Taking to the skies
Liberty belles — Members of the Liberty Belles Air Classic team pose in front of one of the program’s airplanes. Photo provided
Following in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart, the School of Aeronautics (SOA) is doing its part to add a feminine touch to the American skies with its all-female flight team, the Liberty Belles.
Considerably smaller than the SOA’s National Intercollegiate Flight Association (NIFA) competition team, the Liberty Belles have a more focused goal in the Air Race Classic (ARC) as opposed to the variety of competition categories the NIFA flight team experience, according to Coach Sarah Morris.
The Liberty Belles include SOA students, dispatchers and flight instructors. This year’s aviators are Charity Holland, Jessica Dyer, Jodi Jacob and Megan Grupp. Coach Sarah Morris and dispatcher Alessandra Boardman round out the six-person flight team.
Charity Holland, who is also a coach for the NIFA flight team, will compete for Liberty for the first time as an aviator and as a Belle.
“Being able to now go back as a competitor, as a Liberty Belle, will be a great opportunity and experience,” Holland said. “I am very excited to represent Liberty University as a competitor next summer for the Air Race Classic.”
The Liberty Belles were established in 2012 and will compete in their second Air Race Classic in 2013, according to Boardman.
The ARC is an all-female national flight competition with a flight course that spans the United States.
According to the ARC website, female aviation racing came into existence in 1929 as the First Women’s Air Derby, which was replaced by the Powder Puff Derby, now succeeded by today’s Air Race Classic, Inc.
“There has been great advancement of women in aviation in the last several years,” Morris said. “Contrary to what many think, I have witnessed a huge level of support for women in aviation, and this is very encouraging.”
Boardman said that the first requirement a student has to meet to compete with the Liberty Belles is to be a female. Besides that, aviators must have an instrument rating as a private pilot and must provide an essay and an instructor’s recommendation.
According to the ARC website, the 2013 race will start in Pasco, Wash. and pass through nine cities and eight states before reaching the finish in Fayetteville, Ark.
Morris said that the Liberty Belles will face up to 50 female collegiate flight teams from around the nation.
“The Air Race Classic is a great opportunity to share the Gospel and the love of Christ with others because you become so close with many women over the weeks of the competition,” Boardman said.
According to Liberty University’s website, the Liberty Belles placed 27th and 28th in the 2012 ARC.
The ARC strongly support women in the field of aviation. According to the ARC website, they seek to encourage and educate aspiring female aviators, represent the role of women in aviation and promote the tradition of pioneering women in aviation.
Boardman said that females do not realize the potential they have in aviation because they do not know that that sort of dream is possible for women, but the ARC is raising awareness and interest in aviation.
“The Liberty Belles was not only created to better the School of Aeronautics, but as a platform for young girls to see that women can fly and be successful in the field,” Boardman said.