Girls in Flight Training Academy

Pia Bergqvist

Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 08:19 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Girls in Flight Training Academy (GIFT) provides free instruction, low-cost airplane rentals, and housing for aspiring female pilots at the Wilbarger County Airport in Vernon, Texas.
Spearheaded by veteran pilot Mary Latimer and involving three generations of her family, the program creates an intensive, distraction-free training environment.
GIFT aims to encourage more women to obtain pilot certificates and increase the currently low percentage of active female pilots, drawing parallels to the training conditions of the WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

See a mistake? Contact us.

For the second year in a row, the Girls in Flight Training Academy (GIFT) is set to take off Nov. 3-9 at the Wilbarger County Airport (F05) north of Vernon, Texas. The training camp provides free instruction and low-cost airplane rentals to potential female pilots across the country. Housing is also provided, either in a house or in tents at the airport.

Mary Latimer, who spearheaded the project, and her husband Lawrence provide the majority of the instruction. The couple’s daughter, Tamara Griffith, is also part of the instructional team, and a third generation female pilot, Tamara’s daughter Amanda, will participate as a ground instructor, and possibly also as a CFI as she is currently in the process of completing her CFI certificate.