[Liz] When I was 13, my mom had just received her instrument flight rating (or IFR) and I was mad because she actually took my brother flying after she got her private pilot license, so I made a deal with her and said, “I want to be the first one to go fly through a cloud with you.”
[Liz] My name is Liz Lekarczyk and I’ve been flying for five years.
[Marla] And I’m Marla Lekarcyzk and I’ve been flying for ten years.
[Liz & Marla] And we’re the mother – daughter flying duo.
[Liz] When my mom and I fly, we pretty much take on the roles of pilot-in-command and – I’m going to give you a title – first officer. Basically that means I’m sitting left seat and she sits right next to me on the right side. But we like to divide up the duties, so to speak. While I will do the run-up and most of the flying, my mom will work the radios; she’ll be in charge of navigation, GPS.
[Marla] Once you’re in an area that you actually can turn the radios down low – for me, it’s a time that I can relax, look at nature. You’re close to God, if you will. It’s such a wonderful thing – when you have the ability to do that. That’s why I love to fly.
[Marla] Every pilot’s scared of the FAA phone call – well, I got that FAA phone call. And they told me that there was an incident down in Kentucky; I knew exactly what he was talking about.
[Liz] It even got me a little bit scared, to be honest.
[Marla] As a pilot, that’s a big deal, to have the FAA call you – that’s a scary situation, and I just knew that AOPA was behind me.
[Liz] AOPA was great, and they were there, truly, every step of the way.
[Marla] As a pilot, you need a strong support system, and AOPA is, to me, the strong support system in the country.
[Liz] My mom has truly been my biggest mentor in my flying journey. When I took my private pilot check ride, I was extremely nervous, and my mom came in and I looked at her and said, “Mom, I want this license so badly, but my nerves are getting to me.” And she sat down right across from me and said, “You can do this. You’ve wanted to do this since you were six, and when I took you flying for the first time when you were 13 you said you wanted to do this. Now go and do it.”