Caylee's Second Post as the Girls With Wings Private Pilot Scholarship Winner!

Congratulations to Caylee who has resumed her flying lessons thanks in part to the generous donations that people have made to Girls With Wings. The Private Pilot Scholarship is to help defray the cost of flight training lessons in pursuit of a private pilot certificate. This scholarship, an award in the amount of $1000.00, targets those individuals who have soloed but have not completed the Private Pilot Course. Read more about our scholarship program.

Please note that the scholarships are funded by donations - so we need contributions from people like YOU to keep our program running. We always have way more deserving applicants than funds. Visit our donation page to help. 

Read Caylee's other essays thus far. 

For this month, Caylee writes:

Straight to the point, I would not have had the motivation to tackle flying again or get as far as I’ve come without the Girls With Wings scholarship.

During the month of September I’ve been flying consistently at least 2 or 3 times a week. I re-soloed after doing a few dual-cross countries and then it was time. On a beautiful blue bird Wednesday this past week, with calm winds and high ceilings I departed on my first solo-cross country to Poughkeepsie-Dutchess County in New York. It was smooth sailing all the way with calm winds, great visibility and clear communications. I had no problem finding the airport, landed and taxied back. My Dad used to work for Associated Aircraft Group whose hangar is at KPOU and as I taxied back to runway 24 I saw the hangar and remembered walking through the offices, playing in the aircraft and going there for an air show when I was much younger. It was a great reminder of why I fell in love with aviation and how far I’ve come. 

I took off and headed back to Hartford. There was some slight turbulence at 3,500 ft but the flight back went just as smoothly as the way there. My landing back at KHFD was one to be proud of and the entire trip was over before I knew it! I was sweating and shaking when I returned. This cross-country had been the biggest and most daunting fear I’ve had about flying since I started to prepare for it the first time I flew in 2012. I was incredibly proud to complete this trip. 
 
I performed my second cross-country to Columbia County-1B1 earlier today. I felt much calmer this time around and had to maneuver around the clouds. I ended up flying at 3,000 ft or lower since the clouds were between 4,000 and 5,500. The winds were incredibly calm allowing for smooth landings. This flight, too, was over in what seemed like the blink of an eye. 

I could not have asked for two better days to perform my first two solo cross-country trips. With the help of Girls With Wings I have been able to get back to where I left off flying over a year ago and overcome one of my biggest obstacles. Now I can move forward onto the next challenge. 

Congratulations, Caylee! You are making us all proud. Looking forward to hearing about you conquering your next challenge. I think that is a sure thing.  - Lynda