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"Girl on the Wing"

Updated: Aug 11, 2023

Aviation Trail Board Member Inducted into Women in Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame

Patty Wagner, FAA Master Pilot, and air show legend, was one of the inductees into the Women In Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame at the 31st Annual International Women in Aviation Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on March 7.

In addition to her piloting experience, Patty was famous as the “Girl on the Wing” – a wing-walker on the international air show circuit for some 30 years, with her husband Bob who piloted their Stearman biplane. They have flown in all 50 states and performed in 47 states, as well as British Columbia, Quebec, every Canadian province in between, and in South America.

The Women In Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame honors women who have made significant contributions as record setters, pioneers, or innovators in the aviation and aerospace industries. This year’s Women in Aviation award recognizes Patty for her contributions to aviation, and puts her on a hall of fame list that includes names like Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman, Harriet Quimby, and Sally Ride. In addition to Patty Wagner, the other inductees in the 2020 class are Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, the service’s first female fighter pilot and U.S. Army’s First Women Rotary Wing Aviators, a group of nine female helicopter pilots who represent the first women in rotary wing aviation to serve in the U.S. Army. The WIA has been presenting the Pioneer Hall of Fame award since 1992.


Just last year, in May of 2019 the FAA had presented Patty Wagner with the The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, which recognizes professionalism, skill and aviation expertise as an accident-free career pilot for at least 50 years.


Patty currently volunteers her time to many aviation organizations, including Women in Aviation, and serves on the Board of Trustees of Aviation Trail, Inc., WACO Historical Society, OX5 Aviation Pioneers, and Moraine Air Park.

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