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"All those who see me, and all who believe in me, share in the freedom I feel when I fly."
BOOK REVIEWS
Captain Gramma: Single Mom To Sky High, by Nancy Welz Aldrich. Brundage Publishing. 2006.
Available from www.captaingramma.com
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Nancy Welz Aldrich dreamed of learning to fly all her life, but it was not until she was 37 years old, divorced and with two teenaged children, that she finally decided to fulfill her dream. Over the years her dream had expanded...it was no longer just enough to fly a plane, she wanted to make a living as a pilot. She wanted to fly as a captain for a commercial airline.
And she got that chance with United. She was first hired as a flight instructor, but worked her way upward through the ranks to become first a flight engineer and finally a captain, moving from a variety of planes such as the Boeing 727 and the 767. Nancy wasn't the first ever female flight crew member hired by a major airline, but she was one of a handful of women in the 1970s who helped to pave the way for future generations.
Nancy flew for the airline for a little less than 17 years, retiring in 1999 when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 60.
In Captain Gramma, Nancy tells her story. |
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Nancy had always wanted to fly, from when she was a child, but like so man y of us, "life" got in the way and derailed her plans. In her case, she got married at age 17, and had two children.
Once the children grew over and she felt ready to fulfill her dream of learning to fly, her husband not only scoffed but also ridiculed her... and there the dream came to a halt for a time. But after they were divorced, when she was thirty-seven years old, on Mother's Day, she decided it was time for her to do something for herself, and she started taking flying lessons.
It was 1977.
| Every pilot who wants to be taken seriously must "build time." Most build time by flight instructing, and that is what I had been doing. It was working, as my log book was filling up. but it was a lot of time doing the same thing, in the same area. I wanted to branch out and do different kinds of flying and go to other places.
One day, I noticed some unusual activity in the hangar and went to inestigate. There were three Cessna Pressurized 210s. They were beautiful airplanes, and I longed to fly them. After a few questions, I found out that they were being modified to include air conditioning systems. The planes were brought in, modified, then delivered back to their owners. Delivering the planes sounded like a good job to me!
It took about six months of asking, hanging around, doing all kinds of odd jobs, and a lot of begging, but they finally agreed to let me ferry the 210s. To me, they were huge airplanes, and I was very excited. I went up with their pilot for a check out. Once that was done, I was ready to start my new adventure.
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Retired Nancy at Space Camp, in the 5 Degrees of Freedom Chair |
Nancy tells her story well, and with humor. Sure, the story of her jerk of a first husband makes one grit one's teeth, but after that, it's a wonderfully inspiring story - one can overcome all obstacles as long as one prepares oneself and continues to persevere.
After obtaining her commercial license and ratings, Nancy is hired - by men - for job after job. She was in the right place, at the right time, with the right qualifications, until finally she reached her dream job - United Airlines.
It is her story of her days as a pilot will make every lover of aviation read with attention.
What was it like flying the big planes in the 80s and 90s? Nancy tells you. She flies across the United States and around the world, and brings you along with her in the cockpit.
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It's true that for about the first seven years of her career as a pilot United Airlines, fellow crew members occasionally gave her a hard time - but this was not so much because she was a woman but because she'd refused to go on strike, just a few days after she'd been hired as a provisional pilot. (Who could blame her?)
The only flaw in the book is that it's a slim volume, 120 pages only, and ends too soon, with her mandatory retirement from United at the age of 60, in 1999.
The next eight years of her life are covered only in an appendix of photos that appear at the end of the book - she went to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, participated in the Flight Across America with Donna Miller, and also flew a Colorado flag in the 50 Flags to Kitty Hawk program, honoring the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother's first flight in 1903.
Well written, fascinating anecdotes.
I recommend this book highly.
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