Debrief /

For more than 50 years, Julie Clark has had her head in the clouds—and her hands on the yoke of an airplane. As a child she flew often with her father, an airline captain, and later, after the deaths of both her parents, became a pilot herself and flew for the airlines until her retirement in 2004. She is the only airshow performer in a T–34 Mentor—dubbed the Free Spirit—and was a former instructor in the aircraft. She wrote a memoir in 2004, Nothing Stood in Her Way.

Who: Julie Clark, airshow performer

Hours: Just more than 33,000 hours—accident free!

Aircraft: I have been a partner in an Ercoupe 415C, Rockwell Commander 112A, SNJ5, 1956 Beechcraft T–34A, 1963 Beechcraft Debonair, 1956 North American T–28C. I currently own the T–34 and the T–28.

Extra: I’m still a current CFI and have kept current since 1974.

Started in aviation… As a young girl, my dad would allow me to skip school and fly trips with him in the DC–3, Martin, and F–27, up and down the West Coast. I fell in love with flying and knew immediately that I wanted to not only be a pilot, but an airline pilot.

Early challenges… I started flying in the late 1960s. Money was constantly an issue for me. Every flying lesson was hard-earned—working two and three jobs just to take another lesson.

Favorite aviation-related activity… Of course, flying airshows for the past 36 years has certainly been my favorite activity. So many great memories all these years—I flew with Bob Hoover in his Shrike Commander in an airshow and it was awesome watching him feather and restart those engines. I’ve been able to fly twice with the Canadian Snowbirds in their full show, and I have jumped with the Golden Knights. I love flying formation in the “big wing” at Oshkosh with the T–34s and T–28s.

Favorite airplane?… I’ve owned my Beech T–34 Mentor now 40 years and my North American T–28 20 years (as of 2016) so I better say that they are my favorite airplanes. When it comes to the airplanes I flew in my airline career, the DC–9/MD–80 were my favorite. I logged more than 13,000 hours in the DC–9 (all models) and retired on the Airbus.

Advice for students… Hang in there. Eventually it all begins to make sense. Never get discouraged. It’s like trying to collect frogs. You gather up some, then a few jump away, you gather more and then you still lose a few. Finally, you get them all gathered up, and bingo, all this flying stuff makes sense.