TUCSON, AZ — In Tucson this weekend, look to the skies for a woman paving the way for others like her to be better represented in the cockpit.
Vicky Benzing carries multiple titles, like airshow pilot, and air racer.
“You start going fast, you just want to go faster and faster,” said Benzing after calling herself an "air junkie."
A few years ago, Benzing became the fastest woman in Reno, Nevada air race history with a speed of over 469 miles per hour.
Traveling with that kind of g-force on your body, Benzing explained, “takes a lot of grunting and breathing,” and any kind of weight that turbulence makes adds to that grunting.
Among the many eyes who have seen her twist and twirl at airshows over the years are TV and film producers who have called on her as a stunt double. With a new Screen Actors Guild card in her possession, she’s not done yet.
“I just got done filming an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger that will air on March 30,” she said.
Her restored Boeing Stearman, built in 1940 to help train those in WWII, is still part of airshows today. You can see that plane this weekend at Thunder and Lightning over Arizona in Tucson.
Vicky admits the thrill she gets soaring in elevation, dangerously close to the ground at times, is just part of the reason she learned to fly over four decades ago.
“For me, it’s really great to see little girls growing up, to see them excited to learn to fly," she said. "That means there will be more of us in the future."
It’s estimated female pilots make up less than 10% of all commercial pilots today.
Efforts are underway across the country to have a more inclusive cockpit, like at United Airlines Aviate Academy in Goodyear, where the first class of pilots just graduated.
Benzing hopes the impact she makes on the ground is just as great as the one in the air.
“Getting letters from some women several years down the road saying, ‘I saw you at an airshow, I’m becoming a pilot now. You were an inspiration in my life,” Benzing said.