Ramona Cox, a 20-year pilot known as Skychick, will share the joys and trials of back-country AIR-camping in her Cessna TU206. The presentation will include safety aspects dessert and mountain flying including getting in and out of rough, short, high-altitude, no-go-around, canyon airstrips and how to prepare for those flights. She will also discuss the dangers and visual illusions that are experienced when landing on a dry lake bed in the middle of a barren desert on a hot summer day.
Using photos, video, humor and actual experiences, Skychick will take the audience on a fun and educational journey that they won’t forget. Packing her airplane with a kayak, motorized bike, solar-powered mobile office, satellite phone and weapons, she has dodged bears and mountain lion while exploring the most remote, pristine and challenging wilderness airstrips within the US.
Aside from back-country flying, Ramona is one of a handful of civilian female pilots who’ve earned formation “wingman” qualifications and has flown a T-34 mentor in airshows including the warbird formations at EAA Airventure in Oshkosh. She filmed, edited and produced “An Aviator’s Tour of China”, a DVD which covers China’s major cities and aviation related sites with personal interviews from original members of the 528th Fighter Squadron who flew in China during WWII. As an avid scuba diver, Ramona has filmed underwater sea life all over the world including schooling hammerheads in Costa Rica, whale sharks in the Galapagos and giant Mantas in Micronesia.
Skychick’s adventurous lifestyle has been featured on Time Warner Cable, CNN, and America Online along with numerous newspaper and magazine publications. She is currently a Board member of the Aero Club of Southern California and has raised thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society and Redondo Beach Wellness Community. When not flying, Ramona provides marketing services for Girardi Wealth Management which specializes in financial and estate planning, portfolio management, trusts and retirement plans. She also handles West Coast sales for Motoart, a company that saves aviation history by recycling and refurbishing vintage aircraft parts (such as the elevator or rudder from a non-flyable B-25 Bomber) and turning them into a conference desk for an office or coffee table for a home or hangar. www.motoart.com.
For a sneak peek into the world of an adventure pilot, check out her website at www.skychick.com
Click onto the homepage “SLIDESHOW” for a taste of the adventure.