Hi 'Coupe Groupe! I had a call this morning from Jessica Cox in Arizona; she solo'd! She is the young woman born without arms that has been determined to learn to fly. <www.rightfooted.com> She trained at first with Glen Davis in his 'Coupe in FL & then last year with him in my Sky Sprite in L.A.. After another year of trying to find a 'Coupe whose controls were in the best position for her, she resumed her training this spring with 'Couper Parrish Traweek in the Tucson area, where she lives.
All her family & friends & videographers were out at the airport yesterday, but she didn't feel quite on top of it enough. Then at 6 a.m. today -- with no one around but one of Parrish's other students -- he told her "give me 5 good landings and you can solo." So she did it! And the other student caught it on Jessica's own videocam, so I'm sure we'll get to see film eventually. (When she was here last year, the Oprah show expressed interest in having exclusive film, so we may not get to see it right away.) What I was happiest to hear was that she used her judgment well and did a "go 'round" on the first attempt, then got into good control of airspeed and everything for a real landing on the second attempt. I've heard that Glen is out of the country at the moment, so I took the liberty of posting this so everyone knows of her success. She believes it is the first time an armless woman has solo'd a plane -- yay for the Ercoupe! And a big YAY for Jessica!!! Linda 3437H (Sky Sprite) L.A.
