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Five Questions: Jaime Gialloreto

Miss New Jersey 2018

Jaime Gialloreto had the perfect view of her home state as she flew along the Atlantic City, New Jersey, shoreline in a Twin Commander as part of her representation in the Women in Aviation International Girls in Aviation Day last October. “I’m getting an eye-opening experience at what aviation is all about,” the Loyola University communications major told Lyndse Costabile, an aviation enthusiast and student pilot who was Gialloreto’s escort at the Flying W airport in Lumberton, New Jersey, north of Atlantic City. The flying bug bit, and Gialloreto—Miss New Jersey—has started flight instruction as well as enjoying an introduction to drones.
Five Questions
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Photography by Steven Holziger

How did you get started in aviation? Influential Drones (an aerial imagery company based in New Jersey) reached out to me about taking flying lessons in both an airplane and with drones. Lyndse told me about the shortage of females in the aviation industry and about the Girls in Aviation Day event, and I was eager to hop on board.

What stood out in your introduction to aviation? I had never thought that me flying an airplane would ever be a possibility. I had never been exposed to aviation before and it has been an incredible experience doing what I thought would have been impossible.

Do you have a favorite aviation-related activity? So far it was flying an airplane along the coast of the Jersey shore. Representing New Jersey this year has been such an incredible honor and seeing the state from a thousand feet in the air was an experience I’ll be forever grateful for. We even flew around my house in Wildwood Crest!

Do you have a favorite airplane? The airplane I flew down the coast of New Jersey was a Twin Commander so I was able to experience multiengine flying.

What advice do you have for young women who aspire to begin flight training? I would tell them the aviation field is waiting for them. Young girls are our future and we need more of them in STEM and aviation. They are going to be the next generation and role models, so when it comes to aviation, the sky’s the limit.

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