Flying with Miss Evelyn

[Dingbat]

Neat interview and a little scary afterthought.

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1545986.html



Aloft with 'Mama Bird,' the World's Senior Flight Instructor

Evelyn Bryan Johnson
Credit: Charles Mayer/NPR News

 

Dec. 13, 2003 -- Since the first moments of aviation, pilots have religiously recorded the length of their flights. With nearly 58,000 hours at the controls, instructor Evelyn Bryan Johnson of Morristown, Tenn., has logged more flight hours than any living person.

On Johnson's 94th birthday, NPR's Scott Simon traveled to Morristown to take a lesson with "Mama Bird" -- a nickname given to Johnson by one of her students a few decades ago.

After nearly 60 years as a pilot, Johnson still has a young girl's fascination with the sky. "You forget about your problems while you're up," she says. "You've still got 'em, but that doesn't matter, you've had a little rest from it. It's just a wonderful thing."

[RTR]

I can see it now:

Flying through congested airspace at 40mph, with her left position light flashing, seat pushed right up to the yoke and still unable to see over the instrument panel.

Never had an incident or accident, but probably caused quite a few.

"You forget about your problems when you're up"

94 years old?  I'll bet she does, at that.

Cheers,
RTR

[Dingbat]

well at 40MPH she's a master of slow flight