NBAA is supporting an epic round-the-world solo flight by Afghanistan’s first female civilian pilot, Shaesta Waiz, who founded a project called “Dreams Soar” in 2014. Her plan is to make the 25,000-mile trip in a Beech Bonanza starting next spring, making 30 stops in 18 countries, and completing the journey in 90 days.
Dreams Soar is a non-profit organization whose goal is to partner with strong female role models along the route of Shaesta’s flight, which will begin and end at Daytona Beach Airport in Florida. Other U.S. stops will be made (not necessarily in this order) in Hilo, Hawaii; El Cajon, California; Phoenix; Wichita; Columbus, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cincinnati, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; and Mobile, Alabama. International stops will be made first in Canada, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
At a launch event at NBAA 2016 on Tuesday morning, other exhibitors and attendees were invited to join NBAA as a Global Partner in the Dreams Soar initiative, which has ambitions go well beyond Waiz’s flight. “The global solo flight is only one chapter of the Dreams Soar program,” said Lyndse Costabile, who chairs the initiative’s board of directors.
Waiz, who was born in a refugee camp in Afghanistan in 1987–fleeing to the U.S. with her parents to escape the Soviet-Afghan war–will join Costabile as keynote speakers at the Careers in Business Aviation Day being held at NBAA 2016 on Thursday. Dreams Soar has established a “Dream Team” of college students and young professionals who will be helping in areas such as corporate relations, social media, organizing outreach events, and various others.
Longtime NBAA member Lou C. Seno, Jr. and his wife Christine have supported Waiz since the beginning and helped her to acquire the aircraft for the trip, a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, while also supporting her flight training. Lou Seno is also on the boards of EAA and GAMA. “Waiz, through our support and others, will no doubt complete her mission in 2017, propelling this industry forward,” he said. Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Booth 2986) comes to NBAA 2016 with a host of exciting projects to share with convention attendees. Over the weekend, the school held an open house in Daytona Beach, where it announced that it will be working collaboratively with regional airline Silver Airways and the state of Florida on a professional pilot apprenticeship and internship (PPAI) grant program, focusing on the need to increase the number and quality of pilots earning undergraduate aviation degrees and professional pilot certifications. The program is supported by $2 million grant approved earlier this year in Gov. Rick Scott’s Florida First 2016-17 budget. The school has also brought a student’s initiative, the nonprofit Dreams Soar, to the show. NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen announced this week that the association is a global partner with the nonprofit, which is led by 29-year-old Shaesta Waiz and inspires women and minorities to aspire to careers in aviation, science, technology, engineering and math. Waiz intends to fly an A36 Bonanza solo in 18 countries around the globe as part of that mission. She will do the trip solo because “girls need to see living aviation female role models,” Waiz said, noting The Teaching Women to Fly research project conducted by Penny Hamilton, PhD. Waiz, the first certified woman pilot from Afghanistan, wants to be that role model and share her story to inspire others. “Every time I open the door of an aircraft, I wonder how a girl with my background could become so lucky. The truth is that anyone can be me,” said Waiz, who was born in an Afghan refugee camp in 1987. Waiz will be a keynote speaker at the NBAA Career Day on Thursday, along with Lyndse Costabile, chairman of the Dreams Soar board of directors and a principle donor to the initiative.