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Happy 2nd Anniverary LadiesLoveTaildraggers.com!!

May 2011

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It’s been 2 short years but we’ve come a long way ladies! Two years ago today I posted the very first lady pilot to LadiesLoveTaildraggers.com – ME – and the only other woman taildragger pilot I knew at that time, Kathy Norris from Liberty, Indiana. I was sure there were plenty more, passionate lady taildragger pilots flying around than just the two of us, but I wasn’t at all sure we’d be able to find each other! Oh, isn’t the internet wonderful!?!

Kathy Norris

I can tell you, things started off slow and it was tough even finding a friend – who had a friend – who knew a lady taildragger pilot. I remember being at Oshkosh in 2009 and pinning a homemade sign on my back that said, “STOP ME IF YOU’RE A LADY TAILDRAGGER PILOT!!” and walking around all day.  Seemed like a good idea!?? I did meet a couple of women that way but not near as many as I hoped. I still have to laugh about the most enlightening conversation I had in the midst of traipsing around wearing my sign. One very insightful young gal quietly pulled me aside and said “Ma’am, I have to tell you, there’s a better way. Have you ever heard of Facebook? Get on there and lady taildragger pilots will come out of the woodwork!” Well, after I got over the notion that people over the age of ‘teeny-bopper’ don’t use Facebook, I saw the light and signed up. I have no idea who she was but I owe her a big belated thank you for steering me in that direction.

.... a beautiful Champ .....

THANK YOU – THANK YOU – to my son, Craig Birchler, for helping his mom every step of the way! It was Craig that did the initial set up and continues to pull his mom out of a jam whenever there’s a computer glitch over my pay grade. And speaking of pay grades, Craig volunteers his time and expertise – paygrade….less!

Judy & Craig

And lastly and most importantly, thank you to my terrific husband, Boyd, for his encouragement from the very start. He’s patiently waited on me many a time when I’ve said, “just a couple more minutes and I’ll be right there – I just need to post ONE more little thing or send ONE more quick email!” He gets a huge kick out off reading about and seeing all the amazing taildragger ladies that have come across my laptop in the last 2 years and is our biggest fan! 🙂

My "Boyd-B" enhanced photo artwork (A knock off of the famous "Jackie-O" artwork by Andy Warhol). In this original B&W photo Boyd was 27 and hasn't changed a bit!

6 Comments
  • tina thomas
    Posted at 07:23h, 18 May Reply

    That’s a stunning shot of Boyd by the way…thanks for your part in this Boyd!!

  • Lisa Martin
    Posted at 20:47h, 17 May Reply

    Thanks so much. I’m really enjoying it and looking forward to meeting some in person at fly-ins. It is hard sometimes feeling so separate from comraderie of women in aviation…luckily I also ride horses and am a Christian and there are plenty of women in those areas! I was encouraged to check out the backcountry pilot site while at Mexican Mountain in Utah last weekend, when I did, the posts I found were all men and many of them were complaining about their wives not liking to do all the fly-in camping they do. I felt completely out of place there…kind of like when I’m trying to socialize with a group of women that are passionate about shoes and purses. It’s just not my thing.

  • Andy Heins
    Posted at 14:26h, 17 May Reply

    Judy…..LLT has come a LONG WAY since Susan and I first got involved. You have done a great job and it is refreshing to meet ladies at the various fly-ins and such who have seen the LLT blog and are familiar with the group. Here’s a toast to many more years with a great bunch of gals!

  • Anne Wright
    Posted at 09:42h, 17 May Reply

    Happy Anniversary to us! Who gets to buy us roses & take us out to dinner?? Thank you to Judy, Boyd, & Craig for making all this happen, Susan for hosting our fly-in, and everyone else for joining and contributing your stories and pictures.

  • tina thomas
    Posted at 07:47h, 17 May Reply

    Thanks to you Judy and your family for the inspiration and hard work behind LLT! We all so enjoy the fruit of your labor and love having the fun female contacts. We’re all role models for each other on how to do it right! I love all these crazy lady pilots!

  • Neroli Henwood
    Posted at 14:31h, 16 May Reply

    Thank you for bringing all these inspirational ladies together Judy! You do a fantastic job 🙂

    The internet makes the world a smaller place.

    Blue skies and tailwinds

    Neroli

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