Help Wendy Finish Her Private Pilot License!

Wendy Rover wants to fly.

In the early months of 2022, Wendy fell so much in love with flying that she decided to make it her next career. Wendy became interested in aviation through learning about the potential of Electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (EVTOL) aircraft, how they can revolutionize the next generation of air travel and help to change a high pollution/high carbon footprint industry into a zero-emission industry. Ultimately, Wendy would like to work in the EVTOL industry as a pilot and flight instructor. To do this though, she must complete her Private Pilot License, Instrument Certificate, Commercial Certificate, and Certified Flight Instructor rating.

As a woman pilot, especially as one who is starting her career later in her life, her goal is to support and encourage others, particularly women, of ALL ages that they can follow their aviation dreams. In addition to working towards her professional certification and eventually instructing, Wendy is currently working with the Amelia Earhart Foundation and Women in Aviation International in their leadership and mentoring programs. Right now she is a volunteer and a mentee and she is looking forward to serving as a mentor for up-and-coming women aviators.

Wendy has a history of finding a passion and working with utmost dedication towards learning and mastering the skills to become a professional at it. Her 20+ year henna career has included not only working with clients and event producers but also volunteer mentoring, instructing and coaching artists at all levels of development. Her dedication to teaching even prompted her to form a locally focused artist conference in 2019, which without covid’s intervention would have been an annual event.

Learning to Fly Costs Money.

Ground School - Wendy was honored to participate in Joby Aviation’s beta testing for their Part 141 Flight Academy Ground School both in the Spring of 2022 and Fall 2022. This means that she did not have to pay for ground school at all (usually a $500-700 expense). It also means that she became more familiar with EVTOL systems as well as traditional general aviation knowledge.

Private Pilots Licence (PPL) - this is the hardest portion of aviation training, both to accomplish and to estimate the cost. The FAA minimum flight hours to earn a Private Pilot License is 45 hours at a cost of $12K-$16K. The national average to master the skills required for the PPL is between 80 and 100 hours at an expected cost of $20K-$35K. The national average rate of attrition for aspiring new pilots is approximately 80%. This large discrepancy in funding expectations has a lot to do with it.

Wendy has already completed 63 hours of flying time, and many hours of ground instruction time. This has come to a running total of $18,600 out of pocket so far. Her estimated total, after having completed approximately 2/3 of her training, is going to come to approximately $25,000, right in the middle of the national average.

She has the following remaining:

8 hours of dual instruction ($255/hr)

12 hours of solo flight time ($192/hr)

15 hours of ground time ($63/hr)

As well as

FAA written exam ($175)

Aviation Medical Examination First Class ($125)

FAA Practical exam (check-ride) ($1600)

Scholarships:

She has already met the requirements for application or applied for scholarship funding through:

Airplane Owners and Pilots Association

The Amelia Earhart Foundation

Women in Aviation International

Experimental Aviation Association

Scholarship funds are paid out after the completion of certifications and will be extremely helpful in paying toward the remaining costs of becoming a professional pilot. They will not, however, be available for Wendy to complete her Private Pilot Certification.

Additionally, as soon as Wendy completes her PPL, she plans to apply as a candidate for the Pilot Development Program offered by Horizon/Alaska Airlines. This program offers mentorship, special training events, and stipends upon completion of advanced certification milestones for Instrument and Commercial ratings, as well as a signing bonus upon completion of flight hours required for Airline Transport Pilot Rating. Wendy is planning on traveling to American Flyers Flight Academy in Scottsdale, AZ to get her instrument rating this spring, and returning there to get her Commercial and CFI ratings in the fall. She is in the process of securing student loans to pay for that training.

From the beginning of her flight training, Wendy has continued to run her henna business, Roving Horse Henna, resurging post-covid. She intends to continue all aspects of operating that business until the end of Summer 2024. This allows her to continue supporting herself through her art while she completes her training and starts her work as a Certified Flight Instructor. While her services and products have and will continue to help fund her flight career goals, saved and budgeted funds are running out, and this is why we are asking for your support.

All the ways you can support Wendy!

You can: