Having always wanted to learn how to fly, she began her ppl in January ‘83 whilst in her final year at university. Financing the training with a Saturday job, she gained a ppl in sept ‘84 in minimum hours (couldn’t afford to pay for extra!)
Her first instructor suggested she go the commercial route; but having made a few enquiries about how applications from women were received in the industry back in the day, and discovering that one particular airline binned them, she decided not to bother and simply fly for fun!
In ‘92 she did gain a commercial license, but really did it just to prove to herself that she could… It’s never been used in that sense, but improved her flying and was a great experience. A year later she and her husband bought their first aircraft, a Condor, a taildragger which she happily flew for seven years before exchanging for a 4-seat Koliber which they still have today.
Her flying has been a purely recreational activity, largely conducted at weekends visiting various airfields and grass strips in the UK; and they have toured France extensively for holidays. It has given her virtually all of her friends and is a part of her life that she could never be without. There is nothing to compare with the joy of flight. Through flying she has had the opportunity to join the 99s and meet lots of new people and visit lots of new places. Surely this is the new icing on the cake! Dawn is the Treasurer for the African Section 99s.