unlimited and jet classes, most recently winning the Unlimited Gold race in Strega in September 2015. He has been awarded numerous decoratons including the Dis- tnguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal. Hoot was in- ducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003, the Long Island Air and Space Hall of Fame in 2011, the Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Natonal Aviaton Hall of Fame in 2013. Megan Barry Leanne Caret Jessica Cox Tracey Curts-Taylor Hoot Gibson

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