Air enthusiasts in Eden Prairie introduce young women to aviation careers

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Mar. 8 marked the 114th anniversary of Raymonde de Laroche becoming the first woman in the world to receive a government issued pilot’s license. At the Wings of the North air museum in Eden Prairie, air enthusiasts used that as an opportunity to inspire the next generation of women aviators.

"I love to influence young women, and for them to look at me and see something about them in me," retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Caroline Jensen told FOX 9. "I just tell them to go for it. You can never have success without having failure… you need to go for it. It’s really great for building character."

Jensen’s Air Force career saw her fly her across the country, overseas to Korea and on combat missions in Iraq. But when she was a child, she says it still wasn’t legal for women to fly fighter planes in combat.

"Being a pilot was not as accessible to women," Jensen explained. "They didn’t think women were compatible to combat, and the situations and decisions that have to be made."

Ultimately, things changed overtime; but today, the number of women in the air still remains just a small minority.

Now Jensen, Danielle Hemmingsen and other volunteers would like to change that, by introducing more girls to aviation at a young age.

"We’re celebrating women pilots in [Women’s] History Month," Danielle Hemmingsen said. "There’s so much history to be learned."