AeroGlobo Graduates First Female Turbine Transition Student in Brazil

by Marcos Paulino

Joelize Friedrichs was the first female to complete training inAeroGlobo’s FTD simulator. Maria Santos, from Mato Grosso, will be the next.

Aeroglobo Aeronaves, Air Tractor’s South American representative and Lane Aviation dealer, celebrated the first female ag pilot to complete the turbine transition course at the company’s training center, located in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. The course includes lessons in a real cockpit with a state-of-the-art FTD level 5 simulator, the most complete in Latin America, accurately replicating normal and emergency flight conditions.

“The structure of AeroGlobo is fantastic!” says Joelize, who began her career in aviation at the age of 18, when her interest began during a lecture she attended in 2007 at the end of high school. It was there that she put her goal of becoming a pilot into practice. With the support of her parents, she got her pilot’s license in a course in Carazinho (RS), Brazil.

Joelize left home after obtaining her pilot’s license and went to work in a company where she performed ground support, such as washing, polishing and refuelling aircraft. Whenever she could, she occupied the co-pilot position and added flight hours. Two years later, she would return to her home state to become a commercial aviation instructor at the flying club where it all started.

In 2012, Joelize had a contact in the ag aviation industry, flying activity was on the rise, and she saw the opportunity opening. She graduated as an ag pilot and was soon hired to work for a company in Goiás. “The more I knew about ag aviation, the more it fed my passion for the profession,” she says. Today she works at AeroTerra, in Luís Eduardo Magalhães, Bahia, flying an Air Tractor AT-502B.

Joelize Friedrichs – Pilot from Aeroterra Company, alongside AeroGlobo’sFTD Simulator in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.

Joelize wakes up before sunrise to perform her routines, including checking the weather forecast and wind conditions and ensuring everything is in order with the aircraft to start another day of applications. “I love the everyday farm life,” she says. Joelize usually posts a little about her routine on her social networks because she believes it is a good way to show other women that ag aviation is a possible career path.

“When you close the aircraft’s window, it doesn’t matter who’s inside; it’s the success of the work that matters,” she argues. “What the farm owner wants is to see results for his investment, no matter if the pilot is a man or a woman.” And so, Joelize continues in her profession, taking advantage of the opportunities that appear, such as the chance to take the course at Aeroglobo.

“I saw Aeroglobo’s advertisements in AgAir Update, their booths at the convention, and I wanted to get to know the company,” she reveals. “Being able not only to know but to be the first woman to do the simulator filled me with happiness and pride.” Joelize says she has gained “valuable learning” that she will take to her job. “Instructor Luiz Gustavo Geromini is amazing, and the simulator is very close to reality, even in emergencies.”

Maria Santos – Pilot of the Daroit Group.

For Fabiano Zaccarelli, owner of AeroGobo, having Joelize among his students was an honor. “Joelize is a top-notch pilot, an extremely kind person who makes us excited to have more and more women come through our training,” he said. If it is up to Joelize, this goal will be reached. “We want to have more women in the cockpit of ag aircraft throughout Brazil,” says Zaccarelli.

Soon, another woman will have the opportunity to take the course in Botucatu. Maria Santos, 38, from Itiquira (MT), will start training in September. She works in Sorriso (MT) at Grupo Daroit. “Today, companies like the Daroit Group give women opportunity to show their work, knowing that what really matters is their ability, including in the agricultural sector, which until recently was such a masculine world,” argues Maria, eager to also carry out her transition to a turbine Air Tractor.

Joelize Friedrichs in command of the AeroGlobo’s FTD Simulator inBotucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.