Photo courtesy of Pete Sanchez
My mom, Nettie (Sanchez) Myers, inspired me to become a pilot when she won the Sportsmans category IAC National Championship in 1979. She was the first woman to win. She flew a Pitts S 2 A owned by John Morrissey and had only had her pilots license for 2 years.
I have many fond memories of her flying my brother, sister, and me in a Grumman tiger to the Black Hills, or following my dad while he was flying a VariEze. She was a great pilot and I learned a lot from her about courage.
Photo courtesy of Pete Sanchez
My mom taught me that, with practice and dedication, that goals can be accomplished. My mom landed that Squirrley S2-A on a 30 foot wide asphalt runway in Tea, South Dakota when she was just 34 years old. Many of you Pitts drivers know that is no easy task. Not too many nine-year-old boys can say that their mom took them for an airplane ride and "swooshed down and did loops and rolls." I am very proud of my mom, and value of her belief in me and her encouragement to be the best that I could be.
I now get to fly her in my RV-10, but I make sure she sits right next to me!
Thanks Mom!
Pete
