Patt Wagstaff’s journey into aviation began in the late 1970s. [Courtesy: Patty Wagstaff Airshows]
Key Takeaways:
Patty Wagstaff is a legendary aerobatic pilot, celebrated as the first woman to win the U.S. national aerobatic championship, with a career spanning over four decades.
Beyond her aerobatic performances, Wagstaff is a dedicated advocate for aviation safety and education, having founded Patty Wagstaff Aviation Safety to train pilots in essential airmanship and upset recovery skills.
She highlights a critical challenge in modern flight training where fundamental skills are often overlooked, and through her school and a new foundation, aims to provide vital training to make pilots more skillful, confident, and safer.
Wagstaff views aviation as a lifelong learning process that promotes humility and strives to make flying more enjoyable and accessible to everyone, dispelling common fears about general aviation.
Few names resonate with the same level of respect and admiration in the aviation community as Patty Wagstaff.
With a career spanning over four decades, Wagstaff has not only made her mark as one of the premier aerobatic pilots in the world but also dedicated herself to the critical mission of aviation safety and the education of budding aviators.
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Amy Wilder fell in love with airplanes at age 8 when her brother-in-law took her up in a Cessna 172. Pretty soon, Amy's bedroom walls were covered with images of vintage airplanes, and she was convinced she'd be a bush pilot in Alaska one day. She became a journalist instead, which is also somewhat impractical—but with fewer bears. Now she's working on her private pilot certificate and ready to be a lifelong student of the art of flying.
