This Saturday, girls can tour the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, meet inspiring female pilots and get a chance to learn more about the growing industry for their annual ‘Girls Can Fly’ event.
The free event is for girls aged 8 to 18-years-old to experience what it is like to take flight and give them a chance to learn more about aviation.
‘Girls Can Fly’ was created over 10 years ago to promote women in the aviation industry. They want to help inspire the younger generation of girls to think about a career as a pilot or in aviation.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 14, everyone is invited to attend, even if registration is full for flights for a plane or helicopter ride, kids will get a chance to visit unique exhibitors, educational activities, meet women in aviation and a food truck will be on site.
Girls will get a chance to meet female pilots, flight attendants and other women who help make the industry a success.
Julie Mudry, the marketing and communications manager for the WWFC, said there is a range of aviation companies coming out to help give young girls an experience in flight, including Cambridge company Great Lakes Helicopter, which will offer helicopter rides all day.
“We will have a few companies that will be conducting activities, such as creating airplanes out of cardboard boxes, that was something we did in previous years. We want them to come out and make a day of it, there will be lots for them to do.”
The Flight Centre is located at the Region of Waterloo Airport in Breslau.
“We created this 10 or 11 years ago as a way to promote women in aviation and give young girls a chance to experience what being a pilot is like, what working in aviation is like,” said Bob Connors, the General Manager at WWFC.
“We are not sure how many we’ve inspired over the years but at least one told us her first experience in planes was at one of our events when she was young.”
They are excited to be able to offer the event this year as the pandemic had put a pause on it previously.
Over the years, they have put over a thousand girls in planes, said Connors.
“Come out, even if you can’t get a flight, there will be lots on the ground for them to do.”
The ‘Girls Can Fly’ event takes place Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre.
