Name: Celebrating the legacy of Amelia Earhart/Women in Aviation with Jo Lin Gowing
Start: 2025-01-09T12:00:00-06:00
End: 2025-01-09T13:00:00-06:00
Location: Holiday Inn Longview - North

$Celebrating the legacy of Amelia Earhart\/Women in Aviation with Jo Lin Gowing$

January's club meeting celebrates Amelia Earhart's legacy by recognizing women in aviation. We welcome Jo Lin Gowing as our speaker.
Jo Lin's biography:
Born in 1965 at a military base in California, I spent my school years as an Air Force brat moving around the US every few years. I loved it, and I got to see many different places. When my father retired, our family settled in South Carolina on a small farm, and I attended college at Clemson University.
From a bachelor’s degree at Clemson, I went on to MIT and earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. After graduation, I got married and started working for GE Aerospace in Burlington, MA. Life events allowed us to relocate to Michelin in Spartanburg, SC, and then to Northwest Technical Institute in Eden Prairie, MN. I taught engineering and drafting in tech school for a few years, but then I had the privilege to be able to stay home and raise a family. Once my children had grown up and mostly moved out, I started teaching mechanical engineering at LeTourneau University here in Longview. My list of courses are Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics of Materials, Vibrations, and Engineering Project Management.
The dream of flying has been one that I’ve had since I was little. But until recently, it’s always been something that was just that, a dream. For a birthday present three years ago, my husband gave me the gift of a discovery flight. It was amazing! With a lot of persistence and practice, I have become a certificated private pilot and the owner of a small airplane I call Bluebelle. My husband of 36 years has been very supportive of my flying, and we have had many adventures already. My eventual goal is to become a certified flight instructor so that I can help other ladies, both young and old, be able to experience the thrill of flight. According to Bessie Coleman, one of the pioneers of aviation, “You’ve never lived ‘til you’ve flown!”