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Patty Wagstaff:
An Aerobatic Superstar
Have you ever attended an airshow, seen
all of the exciting wonderful aerobatic
displays and thought, 'Gee, I'd like to
do that someday.' While it is not an easy
task, becoming a full or part-time aerobatic
pilot is reachable in one way or another.
Just ask Patty Wagstaff, one of the World's
premier pilots, and a leader in promoting
women's growth in aviation careers.
To Patty Wagstaff the sky represents
adventure, freedom and challenge. A six-time
member of the US Aerobatic Team, Patty has
won the gold, silver and bronze medals in
Olympic-level international aerobatic competition
and is the first woman to win the title
of US National Aerobatic champion and one
of the few people to win it three times.
Patty flies one of the most thrilling, low-level
aerobatic routines in the world. Flying
before millions of airshow spectators each
year, her breathtaking performances give
spectators a front-row seat view of the
precision and complexity of modern, unlimited
hard-core aerobatics. Her smooth aggressive
style sets the standard for performers the
world over.
Born in the USA, Patty grew up in and
around airplanes. Moving to Japan when she
was nine years old where her father was
a Captain for Japan Air Lines, her earliest
memories include sitting with her father
at the controls of his airplanes. At ten
years old, her father let her take the controls
of his DC-6, and that's when her lifelong
love affair with airplanes began. Though
Patty was not raised to think of a career,
her parent's supported her interests and
encouraged her above all not to be fearful.
From Japan her travels took her across Southeast
Asia, Europe and to Australia where she
lived and traveled up the west coast in
a small boat. In 1979 she moved to Alaska
and moved to a small town in the southwest,
Dillingham, to work for the Bristol Bay
Native Association where her job involved
traveling to each of the remote villages
in the region, areas only accessible by
air.
Patty's first experience with bush flying
was not a positive one: the same airplane
she chartered crashed on its first flight.
So Patty learned to fly herself, hiring
friend and later husband, Bob, to travel
with her in his Cessna 185 floatplane. Since
then earned her Commercial, Instrument,
Seaplane and Commercial Helicopter Ratings.
She is a Flight and Instrument Instructor
and is rated and qualified to fly many airplanes,
from World War II warbirds to jets. Patty's
sister, Toni, is also a pilot and a Captain
for United Airlines.
A Call
to Aerobatics
Though she had never seen aerobatics, a
lifelong curiosity led her to attend her
first airshow in Abbotsford, British Columbia
in 1983, where she saw aerobatic pilots
perform and promised herself, "I can
do that!" By 1985, five years after
gaining her pilot's license, she earned
a spot on the US Aerobatic Team. Patty's
skill is based on years of training and
experience. She is a six-time recipient
of the "First Lady of Aerobatics"
Betty Skelton Award. In 1991, Patty became
the first woman in the history of the United
States to capture the elusive goal of National
Aerobatic
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Champion. In July 2004, Patty was inducted
into the National Aviation Hall of Fame
and was the recipient of the National Air
and Space Museum's Award for Current Achievement
in 1994. Having received many awards for
her flying, she is particularly proud of
receiving the airshow industry's most prestigious
award, the "Sword of Excellence",
and the "Bill Barber Award for Showmanship"
Recently she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Air Force Association, was
inducted into the EAA/IAC Hall of Fame and
in 2005 received the NAA/99's Katherine
Wright Award.
In March, 1994, her airplane, the Goodrich
Extra 260, went on display in the Smithsonian
National Air & Space Museum in Washington
DC. You can see Patty's airplane and exhibit
in the Pioneers of Flight Gallery right
next to Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega.
Patty has trained with the Russian Aerobatic
Team and has flown airshows and competitions
in such exotic places as South America,
Russia, Europe, Mexico and Iceland. Following
the World Aerobatic Contest in 1996 where
she was the top scoring U.S. pilot, Patty
retired from competition flying.
She is a member of the Screen Actors
Guild, Motion Picture Pilots Association,
United Stuntwomen's Association, working
as a stunt pilot and aerial coordinator
for the film and television industry. She
is currently a "demo" pilot for
Raytheon Aircraft, flying their military
trainer, the T-6A/B Texan II in international
airshows such as Paris and Farnborough,
and for the past five years has given bush
and recurrency training to the pilots of
the Kenya Wildlife Service in Kenya.
Talking
With Patty
Aside from her flying prowess, Patty Wagstaff
is an all around nice person and she enjoys
promoting aviation to youngsters. Avjobs
video partner, caught-up with Patty to discuss
her career as an aerobatic pilot and early
influences in her life that brought her
to this exciting segment of general aviation.
Enjoy this week's video feature with this
aerobatic superstar.
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