Julie Clark facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Julie Clark
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Clark in 2006
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| Born | June 27, 1948 Hayward, California, United States
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| Occupation | Airshow & commercial pilot |
| Years active | 1969–2019 |
Julie E. Clark (born June 27, 1948) is a famous American pilot who flew amazing stunts in air shows. She was also a pilot for big airlines. She started flying for Golden West Airlines and later became a Captain for Northwest Airlines. Julie was one of the first women to fly for a major airline. She has won many awards for her exciting air show performances.
Julie Clark's Flying Adventures
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Julie Clark has flown planes for over 50 years! For 41 of those years, she was a solo aerobatic pilot, meaning she flew amazing stunts by herself in air shows. She has flown for more than 37,000 hours. That's a lot of time in the sky!
She used to perform in about 20 air shows each year. Her main plane was a Beechcraft T-34 Mentor. Julie knows how to fly over 66 different types of aircraft. She is also a special member of the Living Legends of Aviation, which is a group of people who have done amazing things in flying.
Julie got her pilot's license in 1969 in San Carlos, California. She flew the same T-34 Mentor plane from 1977 until she retired in 2019. She bought this plane for $18,000 at a government sale. She named her special plane Free Spirit. When she retired, the Free Spirit went to the Hiller Aviation Museum so others could see it.
During her time as an airline pilot, Julie flew different planes. She flew the MD-80 out of Las Vegas. For over 20 years, she flew the Convair 580 out of Minneapolis.
In the late 1990s, she added another plane to her air show routine. This was a North American T-28 Trojan, which she called Top Banana.
Julie announced her retirement plans at the 2019 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show. Her very last performance was on November 7, 2019, at Nellis Air Force Base.
Awards and Special Recognition
Julie Clark has received many important awards for her incredible flying career:
- 2002: She was added to the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame.
- 2008: She won the National Aeronautics Association (NAA)'s Katharine and Marjorie Stinson Award.
- 2018: She received the Sword of Excellence from the International Council of Air Shows.
- 2019: She earned the Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. This award is for pilots who have shown great skill and safety for at least 50 years.
- 2020: She received the NAA's McDonald Distinguished Statesman & Stateswoman of Aviation Award.
- 2023: She was given the Katharine Wright Memorial Trophy by the NAA and the Ninety-Nines.
Her Family's Influence
Julie Clark's father, Captain Ernest Clark, was also an airline pilot. Sadly, both of her parents passed away when she was young. Her mother's death, and then her father's death a year later, made Julie even more determined to become a pilot herself.
