GIRL SCOUTS GET GLIMPSE OF POSSIBILITIES IN AVIATION

“November one tree one fife niner, that’s your name today,” RAF Ohio Liaison Christine Mortine said, as she escorted eight Girl Scouts on their own private tour of Columbus’s Ohio State University Airport, (KOSU).

Security clearance achieved, they walked by hangars and under the control tower, in anticipation of the place where  Christine’s C-185 “Songbird” and C-140 “Bluebird” are hangared.  

The girls examined all kinds of safety survival equipment, camping stuff and bicycles that fold up really small. The girls pondered things like elevation, altitude, and a body’s need for oxygen. They saw why Christine chose for her survival gear a knife that can punch an aircraft window and cut a safety belt. The girls gently pulled, pushed, and rolled the control yoke, which they discovered, in a C-185 is no small accomplishment.

After each girl learned and executed the 1-2-3-step climb up to inspect the fuel caps, they paused for a group photo, “which captured the excitement and, dare I say, empowerment of possibilities!” Christine said.

“What kind of plane is Songbird?” she asked. 

“Tailwheel!” They replied. And what is special about her?  

“Bush Plane!”  

Christine is also a DPE, CFII, MEI, and Trained Cirrus Instructor based at KOSU.

Submitted on September 26, 2018