Kimberly Anyadike is greeted after landing at Compton Woodley Airport on Saturday. She is believed to be the youngest African American female to complete the flight across the country.
Posted on 07/12/2009 10:56:26 AM PDT by thecodont
A 15-year-old Los Angeles girl who navigated a single-engine Cessna through thunderstorms in Texas and took in breathtaking aerial views of Arizona's sunsets landed her plane to cheering crowds at Compton Woodley Airport on Saturday. She is believed to be the youngest African American female pilot to fly solo across the country.
Kimberly Anyadike took off from Compton 13 days ago with an adult safety pilot and Levi Thornhill, an 87-year-old who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. They flew to Newport News, Va., making about a dozen stops along the way.
Anyadike learned to fly a plane and helicopter when she was 12 with the Compton-based Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum, which offers aviation lessons to at-risk youth and economically disadvantaged students through an after-school program. The organization owns the small plane Anyadike flew.
Anyadike said she loved the feeling of streaking across the sky. She told her mother that it was like a wild ride at Magic Mountain.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Bingo your #7.
Standing O for the pilot, but only after we carve out the hate whitey tone of the article.
What happened to our “melting pot”? (rhetorical question /)
You are referring to Jessica Dubroff. She crashed in a thunderstorm, taking off from a high elevation airport in a plane at or over it’s max gross take-off weight. A recipe for disaster.
These young ladies are not the pilot in command. They might be manipulating the controls, but they are not in charge of the aircraft.
“At the time i thought rules were being changed so it would not be done again.”
I don’t think any rules were changed. If you’re inexperienced, nieve, lacking in judgement, or stupid you’re more likely to die. That’s always been true.
The air doesn’t care. It doesn’t issue you a handicap based on your color or age.
This is a sweet story, but as time goes on we will start to see “She is believed to be the youngest African American female with three toes and four fingers and a birthmark on her right cheek in the shape of a rectangle pilot to fly solo across the country.”
I mean good grief. She did a really awesome thing! No need to go into all her ‘handicaps’ as to why this is even better.
Just my opinion.
Ok, license yes. I realize my mistake. However I believe you can fly with a pilot at age 12. Correct or not? :)
Still a good story even if the reporter screwed it up. We need more young people looking to do something constructive with their lives.
Does anymore remember the shameless stunt years ago when a father arranged a series of cross country flights for her very young daughter Near the end, it ended in disaster.
> If I had a plane and I was in Compton I would get the hell out of Compton.
I live in L.A. and Compton is mostly warehouse spaces that serve the logistics companies close to the LAX.
HOWEVER...get the F out before 8 pm.
Yeah I was wondering why they chose to land at Compton, until I read the plane took off from Compton.
The whole LA basin is a bad place for light aircraft and private pilots. Heck, it ain’t so great for Boeings and ATPs.
“Doesn’t sound to me like she’s “in the I-hate-whitey” mode.”
I gave that some serious thought too. That was an ugly time in history, and we were in an awful war. Maybe I was turned off again by the hyphened designation. Except for us whities, everybody else has a hyphenated designation. No one seems to be an American anymore. Everyone is a half foreigner.
I keep thinking of Lee Greenwood’s song and lyrics: God Bless the U.S.A. Proud to be an American
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
Correction. She was 7 years old.
That’s why the light-plane pilots I know of prefer to operate out of Palmdale.
“But how I detest divisive terms like “African American
Do you remember the following story?...Every time I think about it I laugh myself sick again and again.
Several years ago a man from Africa came to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen.
He referred to himself as an African-American, which I hope he still does.
Many blacks got on him like white on rice.
Why? Because he was white and not black. Apparently that term is reserved only for blacks, and no one else has the authority to use it.
Uh. It's not "solo" if you have a safety pilot.
ML/NJ
Thank you. I had forgotten her name but I think about that girl often. I remember before the crash the actual pilot that was with her would report on how well super girl was doing and flying for hours and hours. I wondered if she dozed off for a while or needed his help with anything, would he report that, too? I know she was smart and able to even set off on such a venture but still I wonder what really happens.
That is what I was thinking. She did not not fly solo. But still, quite an accomplishment. Congratulations to her.
Kimberly Anyadike is greeted after landing at Compton Woodley Airport on Saturday. She is believed to be the youngest African American female to complete the flight across the country.
I am a pilot and aircraft owner and I would never fly anywhere near Compton...:o)
“Safety observer” is a pilot and who knows who was doing what, when and at what time, making judgement calls, etc, during the flight.
This IS NO DIFFERENT than some guy flying cross-country and taking his 15-yr old son along and then claiming 'well, my son did all the flying," and he could very well have done. It is judgment and air sense that makes a pilot, not going along on a ride. This event is made for media (at risk female minority) but in fact, it is nothing.
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