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Cadet Airman Amanda Griffith stands with her grandmother, 2nd Lt. Mary Latimer, and Tamara Griffith, beside a Cessna 150 before her solo flight.
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The lineup on the flight line — Cessna 172, Piper Cherokee 140, Cessna 150, Piper Cherokee 180 and Piper Tri-Pacer.
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Cadet Airman Amanda Griffith leans against the Piper Tri-Pacer before taking her solo flight.
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Cadet Airman Amanda Griffith with Dr. Rose Carreona, who has just signed Amanda's student pilot certificate.
2nd Lt. Mary Latimer
Assistant Deputy Commander for Cadets
Rio del Fierro Composite Squadron
Texas Wing
TEXAS — When Cadet Airman Amanda Griffith of the Rio del Fierro Composite Squadron spent her 16th birthday May 10 flying her first solo – more precisely, her first five solos, in the same number of single-engine planes -- she extended her family’s tradition of female pilots to three generations.
Just for good measure, her two predecessors – her mother, Tamara Griffith, and her grandmother, Mary Latimer -- were the instructors who gave her the first solo endorsements.
Dr. Rose Carreon, a close family friend, was the first woman to sign Amanda’s student pilot certificate upon completing her first flight physical, after which she issued the fledgling flier a third-class medical and student pilot certificate. Amanda signed next, as the certificate holder.
When she soloed in a Cessna 150, the honor of being the first instructor to sign her student pilot certificate fell to her mother. That particular Cessna holds special significance for her family, since Tamara Griffith – on her 17th birthday – had taken her private pilot check-ride in the same plane.
Then four more flights followed — in, respectively:
- A Piper Cherokee 140, the same make and model in which her grandmother had first soloed in 1973.
- A Piper Tri-Pacer, the nearest available aircraft to the Piper Colt in which her mother had first soloed.
- A Cessna 172, Luke Boedeker’s first airplane, which he had used for most of his own flight training, received from the Latimer family.
- A Piper Cherokee 180, owned by Troy Young, another close family friend.
Amanda’s grandmother, Latimer, was the next to solo her in the Cherokee 180, adding a third generation of women’s signatures on her student pilot certificate.
Keeping things in the family, Amanda soloed a third time in the Piper Tri-Pacer with a sign-off from her grandfather, Lawrence Latimer.
The fourth solot, in the Piper Cherokee 140, was endorsed by Kristine Lewis, a family friend.
Her last solo came in the Cessna 172, with Boedeker as the instructor.
The weather was less than perfect, with low ceilings and high winds, but Amanda’s cadre of instructors decided she could handle it, and so she did. She made a couple of solo flights at Wilbarger County Airport in Vernon – the same airport where her mother and grandparents had learned to fly and completed their first solos.
Soon, though, the high winds prompted relocation of planes, pilots and family about 30 miles northeast to Frederick, Okla., where Amanda could safely complete all five solos.
She had begun flying lessons at age 12, and no one doubted she was now ready to solo. For each plane, she took one or two trips around the pattern with the instructor, after which she was on her own.
Despite the crosswinds and gusts, her landings would have made any pilot proud.
For a 16-year-old, flying planes is an impressive achievement, but Amanda has gone beyond that — she’s also learning to fly helicopters, with Boedeker as her instructor, and is gaining experience toward earning her aircraft mechanic’s license. She plans to take her private and instrument check rides on her 17th birthday and hopes to take the written tests this summer, as she wants to meet most – if not all – of the flight requirements before the fall.
Next summer she intends to get her commercial, flight instructor and aircraft mechanic ratings, which she will probably earn on, or soon after, her 18th birthday.
Since both her mother and grandmother are flight instructors and aircraft mechanics, that accomplishment would make Amanda the third generation of her family’s females to earn those aviation ratings – a rare feat indeed, since less than 1 percent of licensed aircraft mechanics are women.
To date, four years after her first flying lesson, Amanda has logged around 50 hours. Her mother started to fly at 7, soloed at 16 and has logged 35,000 hours. Her grandfather, Lance Latimer, began his flying career at 15, soloed at 16 and logged some 30,000 hours as a crop duster and a flight instructor.
A sophomore and honor student at Northwest Independent School District High School in Justin, Amanda pursues other interests besides aviation — she is an excellent rifle marksman and an enthusiastic skier, performs with a belly dancing group and is an avid reader. Her summer is filled with plans for skeet-shooting, scuba-diving and golf lessons.
Amanda likes to tell her friends that she gets high in an airplane with her grandmother every chance she gets, then goes with her to happy hour at Sonic Drive-In.
Mary Latimer, her grandmother, earned her private pilot license in 1973 and now holds Airline Transport Pilot, Flight Instructor with Instrument and Multi-engine endorsements and Ground Instructor ratings and is an Aircraft Mechanic with Inspection Authorization as well as a Designated Pilot Examiner. She retired from the Federal Aviation as an air traffic controller with 23 years of service in Lawton, Okla., and three years at Fort Worth Meacham Airport.
She took her first airplane ride in 1970, when her future husband, Lawrence Latimer, took her flying on their first date. They will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this September.
Lawrence Latimer is a commercial pilot, a flight instructor for both airplanes and helicopters and also an aircraft mechanic. Having always wanted to be a pilot, he earned his first rating in 1966. He flew for many years as a crop duster and now does corporate flying. He has been his granddaughter’s primary flight instructor.
Amanda’s mother, Tamara Griffith, was pretty much raised at Wilbarger County Airport and has been involved in aviation her entire life. She holds Airline Transport Pilot, Flight Instructor with Instrument and Multi-engine endorsements, and Sea Plane ratings. She holds an Aircraft Mechanic certificate with Inspection Authorization.
Ben Griffith, Amanda’s father, is also an aircraft mechanic and supports her endeavors from the ground. He is looking forward to being one of her first passengers in 2011.
