DAYTON, Ohio — As you watch the CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show this weekend, you’re going to see a plane not like the rest and flown by a pilot unlike the others.
Jacquie B., who is an aerobatics pilot, said, “I had always wanted to fly.” “Someone took me for a ride and took me upside down and I was instantly hooked,” she said.
She is the only female aerobatic pilot at the air show this year, and one of the only few in the sport.
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“There are very few women. It’s very extreme flying so not many women are interested in this kind of flying and it’s kind of too bad because its incredibly rewarding,” Jacquie B. said.
According to Jacquie B., just like any sport, it’s taken years of practice to get where she is. She’s had coaches both in the air and on the ground, helping her to perfect different stunts.
She said, “I’m gong to do some really cool flippy stuff then I’ll turn around and come back and do another flippy thing. I’m just going to go back and forth in the box and fly some wild aerobatic suff. I’m literally going to swap end for end with the airplane straight up at an angle.”
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Jacquie B. is a solo pilot, sharing the sky with no one. She jets through the air in her eye-catching bright red plane, decorated with glitter and stars.
“Aviation is still a man’s world,” she said.
Showing little girls everywhere that even in a man’s world, what women are truly capable of.
“I hope my inspiration to anyone, women, young girls is that if I can do what I do, you can do whatever you want to do,” she said.
Jacquie B. will join the U.S. Army Golden Knights to open the show. You can see her performance later in the air show on both Saturday and Sunday.