AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2019 - 128

PILOTS TAILWHEELS AND HEELS

Judy Birchler
The lady still loves taildraggers
B Y J I L L W. TA L L M A N

LOGBOOK

Taildraggers left a stiletto and
a thank-you note at each FBO
visited during the 2018 flyout.
Some of those shoes are still
on display.

IF YOU SEE AN AMERICAN CHAMPION
DECATHLON on the ramp with a pair of sti-

128 | AOPA PILOT April 2019

This year's Ladies Love Taildraggers fly-in will be held October 3 through 6 at Natchitoches Regional Airport (IER) in Natchitoches, Louisiana. For more information or to
register, visit the website (www.ladieslovetaildraggers.com).

JOHN BRAGG

letto shoes planted next to it, the airplane and
the shoes might belong to Judy Birchler of
Indianapolis.
Ladies Love Taildraggers-the online
community Birchler founded so that she
could meet other women who share her passion for conventional-gear airplanes-turns
10 years old in 2019.
Growing from about 100 members in
2009 to more than 2,000 today, Ladies Love

Taildraggers celebrates tailwheel aircraft and the women
who fly them. In addition to hosting a forum where pilots
can talk about their aircraft, each year the group hosts a flyin or a fly-out so that members can meet in person and, of
course, fly their airplanes. Ladies Love Taildraggers also provides scholarships; recipients can earn an initial taildragger
endorsement or become more proficient in some other aspect
of tailwheel flying, such as aerobatics or backcountry flying.
Tricycle-gear pilots are warmly welcomed into the community. "How [else] are you ever going to build something
when so few women are flying taildraggers?" Birchler said. "I
really encourage all women to come [to the fly-ins] and participate, and, if nothing else, take a ride around the patch with the
other ladies to see what it's about. I would like to offer every
nosewheel pilot the chance to earn a tailwheel endorsement."
The FAA doesn't break out the number of active women
pilots who also have tailwheel endorsements. The agency
estimates that in 2017-the latest data available-there were
42,694 active women pilots. If even 15 percent have tailwheel
endorsements, that equals approximately 6,404 women; 20
percent would be 8,539.
Tailwheel flying opens the door to so many different
types of flying-backcountry and aerobatics, not to mention
many vintage and almost all antique aircraft, Birchler said.
"There really are no negatives to flying [taildraggers]," she
said. "With a little skill and finesse, there's only positives."
A pilot since the age of 19, Birchler owns and flies the
Decathlon, and her husband, Boyd, flies an RV-7. After being diagnosed at age 33 with Type I
diabetes, Birchler used Sport Pilot privileges to fly Light Sport aircraft, including an Aeronca
Champ and a Rans S-7. She qualified for BasicMed and promptly bought the Decathlon. "It
was as exciting as the day I soloed," she said of transitioning to the new airplane.
What about the stiletto shoes? Ladies Love Taildraggers members displayed them in front
of their airplanes during 2018's fly-out, and "that turned out to be the most awesome thing,"
Birchler said. "Everywhere we went, people loved that. They'd walk up and down the ramp
and hoot and holler at all these stilettos."
AOPA

http://www.ladieslovetaildraggers.com

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2019

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