flyGIRL Scholarship Winner 2019! Dr. Kimberly Metris

The flyGIRL Scholarship has distributed two scholarships this year to two well-deserving applicants. After partnering with Women in Aviation International, we received over two hundred applications for the award. The scholarship made its first distribution in 2018 to flyGIRL Megan Gerding. She has since become an instructor with her CFI and CFII at Sporty’s Academy near Cincinnati, Ohio.

As the founder of flyGIRL, I’ve been very involved with the review and selection of the prizewinners. Because of the large number of submissions, it was decided to form a review committee. This all-female panel was completely comprised of licensed pilots. We all enjoyed reading the essays and reviewing the personal stories of all the passionate female aviators. It was tough narrowing down the options. Each person was well-deserving of the reward. However, the reality is that funds are limited. Believe me, if I won the lottery, it would all go to funding more scholarships so that more women could pursue their aviation dreams!

After speaking with the top five applicant choices, there was one whose story stood out slightly more than the others. During a video conference call, Dr. Kimberly Metris shared with me her love of tail-wheel flying and aerobatics. As we know, there are few female pilots. There are even fewer female aerobatic and tail-wheel pilots.

Kimberly is a former college professor and has a love for teaching others. She discovered her own flying passion by accident after graduating from college while living in South Africa. Her job as an aerial survey biologist opened her eyes to bigger dreams for herself in aviation. She shared with me her desire to combine her love of aviation with her love of teaching by instructing others in aerobatics and tail-wheel flying. She has a vision of one day running her own flight school with her husband, who is also a pilot. She would love to have a grass-strip airfield for students and visiting pilots. Some of her favorite aircraft include the Super Decathlon, Citabria, Stearman and Just Aircraft SuperSTOL, among others. If she’s flown all of these, I’ll admit that I’m jealous!

Since winning the flyGIRL scholarship, Kimberly has completed her instrument training and is currently working on her commercial rating. Her flying future is bright and I’m confident that she will do a tremendous amount for those interested in aviation, young and old, male or female!