Wings of Her Dreams

Book excerpt: Kitty Banner was born into a loving, adventurous, Irish-American family in Chicago, Illinois, joining three older brothers and welcoming a second younger sister. The siblings enjoyed excellent guidance from their parents, who encouraged them to contribute to the work of the family business, to live life fully, to be considerate of others, and to strive for excellence. All generously shared their variety of interests, which ranged from hiking, fishing, climbing, target shooting, sailing and watersports, to snow skiing, horseback riding: and, in the case of her brothers, a passion for flying. Kitty was captivated by aviation and tried sky-diving before taking her first flying lesson from a unique and accomplished aerobatic pilot, a professor of geomorphology, and flight instructor, David Rahm. Once licensed as a pilot, Kitty went on to obtain an Instrument rating, her Commercial License, and her Glider and Flight Instructor Ratings. Inspired at the age of 14 by the motivation exhortations of Wilferd Peterson, author of "The Art of Living", Kitty, in turn, became a motivation and inspiration to all who came into contact with her. Having visited Alaska at age 19, hiking and exploring with a firend, Kitty could scarcely wait to return and, by age 22 with her pilot license in hand, she revisited Alaska, where she excelled. Kitty flew as a bush pilot and as a glacier pilot, mastering a variety of aircraft including heavy load transport with tundra tires on off-airport remote sites; seaplane and float operations, landings and takeoffs on the ice and snow of high altitude glaciers; and flying with exterior loads as well as exterior- mounted cameras for aerial filming and action photography. Kitty's evacuation flights included, among others, a newborn baby and his mother, survivors of two separate aircraft crashes, many mountain climbers from a world-wide number of countries, countless hunters and fisherman, and even sled dogs.