Six girls from Mission’s Academy of Cheer Excellence (ACE) climbed in planes, talked to aviation experts, and learned about aerospace this past weekend at The Sky’s No Limit — Girls Fly Too event in Abbotsford.
“Our cheer girls lit up the tarmac with excitement and a thirst for knowledge,” said the academy’s Trina Greene.
The girls got a bird’s eye view of the Fraser Valley when they went up in helicopters.
“They sat in planes, they spoke to pilots, and many people in the aviation world,” added Greene. “They asked many questions and were allowed to be hands on…”
According to Greene, the young students learned about different careers available in the field and were most surprised to hear that men dominated the industry.
“More importantly, they met a whole lot of people who would be thrilled to change these statistics.”
The annual event honours Women of Aviation Worldwide Week and International Women’s Day, which was on March 8.
Out of 24,505 professional pilots in Canada, only 1,356 of them are women.
Out of 19,601 aircraft engineers, only 560 of them are women. Less than three per cent of the technical positions in the Royal Canadian Air Force, such as pilot or maintenance technician, are held by women.