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Flying Over Adversity: Stay Open to Everything

Jessica Cox’s says the journey to her first solo flight felt less like a journey and more like a roller-coaster ride.

Jessica with Parrish Traweek on the day before her first solo flight. Barbara McNichol
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The author faced significant setbacks in her journey to become a pilot, including a prolonged slump without flying and a near-giving-up moment when unable to find a suitable instructor or Ercoupe aircraft.
  • A scholarship from Able Flight and a serendipitous encounter at a fly-in eventually connected her with an ideal instructor and a light sport Ercoupe, reigniting her training.
  • Despite intense nerves that thwarted her first solo attempt and struggles with specific maneuvers, she persevered through rigorous training.
  • She successfully completed her solo flight on the second attempt, overcoming a critical radio failure mid-flight by focusing on her training and flying the airplane first.
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Setbacks are inevitable when facing a big challenge. Sometimes things fall apart, or people let you down, or you let yourself down. I believe that the key to finally reaching that distant finish line is persistence.

Last month I shared how I had started flight training, and the pieces to my dream were coming together. Still, the decision to become a sport pilot meant we had to find a different airplane.

Jessica Cox

Born without arms, Jessica Cox is the first and only licensed armless pilot in aviation history. When she’s not flying a 1946 Ercoupe in Arizona, Jessica trains in Taekwondo, mentors children with limb differences, and travels the world as a keynote speaker.

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