Julie Clark, Her Awards Keep Flying In
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Julie Clark, Her Awards Keep Flying In . as she Pilots Her T-34 — Smokin’ the Skies By Linda Hanf McIntosh in TV documentaries, publications, and books. In 2004, Julie (with Ann Julie Clark, among the first women Lewis Cooper) wrote about her life pilots employed by a major airline and experiences. The book, “Nothing known by many as the First Lady of Stood in Her Way, Captain Julie the air shows, just keeps racking up the Clark” is now in its 3rd printing. awards. To be published spring 2013, her A Cameron Park, Calif., resident, autobiography is updated with an Julie has received numerous awards epilogue. and honors over the years — too many Julie has always loved flying. Long to list here (but you can “Google her” ago, a friend remarked that she loved online). The latest award is among the flying more than breathing. most prestigious, The Aero Club of Northern California (NAA) Crystal A captain with Northwest Airlines Eagle, presented to her November for 27 years, she retired in 2004 to 2012. The annual award recognizes turn full attention to another aviation an individual whose accomplishments passion: precision aerobatics. The Photo by Clark Cook, Air Show Productions have significantly contributed to the routine she choreographed puts her advancement of aviation or Juice Plus+TM T-34 Mentor through space technology. exciting and graceful loops and rolls while air show spectators watch Julie shares the honor with intently. past recipients Gen. James “Jimmy” Doolittle (1983 Three+ Decades of Aerobatics first-year recipient), Brig. Gen. Julie has been flying her Beechcraft Chuck Yeager, Wayne Hadley, T-34 and North American T-28 Trojan Eileen Collins, and “Bud” in air shows and fly-ins for 33 years. Anderson, to name a few. Sponsored by Juice Plus+, the T-34 “I was so honored and is decked out in the motif and colors humbled. Knowing who the Julie Clark, left, is awarded the Crystal Eagle of Air Force One — red, white, and former honorees were, I just didn’t blue. The bright yellow T-28 is named feel I deserved it. The first was given the “Top Banana” in honor of Hughes to Jimmy Doolittle and, last year, Bud The inscription provides a clue to Airwest, whose slogan was “ The Top Anderson received it. I mean, they’ve the passion, the travails, the hurdles Banana in the West.” been my heroes,” Julie said. and the hard-won accomplishments Julie’s corporate career followed that have made up Julie’s life. Inscribed on her award is: the path of her father, also a commercial “In recognition of outstanding Two other prestigious honors are pilot. He was a captain with Pacific contributions to the field of aviation her inductions into the International Air Lines, which later became Air while overcoming great personal Council of Air Shows Hall of Fame West then Hughes Airwest. Julie’s adversity to become one of the world’s in 2011, and the Women in Aviation first airlines job was with Golden West foremost air show aerobatic artists International Pioneer Hall of Fame Airlines in 1976, starting as first officer. and one of the modern pioneers who in 2002. Her many achievements She was first and only woman pilot with opened the flight decks of major have been listed in Who’s Who the company. airlines to women pilots.” publications, and she has been featured Continued on Next Page Around Here Magazine ~ Winter 20013 ~ El Dorado County ~ Northern California Both She and Her Father, Ernie Clark, Flew the F-27 Continued from Previous Page Later she was hired by Hughes Airwest, which became Republic Airlines then Northwest Airlines. At Hughes, she experienced the thrill of flying the sister ship of the F-27, the aircraft her father Ernie Clark had regularly flown. Hometown: San Carlos Julie grew up with her two sisters in San Carlos, a small town south of San Francisco. Julie’s interest and love for aviation began early; her dad sneaked her aboard some of his short trips. While other girls loved Photo by Linda Hanf McIntosh, 2012 Above, Julie poses in her T-28, aka The Top Banana, October 2012 dolls and makeup, Julie was Julie’s strength and drawn to airplanes and flying. In determination carried her through May 1964, when Julie and her the grief and through life; her twin were 15, their father set off sisters came to play a big role, and for work. throughout life they have given each other mutual support. Ten minutes after flying out of Stockton on a routine First Flying Lessons run he was shot dead when a In college, 18-year-old Julie deranged passenger stormed started flying lessons. She saved the cockpit. The plane, crew, all her loose change to take her and passengers went down in first lesson at Goleta Airport in the Mt. Diablo hills. There Santa Barbara. “Just like my were no survivors. Later, a father, I was bitten by the flying regulation named after Capt. bug.” To feed this passion for Ernie Clark required cockpits flying, she continued to sock away to be locked. “He would have extra dollars for more lessons. been my mentor on everything,” Julie said. The tragedy followed By 1969, Julie graduated from in the wake of Julie’s mother’s UC Santa Barbara. Armed with death the year before. a degree in Spanish, she went to Continued on Next Page One of 40 top “Living Legends in Aviation” Around Here Magazine ~ Winter 20013 ~ El Dorado County ~ Northern California Start of a Career in the Sky Continued from Previous Page Women Pilots Alabama to teach Spanish, speech, and As she worked to launch her airline math. It wasn’t long before she knew career, she fought uphill battles in a that flying was her real passion. And mostly all-male profession. Globally, now the idea of flying for a major women pilots as a whole started making airline was shaping itself into a goal. some headway in aviation careers in the “In life it takes what I call the 1950s. In the United States, airlines were three Ds: Desire, Dedication and being pressured to follow suit. “A few Determination,” Julie said. She used women had been hired but the airlines the three Ds to achieve her goal, holding were very reluctant to even talk to women several jobs to fund her plan. She worked pilots,” Julie recalls. as a waitress, and a performer in a water- Other hurdles included thwarting an ski show at Marine World. When she employer’s sexual advances, which cost logged enough hours in the air to get her a flying job. In general, she found her pilot’s license, she earned money by that her biggest hurdle was employer flying. ignorance and a fear of hiring women Her love affair with the T-34 started in pilots. This hit her as ironic, since for 1975. She was hired as a flight instructor the most part women held the same credentials as their male counterparts. the end of her name and added “an” First Flying Jobs (Julian) so it didn’t sound like a guy at first glance. Meanwhile, she continued As Julie worked her way up, she to upgrade her skills and gain new took every flying job she could to certification, calling to inform the stack up more hours, experience, and human resource departments of her credentials. She worked as a flight latest credentials. Her plan was to be instructor and as a pilot of charter in their face, to be remembered, to flights. One job she took piloting a twin- show her grit, to get the job. engine Cessna 421 required transporting sick babies in incubators to urgent Interview Process medical care. Hearing from a male friend that She also flew a Cessna 310, ferrying Golden West was hiring pilots, Julie agriculture equipment around the called for an interview. She was Western states. The airplane had to told, “You know, we’ve never hired a land at farms where there were no woman.” Deciding this wasn’t exactly runways and no margin for error. “This a “no,” Julie called again and was told was dangerous work since the plane that if she went to the ground school was gutted to hold equipment and was held by the product support team of de at Lemoore Naval Air Station to teach typically over the gross weight limit,” she Havilland, her application would be U.S. Navy airmen to fly. The next year says. She finally decided the risk wasn’t considered. she bought a T-34A, sight unseen. She worth it. was the high bidder in a USAF surplus Scraping together the money, sale. She paid $18,000 — some of it Still determined to get on with an she flew to Toronto, Canada, where borrowed — claimed her prize, and flew airline, Julie continued her outward flow people from all over the world met for 2,900 miles solo from Anchorage to of resumes. At the advice of her husband, the training. She passed the rigorous home in California. a Navy fighter pilot, she stopped sending Continued on Next Page her photo, and then dropped the “e” at Around Here Magazine ~ Winter 20013 ~ El Dorado County ~ Northern California Waging an Uphill Battle to Get On with Airlines limits. As it turned out, the T-34 became more than a passion, more than a hobby. It became her second career, one as an aerobatics pilot. After flying competition aerobatics in a Pitts S-2A, Julie decided air shows in a T-34 would be “cool.” She had been performing as part of a 3-member aerobatics team called the Falcons.