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We are clear for takeoff. Roger, MetroTower, podcast002, lifting off. Welcome to another podcast of Women in Aviation. I am your host, Karen Hawkins, a retired corporate chef pilot.
Today I am going to be speaking with E-Fay Caldwell, who goes by FAY and E-Fay is an active EMS helicopter pilot. Welcome to Women in Aviation, Pass and Present. All right. Thank you.
Will you state your full name and position for me, please? Fay Caldwell. I came across your bio on our Women's Facebook page, Women in Aviation. I was just fascinated by the type of flying you do in that position because what occurred to me FAY is how, when I think back to my own career, those times when there's a cockpit emergency, the generator failure or an engine out or a storm to go around or win sure or whatever, how the intensity increases and you have to be so much more focused.
It just hit me when I saw your bio that you must be flying with that kind of, or needing to fly with that kind of focus and attention constantly in your line of work. Well, I guess you don't even do it that way. I guess that I don't find out it stands for most of our jobs. We always have a coal pilot that workload and that's probably the part of the party to show that workload and whether that craze them.
All of my corporate flying land was all in planes that required co-pilots. Now I did haul freight, single engine freight where I was buying myself and, oh yeah, I remember gear failures where I'm all by myself having to crank a gear down by hand in an old bin Ansel or whatever. Yeah. For the most part, most of my flying I did have that co-pilot.
And now since you mentioned also a military career, let's just kind of back up here before we go too far with the EMS thing. Tell me how you got started in aviation and then just kind of walk through a brief bio of how that progressed with the military experience and where you are today. I didn't have any knowledge of flying in all the time. And one day just, you know, just a fun flight with a guy they call it one office.
Sure. That's a good round boat on a flight. It was just pretty cool. I knew it was a no.
I first time going and began the rear. It's just been... How long did you stay on the military? 10 years after duty.
I am still currently in the National Guard. I've done some of those times as well. I would have to go from National Guard to where they had aviation. Okay.
Was your spouse on the military? We had an eight year old. Oh, beautiful. Beautiful.
When I was a corporate pilot back in the 70s, as you can imagine, I encountered numerous obstacles that were gender-based. Did you encounter obstacles that you felt were gender-based? And did you feel those obstacles were even greater for a black woman? Any questions?
I know. I think of a way to make the first experience I had that, you know, in flight school, I had the one who walked after the air. He was known for the... And he made a comment to me as we were walking after the aircraft and said you were a lot of people here who were on it.
Oh, wow. I can't say it's not the case. Oh, good for you. Good for you.
Yeah, I remember taxiing along one time in one of the U.S. and I was a Ex-Luford Motor Company and I was taxiing in one of their aircraft and I was the captain and I had a black co-pilot. And we were in the Converify V80, which was fairly large. And so these two guys passed us in their little twin beach or something, probably a little envious.
But they looked up and looked up in the cockpit and said, oh, looks like Ford's an equal opportunity employer. Oh. And I was like, I don't know that. Yeah, I just keep the mic and said, no, they just hire qualified pilots.
To me, that is the best comeback. And that's the best comeback we have. And that's the best comeback. I didn't let that stuff bother.
If people are not going to like me because of my skin and my gender is the case. They have a couple more to the world for me, but they actually today. Oh, thank you for saying that because I've always felt like sometimes I just overreacted and was way too much a was about dealing with some of those situations. I'm glad to hear that wasn't the only one.
Sometimes I've learned that sometimes the best way to deal with something is not to be that is. Right. And some people look at that as just really in that. I was in that something.
So describe for me a day in the life of an EMS helicopter pilot. It's not with a busy day, so it's more interesting. I was asking for the basic butter. Right.
Right. Having, you know, I was kind of, so we just get them there. But then it was. I'm myself a glorified bus driver.
I said, just, I, mine's got wings. It's no big deal. So I hear what you say. I'm telling you.
All that, all that. And trust it. And because they don't have the chance to be back there worrying about what we're doing and they're trusting us to do it by ourselves. The question often is, is it that what you have to always say calm, you always have to be said it because any.
So, you know, we've always got to have. Oh, that's, that's great. A good training is invaluable. What do you find most fulfilling?
Most is knowing that I am doing something that really makes it. You sure are. Yes, you are. I'm flying military helicopter.
Just doing a little stuff is cool. You know, army helicopter is our fun to fly. And we get to do a lot more maneuvering. We get to do a lot more doing flying stuff like that.
You know, we get to be a lot more aggressive. But when there's a job, I get more of a sense of comfortable thing that it's a career that I don't know who said, but find the job you like. You never have to look at it. That's, that's great.
That's amazing. Do you think people treat you differently when they find out you're a pilot? Yeah. Yeah.
You're just going to give me the yes for that one. You know when I noticed it the most back in the early days in the 70s. And I was still single meeting men and dating. It was, you know, if they were a school teacher and you were a pilot, they just kind of walked away like, like, I don't know.
They thought you were above them or they weren't good enough or you were something. It was quite frustrating. I thought. Well, thank you.
No, it's not in any regard, but. And you never want to open up with, hey, I'm a pilot thing. Right. Oh, I do.
I know. So they, what's the funniest experience you've had on your job? I have to say flying around with my flight group, we tend to fly around all female groups. It's unusual for us, even in my company.
They're on a 30 minute loop, aren't they? Or not? You know, just hope, hope nothing bad happens in that 30 minute segment. Exactly.
You have fun. That's great. And it's encouraging to hear that you are flying with a number of other women. That's a good thing.
I was surprised looking at the, at the Facebook page of women, aviators, the number of comments from, from female pilots who have encountered girls and young ladies who didn't even think it was an option. They're going to be a pilot. I thought really I believe that in the 70s, but I didn't think it would still be that way today. I was going to run into, they knew from a young age, they wanted to fly to me.
Yeah. You know, that's why I do tend to try to get the situation, you know, the choices. You know, you know, you know, I'm not a pilot, well guess what? I have just, I didn't fly cool.
We, I even, wow. There's a name, but I don't see it. I saw that. I saw that.
I saw that. I did see that. Yeah, the whole, the husband and the son, the mother and the daughter, all pilots. Yeah, that was, that was awesome.
That was great. Do you have any more specific advice or encouragement you would give to women who want to enter maybe specifically your career field? I know it probably sounds funny, but I say just never give up. Right.
You just keep looking at me. What do you think you can do? Something you want to do? You know, plug away.
I'm the answer. Not at all. That's, that's what everybody wants. When I did the podcast survey, the ladies want to hear stories from other ladies and anecdotes, good and bad.
So you go right ahead. Yeah. Well, I just, I just unfortunately the easiest way to build them is in the middle, you know, right? And, and right now where I got, because, right?
Well, here's a probably one of the. Yeah, they're not. I mean, I, I have mixed feelings about the whole affirmative action thing because I'm sure that I got hired into my position initially because of affirmative action. And yet it's probably that very thing that would make two guys taxiing by in another airplane look up and wonder if you're really qualified or if you're just there because of affirmative action.
You know, I wish people. That's a tough topic. It's a tough topic. Like I said, I wouldn't be a longer one for me.
Yeah, we won't do that one. Say, is there anything else I haven't asked you about that you'd especially like to share? I would say that, you know, she's getting a better life. She's opening me.
You have to be totally gone for two weeks. Well, my job where I work is hour and 50 minutes away. So we basically live on base. We do seven days on seven days off.
I see. And with the hour, we look seven and just edit. So by the time I would complete that hour and a half drive home and then it's a tough thing. So I say, you know, balance your dreams with your family life because everything is set in time there.
Yeah. I'll tell you a favor. That is the topic that I got the most requests for when I did the podcast survey to find out what the ladies on fast would like to hear about. It was balancing balancing family and work.
It's a tough part of the job. And I do look at the fact that I have to be able to, you know, pay for the time it makes sense. Right. So it's going to work.
It's going to be a job easier. Right. You bring to mind, I spoke with a counselor one time. And I was still flying and I had a three year old and she said to me that the greatest gift her parents and her mother in particular gave her was to pursue her own dreams to be selfish, to not to be gone when she needs to because you're setting an example.
And now your girl is going to grow up knowing that it's okay to take time for herself and pursue her dreams. I'm going to make something to leave it out. You are so welcome. Like I said, that is the biggest topic that the ladies want to hear about.
So I'm glad we dug into it a little bit and covered a few more things in that area. Anything else, babe? Oh, thank you. Thank you for the consideration of the interest.
You know, I appreciate it. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with all of us and you are cleared for departure. Sound effects by Marcia Myers at friezound.org.