FORTY FORT, Pa. — For Molly Van Scoy's parents, teaching her how to fly a plane was as obvious a choice as teaching her how to ride a bike.
Molly took the flight controls for the first time when just was 13 years old. Her family operates the Wyoming Valley Airport, and her mom is a pilot for a major airline.
"She was my mentor and my inspiration growing up, and let me know that it was possible," Van Scoy said.
Flying runs in the family for Ashley Liddic, too. Both her father and brother fly planes for a living. But Ashley didn't pursue the career at first.
"I feel like growing up for me, it wasn't really known to be an option in school. I only knew about it because of my family," Liddic said.
A couple of years ago, she made the move from paralegal to pilot.
"I started taking lessons and right when I started flying, I just knew - this was it."
While more and more women are joining Molly and Ashley in the skies, when you think of that signature "pilot voice," you don't usually hear a woman.
So much so, that on one of Molly's flights recently, she was handed this letter by a random female passenger, saying "When I heard you on the intercom, I got tears in my eyes. Thank you for reminding me that anyone can be anything."
"It was really cool for me to know that just doing my everyday job, unknowingly to me, inspired another another female."
Molly and Ashley want to keep that inspiration going, especially for the next generation of females in the field. They're the president and vice-president, respectively, of the Northeastern Pennsylvania chapter of "Women In Aviation."
About 50 girls, ages 8-17, will spend the day at the airport here tomorrow as part of Girls In Aviation Day. It's an international event, and it was held in our area for the first time last year.
"They'll learn more about banner towing, aircraft marshaling, get to fly an aircraft simulator, and get to design and build their own airport," Van Scoy said.
This year's event is already sold out, but mark your calendars for September 23rd next year, they're bringing it back.
To get involved with the Northeastern Pennsylvania chapter of Women In Aviation, click here.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.