Julie Clark

Aerobatic pilot

Julie Clark
Clark in 2006
Born	(1948-06-27) June 27, 1948 (age 75) Hayward, California, United States
Occupation	Airshow & commercial pilot
Years active	1969–2019
Website	www.julieclarkairshows.com

Julie E. Clark (born June 27, 1948) is a retired American aerobatic air show aviator and commercial airline pilot. She started her commercial flying career with Golden West Airlines as a first officer and ended it in 2003 as a Northwest Airlines Airbus A320 Captain. She was one of the first female pilots to work for a major airline, and has been voted as "Performer of the Year" several times for her air show performances.^[1]

Career

Clark has more than 50 years of flight experience, 41 years as a solo aerobatic-air show pilot as of October 19, 2019,^[2] and 37,000 flight hours.^[3]^[4] She flew an average of 20 air shows a year in her Juice Plus-sponsored Beechcraft T-34 Mentor,^[5] and is rated in more than 66 types of aircraft. She is an enshrined member of the Living Legends of Aviation.

Clark received her pilot certificate in 1969 in San Carlos, California. She performed in the same plane from 1977 until 2019, a T-34 Mentor that she bought for $18,000 at a government surplus auction in Anchorage, Alaska.^[6]^[7] She named the plane Free Spirit, which went to the Hiller Aviation Museum when she retired.^[8]

In the late 1990s, she added a North American T-28C Trojan named "Top Banana" to her aerobatics routine.^[9]^[10]

While at the 2019 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show, Clark announced her plans to retire, with her last performance on November 7, 2019 at Nellis Air Force Base.^[8]

Awards

2002, Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame^[11]
2008 National Aeronautics Association's Katharine and Marjorie Stinson Award^[12]
2018, she received the Sword of Excellence from the International Council of Air Shows,^[8]
2019, Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award.^[13]
2020, named to the National Aeronautics Association's McDonald Distinguished Statesman & Stateswoman of Aviation Award.^[14]
2023, Katharine Wright Memorial Trophy, presented by the National Aeronautic Association and the Ninety-Nines^[15]

Family

Clark's father, Captain Ernest Clark, was also an airline pilot. He was murdered in 1964 by a suicidal passenger on Pacific Air Lines Flight 773. All crew and passengers were killed as a result of the passenger shooting both pilots, then himself, causing the plane to crash.^[16] Her mother's death just a year earlier, and her father's subsequent death, increased her determination to fly.^[17]

References

^ Pioneers Archived March 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ American Aerobatics Archived 2009-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Meet Our Aviation Alumnus: Julie Clark - Fly SMC Friendly". flysmcfriendly.com. May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Julie E. Clark - Women in Aviation International". www.wai.org. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Aviation speakers". Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
^ "Meet Our Aviation Alumnus: Julie Clark - Fly SMC Friendly". flysmcfriendly.com. May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Our Stories: Flying Phenom Julie Clark's Career Continues to Soar - ALPA". www.alpa.org. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Airshow pilot Julie Clark to retire". www.aopa.org. July 25, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
^ "Airshow spotlight: Julie Clark, "Free Spirit"". Grand Forks Air Force Base. May 11, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Julie Clark: From Flight Attendant to Captain to Aerobatics Superstar – Airport Journals". Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Julie E. Clark - Women in Aviation International". www.wai.org. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ Boatman, Julie (August 16, 2023). "Julie Clark Honored with the 2023 Katharine Wright Memorial Trophy". FLYING Magazine. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Awards
^ Jetpack. "Distinguished Statesman & Stateswoman of Aviation Award". Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ Boatman, Julie (August 16, 2023). "Julie Clark Honored with the 2023 Katharine Wright Memorial Trophy". FLYING Magazine. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "The Crash of Pacific Air Lines Flight #773". Check-Six.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
^ Rees, Brenda. "With the Kids: Highlights are her career; Julie Clark, joining the show at Edwards Air Force Base, has been pulling stunts for 20 years. Los Angeles Times, 2005. Retrieved: May 22, 2009.