[Music] From Kansas roots to sky high dreams.

Today's conversation is all about women in aviation.

This week on inspire, we spotlight fearless women navigating the skies and inspiring the next generation.

Coming up next on Inspire.

[Music] Inspire is sponsored by the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation and by the estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith.

[Music] Hello.

Welcome to inspire.

We have a lively show coming up today.

My wonderful co-host, of course, Leslie Fleuranges and Danielle Norwood.

And we are talking aviation today.

This is a perfect place to do it because we've had Amelia Earhart, as you know, Kansas is known as the air capital.

Women are a powerful part of that legacy.

Women aviators continue to prove the sky is no longer the limit.

It's just the beginning.

Helping us to learn more about this fascinating topic we’re joined by Joyce Parker, who is a retired pilot and Air Force veteran, and Kevin Drewelow, Director for the Combat Air Museum.

Thank you both for being on Inspire with us today.

Thanks for having us.

I'm excited because you know, Amelia Earhart's museum and childhood home is just right up the road from us.

I would like to know how her legacy affected you.

If it did, especially now that I know that you're from out of state New York, shout out to the Empire State.

But I would like to know how you got into aviation.

And if her legacy was somehow a piece of that.

Well, when I retired from the military and came to Topeka and found out that Amelia was just right at her home, her birth place was just right up the street in Atchison.

I was excited about that.

Amelia.

She was She influenced me some in aviation, but also Bessie Coleman.

I'll talk about her later.

But, you know, knowing that Amelia is from around here.

I visited that museum many times.

Her museum up there, and she now has a new hangar museum up there that, opened up a few years ago, but she.

Amelia, was so pivotal in aviation for women.

You know, when she flew the first powderpuff derby.

Derby back in 1931.

And then she organized a organization called the Ninety-Nines which is an organization of women pilots and to inspire, to encourage, because, you know, it was a man's.

It is a man's world.

And after they flew that first race, she wanted to, you know, bring women together and support women in aviation.

And so, so she has influenced me.

It's wonderful.

So, you know, I can't help but to, think about the rescue that just happened of the pilot that went down there and Iran.

And, you know, we don't know still, if it's a man or a woman, and we don't know that the rescuer is with men or women but wo men in the military and women in the Air Force today, I think, are doing great things.

Is there anything that is going to stop that trajectory of having women be such a force?

I don't think so.

The best examples, point to I can't remember that her first name, last name was cook aboard Artemis 2 Right now, they just set the record for traveling the greatest distance.

That says a lot.

Look no further here in town than, Colonel Durkes Marjorie Durkes, who's the wing commander of the 190th refueling wing.

Women can do anything in Air Force.

Anything in aviation.

That men can.

And, I don't see anything stopping that.

Well, I love hearing you say that.

Now, Joyce.

I love the name of your plane.

And there's a special reason it's named that.

Because you do many wonderful things in the name of religion.

Will you tell us the name of your plane and what you do?

Okay, well, the name of my plane is Joy Bird two, I named it.

I used to have another plane that was Joy bird one.

But, one of the things that I do in aviation using aviation is, travel around and leave Bibles in airport lounges for pilots, you know, around the country.

And so, I belong to an organization called Pilots for Christ.

And what we do is help people who we offer, rides, flights to people who can't afford to fly, primarily for medical missions and so forth.

We we take people down to either MD Anderson or up to, Rochester, Minnesota a lot of times, or children's hospitals or whatever.

So we get people through pilots for Christ, we get people to, contact us, and then we if they can't afford, you know, transportation, we provide them free transportation.

Usually it's, pilots, private pilots with their own airplanes, their own fuel.

And we donate that, you know, to, to people.

So and in doing that, I also, wherever we go, I leave Bibles, wherever I fly to, I leave Bibles in, the airport lounges and stuff.

And so that's my way of helping to spread the gospel and to spread joy.

Yes, yes yes, yes, yes.

Beautiful thing you were doing.

I want to go back to how you started, though.

How does a little black girl in New York decide I want to be a pilot?

Like, who were your inspirations?

You mentioned Bessie.

Who is she and what gave you the impetus?

And, you know, your family support, obviously, to get into the field of aviation.

So when I grew up on Long Island, New York, and actually Long Island is called the cradle of aviation, and Long Island is where, Charles Lindbergh, he flew.

He left from Long Island, which was ten minutes from where I lived in Long Island.

Wow.

I wasn't there when he did it.

That was way back in the 20s.

But, it's now a mall.

But he left there.

But Long Island known as the Cradle of Aviation.

So when I was a little girl growing up, the the flight path into JFK went right over my house.

And I'm just I have love the sky.

You know, I think about creation, but I love the sky.

And I just remember as a little girl those planes flying over my home.

And so when I was 16, I took my very first plane ride.

And after I got out, I went to Alabama with my girlfriend.

I always had a job, so I always had money.

So I asked my parents, can I go, you know, yeah, you can go.

So I flew with my girlfriend to Alabama, 16 years old, and I was just fascinated with the airplane, everything.

I wanted to be a stewardess.

I didn’t even want to be a pilot.

That wasn't even on my radar and everything.

So I applied to the airlines.

You know, after I graduated high school, nobody accepted me.

So then I joined the Air Force on a whim one day.

And that's the rest of the story.

Three I met these recruiters at a Chinese takeout, and three days later, I signed up to go into the Air Force.

Oh, that's a blast.

Oh, and I never looked back.

And I was on delayed enlistments, for eight months.

Didn't have a job, didn't have, you know, didn't have a military job yet, but I was on enlistment, so.

And I was 92 pounds at the time and they said, can you gain 8 pounds?

And so I gained 8 pounds in that nine months.

And I went to basic training on December 5th, 1984, weighing 100 pounds.

Wow.

And I went into the Air Force.

And so being around planes all the time, you know, I was just fascinated with, you know, planes.

But, what made me become a pilot was I was teaching a class while I was in the military.

I was teaching a class in Hawaii one year, and I had a student.

Her name was Elizabeth, and she was a pilot.

I'm like, well, if she can do it, I can do it.

And so my path after that was just, you know, I waited a few years and then I started learning how to fly.

Everywhere I was stationed.

I always said, I'm going to I'm not going to leave here until I do something, you know?

So I got my undergraduate degree when I was stationed in Germany.

I got my master's degree when I was stationed in Belgium.

And then I came to the States, and I was stationed in Washington, DC and I said, I am not leaving here until I get a pilot's license.

And that's how my journey started the week before 9-11 in Washington, DC.

No, that's when I started learning how to fly.

Gosh, yes.

Oh, there's so much more hang in there.

It's from history to hands on learning.

Programs like Girls in Aviation Day and Future Pilots of America are making waves.

Or we should say air flow.

We learn more about the opportunities available to women in aviation.

Coming up.

Please stay with us.

We.

[Music] [Music continues] And we're back to continue our discussion with the inspiring Joyce Parker local pilot and retired Air Force veteran, and Kevin Drewelow, director of the Combat Air Museum.

So, Kevin, I don't want to keep you out of the conversation.

I just have to mention that my family is coming for a reunion in September, and we're considering coming to the Combat Air Museum.

I have to admit, I haven't been, tell me what's wonderful about it, and I think I read somewhere that you just had some new, exhibits join the museum.

We're about to have a new exhibit joining the museum on April 18th.

Will unveil a new display about a young man from Lebo, Kansas, who was on the Doolittle Raid, just a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

American bombers took off from a Navy carrier and bombed Japan.

And as young man from Lebo was on the last airplane to depart the deck, and the 80 some crew members, about eight of them, were captured when they they had to launch early and ran out of fuel as they got near China.

Harold Spots was his name.

He was one of three who were tried and then executed.

Oh,!

Exactly.

And so that's a remarkable story, a story that's long overdue being told in our museum.

And so that'll be in place.

There'll be a lot of other things for your family to see.

47 airplanes in two hangars.

And if we know you're coming, we'll we'll line up a tour guide.

No pressure.

Go to our museum, and we're happy to have her So you know, you said that you joined one week before 9/11.

So is there a specific memory or something that you can tell about your service that that really impacted You know, I started flying flying the week before.

The week before.

Yes, yes.

It was in Washington DC.

I was, reassigned.

I worked in the white House.

I was reassigned from Germany to work in the white House and, President's Emergency Operations Center and so, and, and like I said, I said, I'm not leaving Washington until I get a pilot's license, you know, and that was my goal.

And so I went and started at Fort Meade, Maryland.

They have a flying club.

And but that's where I started the week before 9/11.

And then of course, 9/11 happened.

And then we were grounded.

I couldn't do any more training.

I mean, the world changed.

We all know the world changed after 9/11.

And so and especially there in Washington.

And so the airspace was shut down, you know, there was no flying.

But then we I picked back up at the end of October.

That's when my training picked back up and stuff.

So I did a lot of training there in D.C.

I mean, it was tense because they were, you know, they were, reconfiguring the airspace and the security and the rules, you know, for flying.

And here this little is trying to learn how to fly an airplane in that, you know, but it was a good it was good training.

It was wonderful training.

And I had friends here in Kansas that, like, you trained in Washington, DC, you know, and it's crazy because, you know, normal training, you don't start right away.

It depends on where you are, but you don't start right away.

Talking to air traffic control.

But day one, I was talking to air traffic learning how to talk to air traffic control and stuff.

So it's huge.

Learning how to fly is huge.

I'm sure it is.

I don't have aspirations for that.

But I admire both of you all for that.

Tell me about of course, things have changed over time in terms of women's roles in aviation.

I want to get both of your perspectives about some of the opportunities and some of the challenges that women still face.

And I'm going to start with you, Kevin, Well.

I don't think there, objective barriers because women can do anything in civil and military aviation.

There may be some resistance from, from some folks who look back on how things used to be and think, those are the good old days.

Personally, I gotta say that as a licensed airplane mechanic and inspector and private pilot, that some of the best mechanics I've worked with were women that were in the 190th Air Refueling Wing, and good help is good help.

And that's the important part.

Yeah.

And, so yeah, you might run into you will run into some folks that may have a problem with this or that, but it's not it's not the rules that say... women can fly combat they're in space.

We can do anything they want.

And, just got to get after it.

?

???

And honestly, so I started in 2001.

Now in 2026 or 25.

I honestly, I have not run into barriers with flying now I can go places and be with a guy and then they always talk to the guy.

They think he's the pilot, you know, and everything, but I really haven't, you know, I haven't experienced anything that I think people are more fascinated, you know, and then of course, being African American to0... 1%, less than 1% of all licensed pilots are African American females, very small, very small, group in there, 4% of African American pilots, you know, male and female.

So we we just aren't represented, you know, well in the aviation, but there are opportunities.

And so I think a lot of the barriers or the opportunities are self-imposed.

You know, there just aren't a lot of female, black female girls that want to fly.

They don't think of it.

They don't.

They just don't think they that's not even something they think of.

They think that's for guys or for, you know, black guys or whatever, but they just don't think of it.

So I'm trying to you know, so we can do it.

You know, we still can do it.

And thank you for inspiring because again, you know, you got to see something in order to know that you could be something.

So, being here with us today certainly is a step in that direction, and I appreciate you for it.

So tell me then, is there anything, from an education standpoint?

So is it heavy math, heavy engineering and order to become a pilot?

I always wondered about that.

Is that maybe why a lot of women don't do it?

Because, you know, they always say that, you know, we're not the best in math or whatever.

That's so not true.

But no, I mean, I mean, you do need that.

You do need all of that.

And, you know, when I started, I was 44 when I started learning how to fly.

Well, 44 and I'm like, oh my goodness, you know, but you can do it.

I mean, you know, and nowadays with technology and advancement and education, I mean, it's it's doable.

It's not you know, there is not that like years ago when the guys were using sextants to, you know, off the stars to figure out where, you know, but nowadays we have GPS as we have, you know, so it's not as heavy math and science as it used to be, but you still have to learn a lot.

You know, you do have to know physics and you do have to understand, you know, a lot of the scientific stuff, but it's not, you know, unattainable.

Right?

You can do it.

And Kevin, out at the Combat Air Museum, you actually have things for like scouting and other ways for women and girls to come out and experience it.

We do.

We put on, on, on request we put on, well it used to be Bo Scouts out, scouting USA, Scouting America?

Scouting America we put on aviation merit badge class.

It's a lot of fun.

The troop comes out and it's a busy day.

There's a lot to learn and a short period of time, but then they they're able to complete the requirements, complete the interview, and we watch a flying movie afterwards after dinner.

And then the scouts all get to sleep in the helicopter in the building.

You do that the best.

The best part of the whole point.

Back to to Joyce.

Last, last winter, we hosted a class, and I didn't know until I arrived that it was too small troops, all all girls, all females.

So the girls show up with their moms, and I'm thinking Joyce needs to meet them.

And they had to be the coldest day in January.

And she came out in the evening and chat with the girls and talk about air racing.

I'm getting ahead of things, but that was great.

So we do the aviation air badge class.

We put on two week long, summer camps for kids ,called Young Aviators, and we've got great neighbors on the airfield.

We do things at our airfield, at our museum.

We go visit the Army National Guard, and we get to climb all over a Black Hawk helicopter.

We go down to the to the 190th and get to tour a KC 135 and fly the boom simulator.

We get to visit the control tower and learn how controllers help keep pilots safe and separated, talking radio, all that sort of thing.

And visit Million Air So the kids can learn how when you land at the airport, where do you go for fuel, your rental car maintenance, storage, things like that.

So it's important because it's more difficult now to find a way to get kids through the gate at the airport and get to go out and see an airplane and do that.

And then, of course, girls and aviation and my favorite day at the museum.

It's so much fun.

And it speaks directly to the way little girls can meet women who are flying and fixing and supporting aviation, military and civilian.

See someone who's doing it already and realize there's no glass ceiling there, that if you want to fly, you can.

And, when we had girls in aviation day last year, it's we had a trainer from, Laughlin Air Force Base come up.

And young lady flying at had just completed her training.

And the Air Force has a program where they immediately rotate those students into learning to be flight instructors.

She couldn't have been more enthusiastic to be in her airplane, and so excited to have little girls come up the ladder and point and talk and this and that.

And we had to bring her into the hangar for five minutes, talk to some media.

And she didn't want to.

She wanted to stay out there with the little girls.

she came in.

But but it's so much fun.

Again free admission that day.

And that's how little girls we let boys in too.

That's how little girls, girls of all ages can meet women who are already doing it all.

And if that's what they're interested in now they've met someone.

Now they've got a hero to look up to and and maybe start the start the interest going.

Oh, I love when you said there was no glass ceiling.

Yeah.

That was inspirational.

No, no real businesses that are in space.

Their engineers are doing everything that's got a, like Joyce said you gotta decide that's what I want to do.

I'm going to go do it.

Even at age 44.

That's so wonderful.

Kevin and Joyce, thank you so mu for being on with us today.

I'm inspired.

I don't know about you, but if you have girls in your family, people that you know that would be interested in being in aviation, please hook up with these two because they certainly will get you fired up to go and explore the friendly skies.

We have so much more that we want to catch everybody else up on in our next discussion point.

So please stay with us.

[Music] [Music continues] We're back with our amazing pilot, Joyce Parker and Kevin Drewelow from the Combat Air Museum.

We love you guys.

Thank you so much.

We need to talk about a very special veteran who started a very special program at Billard.

Well, one of the best kept secrets in town is the a Aviation Explorer Post, the oldest explorer post in America.

It's out of Billard Airport.

And Charlie Carpenter, a Navy veteran, started that post right after World War two.

And still around today.

And, kids can... boys and girls age 14 can join.

And by the time they're done with the program, they leave with their private parts license and save a lot of money and learn a lot to get world class and instructors they meet on Saturday mornings.

You can just go out there, drive through the big scary pass, a big scary sign that says restricted area.

It's open on.

It's open.

When the gates open.

go to the back to the explorer post hangar.

Ask for a tour Go online to look at Aviation Explorer post eight.

And, it's a magnificent program.

Superb.

And it needs we need to work a little hard to help get the word around.

So superb program for boys and girls.

Absolutely women.

When you start out, how old are the kids when they start out?

They’re fourteen.

Megan, went through that program too, Megan Ryan went through that.

And so Megan Ryan, she actually was going to be my race partner the last year she was going, but that didn't work out.

But Megan started at that Air Explorer post, got her license from there.

And then she went up to and she's building hours.

Once you get your license because she wants to be a professional pilot, she wants to be a mission pilot, but you have to build hours.

And so she went up to Quincy, Illinois to and she was working for TSA.

She was a TSA agent, but she was building her hours So she got her commercial license.

She got her multi-engine license.

And she about three weeks ago she was called by Southern Air and, they have a caravan.

It's a bigger, bigger airplane.

And so she's going to be going there to become a first officer.

And she got a license in the Air Explorer Post and now she's headed for being a professional pilot.

Yeah.

That's so that's so cool.

So then the other cool thing that you were telling us just before we came back is the, program that you were, talking about with TCALC.

Joyce, can you tell us a little bit about that?

So right now I teach at, International Academy.

It's a private Christian school.

And our principal there said we have to start an aviation program.

So I am not an instructor yet.

And, I'm working on becoming an, a flight instructor.

But in the meantime, I started a ground program because you have to have a lot of knowledge.

Ground knowledge before you can actually even get in the plane to start flight and everything.

So I started a program, and I got my students through TCALC One of my students I love, I got her through TCALC I went to the high schools, and then when I went to Topeka, I said, we'll go over to speak to Laura Nichols at TCALC.

And I hadn't I hadn't even heard of TCALC.

And I went over there and I was amazed at what they offer at TCALC you know, for students for 11th and 12th graders that, you know, have desires of a vocation that they want, whether it's legal, whether it's police, whatever.

And aviation is one of the programs they have there.

And so, I've got a young, young lady who's graduating next month, with her degree, with her, diploma from TCALC through Topeka High.

But she has started in the aviation program, and so she's going through her ground school now and she eventually wants to be a pilot herself.

So that's awesome.

[Music] Unfortunately, that's all the time we have today.

There's so much more that we could cover But we hope you learned a lot and you've been inspired by today's conversations.

And as a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org And if you are so inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what's coming up on future shows and get access to additional content.

Be sure to visit us at ktwu.org/inspire Inspiring women, inspiring Top Gun aviators, inspiring everyone to stay inspired and to keep reaching for the sky and inspiring you right here on KTWU.

And we thank you for watching.

[Music continues] Inspire is sponsored by the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation and by the estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith.