CP Aviation EMT Scholarship Winner Gains from EMT/Aerobatic training

CP Aviation Emergency Maneuver Training Scholarship in Memory of Vicki Cruse

This scholarship aims to promote aviation safety through unusual attitude and aerobatic training. This year’s winner is Molly Steahly, IAC 441282. The award was presented in July 2020 and Molly immediately scheduled the training, which took place the next month Aug 25-30th.

"I absolutely loved my experience at CP Aviation. I gained so much from the EMT/Aerobatic course and the caliber of training I received was top notch. The training on the emergency maneuvers and extensive spin training not only makes me feel safer as a pilot all around but also I am able to pass on that knowledge to my current flight students. Practicing the loss of the different primary flight controls and the base to final spin at altitude really makes me feel more confident in my abilities to handle those situations and other emergency situations. Those were things I had always talked about in training and with my students, but had never actually practiced during my training.

One thing that surprised me about the EMT training was when we practiced at altitude the loss of your engine with more than 1,000 feet of altitude above the runway after you take off and trying to make the turn back to the airport. Actually practicing the turn back to the "runway" that we had picked out with about 1,100 feet above the "runway" and not making it. Made me reconsider the emergency procedures I had always briefed before we takeoff that we would turn back to the airport if we have more than 1,000 ft. Depending on the situation it may be a better option to just land straight ahead. 

 I enjoyed getting to do the aerobatic training and being able to create and perform the aerobatic sequence. We reviewed the Aresti Figures and discussed the aerobatic box and where judges are typically located during a competition and how that could help decide which direction you might want to execute a maneuver. My instructor, Rochelle Oslick IAC431124, also discussed the basics of putting together an aerobatic sequence such as typically starting into the wind and using maneuvers to switch directions. My homework before our last day was to put together an aerobatic sequence with the maneuvers I had learned the past couple days that would keep me in the aerobatic box along with choosing our starting altitude. After being able to fly the aerobatic sequence it makes me want to pursue my goal of competing in aerobatics and find somewhere locally where I can continue developing my aerobatic skills. My favorite maneuver was the Hammerhead. 

As far as pursuing my desire to becme more invovled in aerobatics, I still live in Chandler, Arizona right next to Chandler Air Service. I have been flying their Super Cubs and want to continue doing aerobatics in their Great Lakes."

Molly is pictured here with her instructor Rochelle. She is fairly new to the world of aviation, but she knows she has found her passion.

Molly was selected to be one of the first four students in the southern region to participate in the Forces to Flyers Initiative led by the Department of Transportation. In the summer of 2018, Molly left her full-time career as a Registered Nurse and became a full-time student at the U.S. Aviation Academy in Denton, Texas.  Over the next ten months, she completed her Private Pilot Certificate, Instrument Rating, Commercial AMEL and ASEL, CFI, and CFI-I. After completing her training at USAA, she sold everything she had in Texas to move to Arizona to work as a CFI/CFII. Molly started teaching at Classic Air Aviation out of Falcon Field and then moved on to teaching at the University of North Dakota Aerospace Foundation out of Mesa Gateway Airport. Since she started working as a CFI, she has also earned her commercial ASES and tail wheel endorsement. Molly was recently hired by the Arizona Air National Guard to fly the KC-135 and is in the process of switching from the Army to the Air National Guard. She is open to multiple career paths on the civilian side of aviation, but her top choices right now are aerial firefighting or flying corporate.

Molly attended the Women in Aviation International Conference in Long Beach, California in 2018. She had a few hours before her flight left after the conference and was able to coordinate an aerobatic flight with a local flight school! That flight was the most fun she had ever had while flying. Seeing the ocean and the California coastline below her as they did barrel rolls created such a rush! Ever since that flight she has wanted to learn more aerobatics. As a current CFI, her dream has been to learn aerobatics enough that she could start teaching others the thrill that exists while doing aerobatic maneuvers. The training at CP Aviation has cemented in her dream.