Central Alberta was well represented at the Northern Lights Aero Foundation Awards Gala for Canadian women held Oct. 4, 2024 in Toronto.
Four of the award recipients were from Alberta, including Sherry Cooper and Cassandra Hepp.
Hepp is the Lead Aircraft Maintenance Engineer for Heavy Aero in Edmonton. She received the Rising Star Award.
Cooper wears many hats including Director of Student Services, Chief Flight Instructor, Pilot Examiner, and President of Flying With Sky Wings Aviation Academy Ltd. based out of the Red Deer Regional Airport. She was presented with the Education Award,
Cooper grew up in Ryley, AB, east of Edmonton, moving to the Red Deer area in 1980. She was working for a coal exploration company in Red Deer and got laid off in the early 80's, when she decided to give flying a try after hearing an air traffic report on the radio.
At the time, there weren't a lot of women involved in the industry.
"That's been changing and I hope I've been making some of that change as well," she commented. "I did that very first flight and I was hooked."
Related stories:
- Local women recognized for outstanding achievements in aviation
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Cooper, who is a Class 1 instructor, has spent over 19,000 hours in the air, including over 16,000 hours of instructing.
"Instructing is what my passion is and the ability to help somebody else to see that 'aha moment' or go on their very first solo flight and being part of that is really quite rewarding. In terms of the flying, sometimes we get caught up in all of the things that are going on around us but when I leave the ground and I look back and I realize everything's actually kind of small and so are my problems. I find it helps put things in perspective for me."
Cooper was one of the first female air bosses. She believes aviation is an industry well-suited for women.
"Certainly when I asked the question in 1983, my instructor said women make the best pilots and really great instructors and at that point I took that as gospel and ran with it. He's right. Women can be very, very good at this, especially from an instructing perspective. It's about tuning into what your student is thinking and feeling and whether or not they're listening or engaging with what you're doing. I think because we can tune into that, I think women do really well at it."
Both Cooper and Hepp were involved in the Girls in Aviation Day at the Red Deer Regional Airport in September.
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