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Plane & Pen

Katherine S. Stafford is a freelance writer, aviation enthusiast, nurse, and member of Women in Aviation International. She has been published in General Aviation News, Aviation for Women magazine, and the Hera Aviation Group blog. Learn more about her exciting - and turbulent - aviation journey and hear some inspirational stories of other women in aviation here on Plane & Pen. Buckle up & let's fly!

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IMUA!

Since my last post, the Maui fires destroyed the present and past of Lahaina and the news broke of Alaska Airlines buying 94-year-old...

Haole to Honorary

"Hey! I'm off probation!" I texted excitedly to a friend. "Where have you been?!" he replied. That's when I realized my non-aviation...

Maui for Mother's Day

We all know most people working with an airline are in it because either they love aviation, they love to travel, or both. It's...

Go-arounds Always Lead to a Landing

What is a go-around in aviation terms? According to the American Heritage on-line dictionary, a go-around is "a landing approach that...

Aircraft Hopping with Boone

My seven year old son, Boone, set the ground rules for this year's mommy-son adventure. We must fly in and out of Burbank. We should be...

Birdwatching

Birdwatching, in all senses of the word, is what I do when I go to Bayfront Park near SFO. Let me take you with me! I open FlightRadar24...

Two Roads Converge

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ And sorry I could not travel both/ And be one traveler, long I stood/ And looked down one as far as...

Humility and Courage

A few weeks ago I started my job as a ramp agent for Southwest Airlines. This was a new-to-me position in a field in which I had never...

To Fist Pump Or Not To Fist Pump

How do you know when you are an anomaly? Ask your instructor how many women ramp agents there are out of over 100 rampers at your station...

When The Stars Align

Have you ever made a promise to yourself...and kept it? Last year, during the thick of self-sacrifice and "adulting" desperation, I told...

A Wrong Turn Leads to the Right Place

Driving home to San Francisco from a job down peninsula I made an wrong turn. To be honest, I exited the freeway near the airport on a...

Airshow He Said, She Said

My first grader son and I headed to what might have been the first official airshow in California in 2021. The 40th annual Wings Over...

Stepping Right Up to Aviation

My 6 year-old son and I had a mommy-son date to Hiller Aviation Museum this week. With the pandemic cancelling our favorite local airshow...

Flying and Writing: Unlikely Sisters

How is flying like writing? Natalie Goldberg, a writing teacher and author, believes that the act of repeated, time-specific, automatic...

Flying Is In My Blood

The Lockheed T-33. Fast. Loud. Funny-lookin'. Minutes ago I spoke to my Uncle Stan who flew one of these babies in the mid-1950's, when...

Why Do I Love Planes and Flying So Much?

People don't just say what they say for no reason. Their ideas come from something, an experience, a projection, a need to sound...

Tough Decisions

Spring Break. A week without preschool for my son. A week without time to study ground school or prep for flights, let alone any writing....

One Tired Momma

I'll admit it. I'm one tired mama. I am experiencing everyday life--keeping children fed, clean and well-slept while coordinating life...

Keeping The Course

In the distance turboprops drone…. What have I been doing to move my life in aviation forward in the past two weeks? Adding thrust? I’d...

Fear? What fear?

Fear? What Fear? Why am I driven to move from the passenger seat to the pilot’s seat? It’s a bit like asking yourself whether you’re the...

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Published with Hera Aviation Group

A single mom at 19, Christy Wong worked full-time and earned a double major, all the while admiring the 737s flying over Las Vegas.

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Published with Hera Aviation Group

One of the most human and valuable of all traits is our ability to adapt. Pivot or perish could be a slogan for the pandemic and for surviving the aviation industry.

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Momma Dreams of Flying

Published in General Aviation News 8/22/2019

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Father's Day Fly In Return to 2O1

Published in General Aviation News 6/24/2019

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