WAI Tampa Bay Chapter February Event

MacDill Air Force Base Tour!

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Details will be updated on the website.

Tours are only available during the week.

RSVPs now open! 

Base security will require specific information for clearances.

Please complete the RSVP in its entirety.

Questions? waitampabay@gmail.com

We congratulate and thank our 2023 WAITB Officers!

Officer Elections and Pizza Party!

Presenting our 2023 WAITB Officers!

President: Mariah Blackmon

Vice President: Yvonne Wibben

Secretary: Anne-Marie DiCenzo Toryk

Treasurer: Katie Gonot

Membership Chair: Bart Graham

Outreach Chair: Carly Lopez

Social Media Chair: Nikki Gallagher

We thank Icon Aircraft Flight Center and Suzanne for hosting our event!

Women in Aviation Tampa Bay Chapter Scholarship opportunity coming soon!

The application window will open in March.

To be eligible to apply for this $1000 scholarship applicants must have current membership in

WAI and WAITB.

To update your membership, got to waitb.org/join

Scholarship details will be updated on the website.

How can I get involved?

This question comes up often throughout the year. The mission of the Women in Aviation Tampa Bay Chapter is to provide resources and create awareness of the opportunities in aviation and aerospace to young people in our community. There are many ways we try to do this and many ways you can help our organization grow.

Our most popular annual event is the worldwide Girls in Aviation Day (GIAD). We began the process of planning for this year's event on September 26, 2022, the day after last year's event. We will reach out to sponsors now to promote awareness of the event and request their commitment for support. GIAD committee chair, Mariah Blackmon, manages these requests along with event coordination. We need volunteers to help Mariah with sponsor and event coordination. We will need a team of volunteers for the day of the event for multiple positions including parking, fundraising, guest assistance and registration, setup, and more. This year, GIAD takes place on Saturday, September 23.

Throughout the year, schools have programs such as the Great American Teach In, or career days. Are you in the industry of aerospace or aviation? We could use your help in these classrooms to share your career with the children in Tampa Bay area schools. Our Outreach program also needs volunteers to reach out to local flight schools to let them know WAI Tampa Bay is a local resource for their students.

These are just some of the committees where we need help. To learn more, visit our website, waitb.org.

Please express interest to waitampabay@gmail.com

History of Aviation in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Did you know St. Petersburg, Florida is the birthplace of Commercial Aviation?

"In the morning of New Year’s Day 1914, at about 10 AM, pilot Tony Janus took off from the bay of St. Petersburg on the Lark of Duluth, a Benoist XIV seaplane. With him was the very first paying passenger for a manned flight – the Mayor of St. Petersburg himself, Abraham C. Pheil. The flight crossed the bay from St. Petersburg and landed in Tampa after about 23 minutes in the air for an average speed of around a mile per minute. This marked the birth of commercial aviation between the two cities with Thomas W. Benoist and Percival Fansler joining to form the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. The cost of airfare? Only $5. Mayor Pheil auctioned the very first commercial airline ticket for $400. In 3 months’ time, the airline lifted more than 1,200 passengers over the famed Tampa Bay. It closed soon after because of decreasing profitability.

On the 70th Anniversary of the first commercial flight, the Florida Aviation Historical Society built a full-scale and fully operational replica of the Lark of Duluth. This remarkable piece of history is now at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Coincidentally, the museum sits right in St. Petersburg Pier near the approximate spot where the birth of commercial aviation took place more than a century ago.

St. Petersburg can rightfully claim the birthplace of paid aviation. And people can visit the St. Petersburg Museum of History to relive the glory days of the Lark of Duluth." - St. Petersburg Museum of History

To learn more about the history of aviation in St. Petersburg, visit the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

Scholarship opportunity!

Love for Albert Whited Airport is offering scholarships!

Love4AWA.com for more information.

Learn about additional aviation scholarship opportunities.

(Not affiliated with WAI or WAITB)

The editor/author of this newsletter is Chapter volunteer and current Vice President Yvonne Wibben.

Do you have an idea for a newsletter article or know of an aviation related event taking place in the Tampa Bay area? Please send your ideas or any feedback to me at

yvonne.waitb@gmail.com

Thank you.