Leila Michelle Moradi

Hey there, FlyGirls! This isn’t your “I always grew up wanting to be a pilot” story. In fact, I would say this is quite the opposite. Airplanes terrified me when I was younger and I’ll never forget the horror of seeing airplanes crash into the Twin Towers, into a field and The Pentagon when I was in middle school. Fast forward to 18 years of age, I reluctantly boarded my first domestic flight with my best friend to visit her family. Of course still traumatized from 9/11 (as many were and still are), the first 30 minutes of flight was torture for me with gradual improvements until touchdown. How can a huge aluminum tube fly 35,000 feet in the air going 500 MPH?! Over time and as I ramped up traveling, I became more comfortable with flying.

I’ve always been interested in science, the human body and just generally food. I paired those three up and earned my Bachelors of Science in Food and Nutrition with a specialty in Clinical Dietetics. I went on to obtain multiple certificates in the field of Nutrition as well as becoming a Certified Lactation Counselor working with low-income and underprivileged families through the National Head Start Program.

In 2018, my dad (a private pilot who has not flown since before my birth) bought a 1981 Piper Archer II. After regaining currency, he took me up in it for my first flight in a “small plane” summer of 2018 and once we leveled off from climb, out of nowhere he said “your controls, fly the plane”. I was so nervous! How am I supposed to fly this plane? I don’t know how we’re even in the air! He convinced me to put my hands on the yoke and turn the plane side-to-side. Something changed during that flight and upon landing, I set a goal to learn to fly that exact plane.

Two and a half years later, after setting aside $300 a month for this goal (and flying with my dad periodically), I had saved enough to obtain my Private Pilot certificate. I signed up for classes at the airport where my father keeps his airplane and took my first lesson in a Light Sport Aircraft. During my Private training, I switched aircraft three times until I found my place in Pipers (of course!), all while working as a full time Senior Nutrition Specialist for the Orlando Head Start Program. Just three weeks after my initial solo flight, a SUV illegally turned left in front of me and I found myself in a hospital with internal bleeding, seatbelt bruises that were eggplant purple and worst of all, a broken ankle. I was devastated. My first solo cross-country flight was planned for 2 days later and I had no idea when (or if!) I could fly again.

Kristi Weber

In 1974, from the small airport in Ashland, Wisconsin, I took my first discovery flight and have loved flying ever since. Although somewhat air sick, it did not deter me from wanting to enjoy the freedom of flying high above the ground! After graduating high school early and joining the Marine Corps, I usually found myself as the only female in my occupation which was Aviation Ordnance. In 1991, while on active duty, I took some lessons in a Cessna 150. It became too expensive, so I stopped. Twenty-nine years later in December 2020, I decided to finally get my Private Pilot Certificate.

Learning to fly has been challenging, yet rewarding. When working toward the Private Pilot Certificate, landings were challenging initially. Financially, it was difficult to keep going when I felt that I was doing all the right things and just need more practice, not knowing when the end will be in sight. So, after reaching out to a fellow female pilot, Emily Mailhot, she took me under her “wing,” and I achieved my goal of Private Pilot with her valuable assistance on lucky Friday, May 13th, 2022. All of this flight training has been personally financed without going into debt as I worked hard to stay in my budget.

After careful planning of costs for Instrument training lessons, training resumed in October 2022. The Instrument instructor will also be my Commercial and CFI Instructor so as not to lose ground (and increase expense) by starting with a new instructor. The ultimate goal is to become a Certified Flight Instructor. There are not many female CFIs at my home airport and the goal is to be the next one. There are few Certified Flight Instructors in the Tucson area and I am going to change that. It’s so exciting to mentor aspiring aviatrixes as I have been mentored and have found two women and two men that are helping me to help me achieve this. They are Certified Flight Instructors at various stages of their careers and I have been working with them since October 2022. They have been helping me create lesson plans, allowing me to work with them as a mentee, and networking to establishing my own practice. We discuss the best ways to accomplish the goal of CFI. They’ve helped me strategize planning the required cross countries most efficiently such as combining the commercial/instrument requirements, helping with instrument sim lessons, offering to help get the High-Performance Endorsement, and advising on how to structure lesson plans. There is no shortage of support from them.

One of my many goals for women aviators is to provide connections and answers. I have found multi-engine training in the area, referred quality flight instructors and confirmed places to rent aircraft. I always encourage women aviators to get out and fly, look at exciting ways to promote aviation, plan group travel to Oshkosh 2023 and provide support to those that are working on their Private Pilot Certificate.

Currently, I am onboarding as a pilot for the Civil Air Patrol. As a Senior Member and the Fitness Education Officer, this is great role modeling to the cadets; many of which are future aviators. This is another opportunity to showcase women in aviation. Flying for Civil Air Patrol is another way that will help with building hours. Civil Air Patrol has extended their FAA-approved simulator at no cost which will help with Instrument and Commercial hours.

My current work is a contracted position and when work is available, I will be called upon which is estimated to be between 3-4 months from now. This income has funded flight lessons. Not wanting to lose momentum, a credit card will be used to fund the remainder of the Instrument training. The rental of the plane is already scheduled for the last two weeks in April and nearly the whole month of May. If awarded the scholarship, training will start immediately. This scholarship helps complete the Commercial Certificate without the stress of a financial burden. The Commercial knowledge test will be scheduled for the beginning of April. Spin training will be completed before starting Commercial training. CFI training will start immediately after passing the Commercial check ride and will be paid for by taking out loans. Both CFI knowledge tests will be scheduled for June 2023 and CFI check ride goal will be scheduled by the end of September 2023.