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The Power of Alumnae: The Pilot (Gillian Moore '20)
As a child, Gillian Moore loved excursions to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. She remembers going to Gravelly Point in Arlington, Va., to watch planes take off and land from Reagan National Airport. And she was always thrilled by peeks into airplane cockpits when her family travelled.
So it was fitting when, for Moore’s 18th birthday, her father gave her a lesson at a flight school in Gaithersburg, Md. She took the lesson in December 2020, midway through a post-NCS/pre-college gap year.
After her discovery flight, as first lessons are known, Moore was “totally hooked.” She says, “My father had no idea what he was getting himself into because, from there, I was just totally falling in love with it.” Moore spent the summer flying as regularly as the weather permitted. In the middle of August, the day before she started as a first-year at the University of Virginia (UVA), she completed her first solo flight, taking off and landing twice.
“That was the moment I was hooked on flying as a career,” Moore says. And that was the day she started an Instagram account about her flying adventures (@pic_gillian), recognizing, “This is Day One, so let’s start documenting it here.” She has more than 70,000 followers, and the account has become a way for Moore to connect with airplane enthusiasts around the world.
Now a second-year majoring in Cognitive Science at UVA, Moore seeks ways to pursue different aspects of her passion. Early on, she discovered that UVA has a flight simulator lab, but students are not generally permitted to use it. When she made inquiries, the Engineering Department invited her to work as a Teaching Assistant in a flight vehicle dynamics class for third-year aerospace engineering majors. In addition, Moore volunteers as a social media team member with The Ninety Nines, an international organization of female pilots. She has applied for membership in the Civil Air Patrol, a non-profit auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, and hopes to have official senior member status soon.
During the school year, Moore’s schedule only allows her into the cockpit about once a week. She flies at a Charlottesville flight school and notes, “While I am not making progress, I am not falling backwards.” When Moore is home over school breaks, she flies more frequently and is able to gain new skills. She earned her private pilot’s license this winter break, a milestone she says is “a ticket to learn.” This license qualifies Moore to take on additional flight challenges. Specifically, Moore now has a highperformance endorsement to fly a faster plane; a complex endorsement to fly planes with retractable gear; and an instrument rating to fly in clouds and reduced visibility.
The next hurdle is obtaining a commercial pilot’s license, which requires a written test, an oral test, and a practical flying test. She has passed the written test and is at work on the other two requirements. When she passes, she will be eligible to fly for compensation or hire. She knows that a lot of pilots then obtain their instructor’s certificate as a way to reach 1500 flight hours (the number necessary to fly a commercial plane). For now, Moore might try to work at a small charter company. She says, “Getting a first officer job on a PC-12 or on some sort of multi-engine plane would be really cool.”
Moore remains open to other opportunities. She says, “I’m looking at flying professionally for a lifetime, but as to how I get here, still remains to be seen. She says, “The more I learn about aviation, the more I learn there’s just so many things I’ve never thought about.” For this up-and-coming pilot, the sky’s the limit.
Back
So it was fitting when, for Moore’s 18th birthday, her father gave her a lesson at a flight school in Gaithersburg, Md. She took the lesson in December 2020, midway through a post-NCS/pre-college gap year.
After her discovery flight, as first lessons are known, Moore was “totally hooked.” She says, “My father had no idea what he was getting himself into because, from there, I was just totally falling in love with it.” Moore spent the summer flying as regularly as the weather permitted. In the middle of August, the day before she started as a first-year at the University of Virginia (UVA), she completed her first solo flight, taking off and landing twice.
“That was the moment I was hooked on flying as a career,” Moore says. And that was the day she started an Instagram account about her flying adventures (@pic_gillian), recognizing, “This is Day One, so let’s start documenting it here.” She has more than 70,000 followers, and the account has become a way for Moore to connect with airplane enthusiasts around the world.
Now a second-year majoring in Cognitive Science at UVA, Moore seeks ways to pursue different aspects of her passion. Early on, she discovered that UVA has a flight simulator lab, but students are not generally permitted to use it. When she made inquiries, the Engineering Department invited her to work as a Teaching Assistant in a flight vehicle dynamics class for third-year aerospace engineering majors. In addition, Moore volunteers as a social media team member with The Ninety Nines, an international organization of female pilots. She has applied for membership in the Civil Air Patrol, a non-profit auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, and hopes to have official senior member status soon.
During the school year, Moore’s schedule only allows her into the cockpit about once a week. She flies at a Charlottesville flight school and notes, “While I am not making progress, I am not falling backwards.” When Moore is home over school breaks, she flies more frequently and is able to gain new skills. She earned her private pilot’s license this winter break, a milestone she says is “a ticket to learn.” This license qualifies Moore to take on additional flight challenges. Specifically, Moore now has a highperformance endorsement to fly a faster plane; a complex endorsement to fly planes with retractable gear; and an instrument rating to fly in clouds and reduced visibility.
The next hurdle is obtaining a commercial pilot’s license, which requires a written test, an oral test, and a practical flying test. She has passed the written test and is at work on the other two requirements. When she passes, she will be eligible to fly for compensation or hire. She knows that a lot of pilots then obtain their instructor’s certificate as a way to reach 1500 flight hours (the number necessary to fly a commercial plane). For now, Moore might try to work at a small charter company. She says, “Getting a first officer job on a PC-12 or on some sort of multi-engine plane would be really cool.”
Moore remains open to other opportunities. She says, “I’m looking at flying professionally for a lifetime, but as to how I get here, still remains to be seen. She says, “The more I learn about aviation, the more I learn there’s just so many things I’ve never thought about.” For this up-and-coming pilot, the sky’s the limit.
