Jacquie
Baby!
December 20 - Did you ever wonder, “what if”,
“if only” or “what would it be like”? Jacquie Warda’s thoughts of
flying go back to her childhood. Not many days passed in her young life
where dreams of flight didn’t linger. She was exposed to aviation at
the age of three. And as the saying goes, she grew up and life got in
the way of flight lessons early on, so she waited. She waited as
patiently as she could, but as the years passed, she awoke one morning
and decided “today was that day”. She enrolled in ground school by noon
and started that evening. The process had finally begun. Jacquie was
32 years old.
Jacquie trained in a Cessna 150 as many new pilots
do. She was also fortunate to have quite a few friends on her airport
(Felts Field, Spokane, Washington) who owned airplanes of a wide
variety. She was very good at “fence hanging” and was invited to ride
in most of them more than once on weekends. But one ride was the most
memorable. It was in a Pitts S-2B owned by a close friend who flew it
for fun. One ride on a clear Saturday afternoon composed of mostly
loops, rolls, upside-down or “down-side-up” and she was hooked for
life!
“There had to be more than just sitting in a
cockpit doing nothing while the plane goes straight ahead,” said
Jacquie. She had just found what she wanted to do between the take-offs
and landings! Finishing her Private Pilot program, receiving her
“ticket” in June of 1986 and she started the dreaming process again. It
was flying aerobatics. A lack of funds again prevented fulfillment of a
dream. She continued to fly when she could, whatever she could, and
dreamed of the day she could start aerobatic training. Eleven years
later, that dream came true. She soloed a Pitts S-2B on July 24, 1997
in Livermore, California. That was it, she was on her way!
“I never thought of myself as an aerobatic air show
pilot”, quipped Jacquie. She had attended air shows since she was six
weeks old! First seeing the Blue Angels fly in the late 1950’s and was
always excited to watch jets fly. A career in the Air Force was not in
the cards for her mostly since she was born too early and with less than
perfect eyesight. But the dreams never stopped. No matter the setback,
the dream perpetuates itself. Good thing too, since there were other
ways to get into the flying business. After learning to master basic
aerobatics, Jacquie wanted to learn more. She found Wayne Handley,
retired air show pilot extraordinaire, and started training with him at
his airport to fly competition aerobatics. “Wayne will always attest to
the great challenge that I was” says Warda. But she persevered and made
it through four years of competition winning many awards. But there was
more to learn about flying a Pitts, and after awhile, she wanted to
learn to tumble the airplane. So Wayne started teaching her some basic
air show maneuvers and the rest is history, as they say.
Jacquie flew her first air show the year she turned
50 years young! Now that is not exactly the norm in the air show
business, but what the heck! “It was time to fly an air show and I was
50! What else could I do but go fly it?” she said. That was in 2003,
the 100th anniversary of powered flight, a very special year
for Jacquie and the flying community. 
Jacquie is very much a ‘player’ in the air show
business now after four years but she says her next most important job
is mentoring. “The most important thing to do in life is to make sure
we teach others what we know and share the love of flight with those who
will take our places in the future. We must make sure we provide
opportunity to others of all ages if there is a desire. Many young
people will come along the way I did, paying for their flight lessons
one hour at a time. And yes, some will have their ‘ticket’ at 17. The
ones who need the help should never have trouble finding it.” Jacquie
is busy talking to school kids on Career Day, speaking to local civic
organizations in her area, and meeting and keeping in touch with young
air show fans all over the country. “I email as often as I can to keep
in touch with young kids who email me after watching me fly their air
show. I follow-up with posters and photos and just keeping contact
through email to show support and help offer encouragement. I know I
have been instrumental in the lives of several young people who are
taking flight lessons right now. I help them find contacts in their
area, offer suggestions about how to pay for flight lessons, etc. Young
girls are particularly encouraged when they see me fly. I guess at my
age, I’m the poster ‘child’ for anything is possible! 
Besides flying, Jacquie has been very active in
sports all her adult life. She plays golf, tennis, water and snow
skiing, skeet shooting, motorcycle riding, running, weight lifting and
swimming. She flies an average of 175 hours a year in her Pitts and
somehow manages to find time to play various other sports from time to
time. When asked how she manages her flying Jacquie said, “When a girl
only has 24 hours a day and 52 weekends each year, she has to work hard
at playing!”
Why does she call her business Jacquie B Airshows?
Because she’s Jacquie Baby!
Jacquie can be reached at 925.437.1330; email is
skyydnz@yahoo.com
and her website is
www.JacquieBairshows.com.
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