BILLINGS — Organizers with Rock Mountain College's aviation program held a seminar for girls ages 8 through 18 on Saturday at Beacon Air Group in honor of Women in Aviation Day.
“I also can’t drive a manual car; so, this is my way of compensating for that, by saying, ‘I can fly a plane,'" said Kya Harrison, who graduated from Rock Mountain College this summer and now works as a flight instructor for the school.
At the time of publishing, less than 10% of the aviation industry is made up of women, including jobs outside of piloting.
“When you think about ‘pilot,’ when you see this word, you picture a guy, with a hat, with a uniform, (dragging) their luggage, but you never think with a ponytail," said Yin Yu, a Cape Air pilot and guest speaker.
Once a professional skydiver and wingsuiter, Yu said she holds both national and world records for her air time like when she wingsuited off Everest for her 30th birthday.
"I’m like, 'what should I do? What is the biggest thing in the whole world?' and I’m like, 'Mount Everest is the biggest thing,' said Yu, "Yeah, that was a big achievement for me.”
She said she hopes to inspire young female pilots like Angelina Guptill, a Laurel High School student with 60 to 70 hours in her logbook.
“I really like flying during storms and everything – just cause it’s all, like, cold and everything," said Guptill.
While some girls, according to Yu, aspire to be like Cinderella and Snow White, she said other girls may prefer to be like Spiderman or Batman.
“I really feel I’m the one who inspired myself," said Yu, "I want to do something that I think is really cool … (As a pilot,) you are someone who can help to bring (passengers) to someone they want to see, bring them to people they love, or bring them to something new — adventure," said Yu, who immigrated from China at the United States at just 18-years-old.
