PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
JeRRy Chab RIan
Dear WAI Members:
dR. peggy
ChabRIan
Wow! What an exciting
spring this has been! In late
February our 21st annual WAI
Conference ended with one
of our highest attendance
records ever. With 110 international members and guests
from 18 countries there,
it certainly embodied the
Chabrian with WASP and
theme “Aviation—It’s a Small
WAI Member Vi Cowden at
World.” Those in the audi-
the WASP Congressional Gold
ence on the morning of the
Medal ceremony in March.
Saturday General Session will
long remember the parade of individuals from around the world
carrying their nation’s flags, some of them in native dress.
The FAA Administrator was impressed by WAI and said during
his General Session speech, “I was delighted to hear an earlier
speaker talk about mentoring. I am particularly encouraged to
hear how well the mentoring process works. Every one of you
learned to fly or in maintenance—no matter where you are… you
have an obligation to pass those on. Seasoned professionals always have that obligation to teach the less experienced how to invent yourselves and move forward and pass on those thoughts.”
Administrator Babbitt and I co-signed a new Memorandum of
Understanding during Friday morning’s General Session. The
MOU confirms the continued agreement between the FAA and
WAI to support each other’s efforts in the aviation industry. The
FAA provides WAI with resources for aviation education and
employment while WAI helps to promote the FAA messages of
safety and regulation enforcement throughout the membership
He also met several members of the WASP who were in attendance during the Opening Night Reception. As a result he
was invited to attend the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
in Washington, D.C. the next week and was there during the
ceremony in the U.S. Capitol building.
In March, my husband Jerry and I had the honor of attending
the ceremony honoring the WASP, and were amazed by the
number of WASP and family members of WASP present. The
event grew so large the venue was changed from the Capitol
Rotunda to the Visitor Center beneath the Rotunda. An estimated 2,700 people were in attendance that day.
We in the crowd shared stories and inter-connections. One
particular story touched me. A young woman attended the
Dayton Air Show in July 2003 and met some of the WASP in
the WAI Pavilion. She had always wanted to learn to fly and
Vi Cowden encouraged her to follow up on her dreams. Not
long after that she began taking flying lessons, attended her
first WAI Conference, and soon joined the Navy. The two of
them found each other, and then me at the ceremony in the
capitol and both shared their “WAI story” and friendship with
me. It is these types of life changing moments that make what
WAI does through its conferences, chapters, educational outreach programs and other venues, worthwhile. Do you have a
story about how WAI and its mentors changed your aspirations
and your life? Let us know!
We are making plans now for Oshkosh and the third WomenVenture, which we co-sponsor with EAA. For those inquiring minds
who want to know—this year’s shirt color will be yellow. Be sure
to join us for the annual WAI Celebrity Breakfast and the Aero-Shell Square photo on Friday, July 30. More on that to come.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peggy Chabrian, President
John RIedel
InSIde ThIS ISSue
KRISTIne volK
pa TRICIa valda Ta
Anna Mracek Dietrich, Dawn Seymour
and Lucy Young, all together at the
WASP ceremony. Page 6
FedEx Express donated an entire
Boeing 727 to St. Cloud University,
a first at the WAI Conference. Page 14
Check out the sailplane pilot’s view of
the tow plane as they head for the ridge
where the lift is. Page 30
Send email to pchabrian@wai.org
