Featured Women

[Admin]

Author: Henry M. Holden
Publisher: Black Hawk Publishing Co.
© Reprinted with permission.

In 1987, seventeen-year-old high school senior, Kim Darst, of Blairstown, New Jersey, set a record. She became the first person to fly a helicopter into her high school graduation ceremonies. She landed in a soccer field, changed from sneakers to high heels, put on her cap and gown and received her diploma. Today, she owns KD Helicopters, a company that does primarily aerial photography and flight instruction.
Kim was planning a career in Marine Biology, but her plans changed in November 1986, when she took a flight over the Grand Canyon. During the flight, Kim watched the pilot, not the scenery. She was fascinated with what he was doing. When she got back to school, she excitedly told her guidance counselor about the flight. Her counselor's husband, a helicopter pilot, told Kim where she could take helicopter lessons. Kim wasted no time beginning her flight lessons.
All thoughts of a career in Marine Biology slid quietly into the sea. It was "love at first flight." By March 1987, Kim had her private helicopter license. She wasted no time putting it to good use. By November 1987, one year after she took her first plane ride, Kim was a Certified Flight Instructor.
Kim also had total support from her parents along the way. Her mother drove her back and forth to Ellenville, N.Y., two-and-a-half hours each way for her lessons. Soon Kim realized commuting to get her ratings was too slow so she moved into a trailer near the airport. It was then easy to spend 18-hours-a-day around airplanes.
When she was not flying, she was learning the mechanic's end of the airplane. She has an Airframe and Powerplant license, and she is the only woman in the Allentown FSDO area with an IA (Inspector Authorization). Her test examiner claimed she was the first person ever to 'ace' the tests, receiving a perfect 100 score on each of the two-part exams. In August 1991, Kim also became the youngest FAA examiner in the country.
One year after Kim earned her private license, she opened KD Helicopters in Blairstown, N.J. Before she could open her business officially, she needed a helicopter. Kim found just the machine she was looking for, a Bell-47-G2, near Homestead, Florida. The challenge was how to fly it back to Blairstown, New Jersey?
On a warm sunny morning, in March, with her former flight instructor, Ernie Kittner, along, she took off from Florida. Although the helicopter had no compass or heater, they encountered only minor challenges along the way. They overcame the first challenge by following the 'concrete compass' (Interstate 95) and the sectionals. The second challenge became more serious as they headed north.
By the time they reached South Carolina, they were switching controls every fifteen minutes so each could warm up their hands. In Annapolis, Maryland, they were grounded overnight by an ice storm. The next morning they found the rotor tie-down straps frozen to the rotor blades. They used a hair dryer to thaw the straps and were soon airborne. The trip only took 17 hours with eight stops for fuel.
Kim used to fly pipeline patrol, but today gives flight instruction, scenic tours, and takes photographers on aerial photo expeditions. In the recent past she flew as First Officer for Kiwi Airlines. She also flew co-pilot on a DC-3 for a company based in Reading, PA.. So far, she has accumulated more than 6,000 hours total time in the air and, among her ratings, has: ATP single and multi-engine, a DC-3 type rating, commercial, single engine sea, rotorcraft and instrument rotorcraft. She also has an instructor's rating in single, multi-engine, rotorcraft, instrument/instructor rotorcraft and instrument/instructor airplane. Because of Kim's success and excellent reputation, she had one student who drove from Brooklyn, New York, and another who drove from Wurtsboro, New York, (each traveling two-and-a-half hours one way) to learn from her. Another flew up from southern New Jersey in his Cessna to take helicopter lessons with Kim. They all must have heard about her record. In the first three years, Kim taught 18 students to fly and each one passed his/her flight test on the first try. What does Kim see in the future? She is diligently and carefully building her business to the point where she presently has three helicopters, a Bell-47G-2, a Hughes 300, and a Bell 206 Jet Ranger. She has a fleet of three Cessnas, two 172s and a 195. She also owns a Piper J-3 Cub and a Lake Amphibian. The blue and white 195, which she affectionately named Clyde, is her favorite. Ten years ago, Kim had 3,800 hours with 50 of them in a Jet Ranger. She looked out her window overlooking her backyard and said "Someday I'll have a Jet Ranger out there." In April 2000, she took delivery of a Jet Ranger. Now, she can look out at it every morning. By April 2001, she had accumulated 17,000 hours. "I live and breath this stuff," she said.

[sammy]

Wow very impressive Nice to here some women do great things