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.
Issue link: https://afwdigital.epubxp.com/i/638688
o become an honest-to-goodness rocket scientist is an impressive achievement by any measure. But it still comes in second to Kelly Moran's childhood dream of being a professional pilot. When she was three, Kelly's parents took her to an airshow. At that moment, a pilot was born. She says, "From then on, every time I saw a plane in the sky I watched until it was out of view. And I thought, 'I'll be a pilot some day.'" How- ever, a lifetime of type 1 diabetes stood between her and a medical certificate. So Kelly settled for getting as close to a cockpit as she could, flying vicariously through the pages of FLYING Magazine. But she never lost her determination to become a pilot. Surely, someone with the smarts to become an aerospace engineer could find a way around the FAA's unforgiving medical standards. Where there's a will, there's an LSA. The solution came when Kelly read an article in FLYING about a new cat- egory called Light Sport Aircraft and a rating that would let her fly without a medical certificate. She had only one reaction: "Perfect! Let's go!" She found a flight school with a Remos Light Sport Aircraft. Two quick months later, Kelly flew off as a Sport Pilot. Next on her to-do list was her own airplane. Kelly says, "I had fallen in love with the Remos while training. It's just so much fun." She and a friend bought a new Remos GX, which they promptly turned into what is certainly the world's only Remos in warbird dress. Kelly flies at least once a week, often taking family and friends on sight- seeing tours or to dinner. She does some serious cross-country flying, too, sometimes 300 miles or more. She intends to get her medical one day. "But I'm going to be extremely careful because I would be devastated if I couldn't fly anymore. I'd love to be an aerobatic performer." Don't just keep up, get ahead. Kelly is a typical FLYING reader. Just like Kelly, 74% of student pilots read FLYING . So do 82% of pilots who train to fly more sophisticated aircraft. She is part of a new generation of pilots who read the magazine that started it all and is still reaching for what's next. If you want to reach the majority of active pilots, from students to veterans, turn to the magazine they all trust to show them where they're going from here: FLYING . PhotograPhy: tom gerczynski T It doesn't take a rocket scientist to learn to fly. Wait. Maybe it does. > Kelly Moran S yStemS engineer raytheon miSSile SyStemS FLYING Reader