The girls of Girls Inc. of Sarasota County in Florida headed into the air as they participated in a “Girls Take Flight” program during spring break. During the week of March 29-April 2, girls learned about careers in aviation, toured the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, practice flying in a flight simulator and then went for a plane ride over the skyway bridge.
According to organizers, the 12 girls who participated are excited about joining the local EAA Young Eagles and Sarasota Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program. Due to the enormous local coverage on news stations SNN 8 and ABC 7 airing of the flight training sessions across the region, it sparked additional interest and the need to expand next years aviation program to several high schools in the area, organizers add.
The week-long program was a partnership with Dolphin Aviation and Michelle Raines, a pilot and founder of Miss Aerial, an online community empowering women in aviation. Michael Mansfield from Cirrus Aviation donated the flight simulator. Additional donations were received by Powder Puff Pilot, a Denver-based web retailer that specializes in gear and accessories for women pilots aimed to attract, support and celebrate women in aviation, donated logbooks, stickers, pins and calendars to all the girls in the program.
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