Centurion Aviation Services

04/05/2026

03/02/2026

Meet Colonel Merryl Tengesdal! She is the first and only African American woman to fly the United States Air Force's U-2 spy plane, which is used for specialized high-altitude reconnaissance missions.

"It is very uncommon, even for this day and age, to be a female pilot, much less a female minority... My career field is very male-dominated, but I hope I have helped other females with similar aspirations to realize this is an option. I think we are all limitless as to what we can accomplish."

We salute you, Merryl Tengesdal! The sky's the limit!

This film is for women like her, the teacher who became a test pilot, the artist who learned to chart the sky, the farm girl who outflew doubt, the mathematician who trusted her instruments in the dark. It is for the women who ferried fighters and bombers across a country at war and were told, for decades, that their service did not count. Their worth was never measured in medals. It’s measured in the courage they carried and the silence that followed.

Check out her PODCAST "ALL FIRE NO SMOKE" Hosted by Col. Merryl Tengesdal (USN, USAF, ret.) & Lt. Col. Caroline Jensen (USAF, ret.) on...
🎤Apple Podcasts
🎤Spotify
🎤ACast

Photo by Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty Images

Be a part of preserving this important and often forgotten history of our early female aviators by donating: bit.ly/WASPLegacyCampaign

Every little bit helps and thank you for your support!

Follow us to support and stay up to date on the first feature-length documentary about our long-forgotten WWII female aviators, Coming Home: Fight For A Legacy.

Women in Aviation International Elevate Aviation

01/07/2026

✈️🎓 At Nikolai High School in Alaska (population: 94)—
every student MUST get a pilot's license to graduate.
Not optional. REQUIRED. 🪽
"Why?" outsiders ask.
Principal: "Because in Alaska, flying isn't a hobby.
It's SURVIVAL." 💙
The village has no roads.
Everything comes by plane.
If these kids don't learn to fly—
they're TRAPPED. ✈️

The school has 3 planes.
Students start training at 14.
By 18, they're LICENSED PILOTS.
100% graduation rate for 12 YEARS. 💪
Last year, a city reporter visited:
"Isn't this EXPENSIVE?"
Principal: "We don't have a football team. Or a pool. Or expensive sports.
We have PLANES. And kids who can FLY them." 🪽
One graduate, now 22, explained:
"My pilot's license got me a JOB.
Made $40,000 my first year out of high school.
My city friends are in college debt.
I'm making MONEY." 💪
The program works because:
- Community funds it
- Parents support it
- Students NEED it
"This isn't about passion," the principal says.
"It's about NECESSITY.
Our kids fly or they're STRANDED." 🪽
Critics say: "This is ridiculous!"
Graduates say: "This SAVED our lives." 💙
Now other rural schools are copying the model.
"Flight training should be STANDARD in rural Alaska," one educator says.
The FAA studied the program:
"Highest youth pilot rate in America. Zero accidents."
Some schools teach algebra.
Nikolai teaches FLYING. ✈️

🙌 Share if innovative education matters! 👇

11/30/2025

Wow

11/23/2025

11/23/2025

10/23/2025

10/20/2025

09/27/2025

T-3:15 DAL199 (Pilot) "Atlanta Center, Delta 199 heavy, we... uh... we think we just won the lottery."

T-3:10 ATC (Controller) "Delta 199, say again? Did you get a ride report for us?"

T-3:05 DAL199 (Pilot) "Negative, Center. We were just struck by lightning. Seriously.
A big one. Right on the nose."

T-3:00 ATC "Roger, Delta 199. Confirming a lightning strike. Any system warnings, smoke, or visible damage?"

T-2:50 DAL199 (Pilot) "Negative warnings, but the First Officer's coffee just performed a full acrobatic maneuver and now my entire side of the cockpit smells faintly of burnt ozone and very dark roast. Also, our Wi-Fi just went out. This is a tragedy, Center."

T-2:35 ATC "(Slight chuckle) Roger that, Delta 199. Appreciate the detailed assessment. Are you declaring an emergency or prepared to continue the approach?"

T-2:25 DAL199 (Pilot) "We're stable, Center. But request a high-speed taxi and the full maintenance crew meet us at the gate. I need them to look at the fuselage, and more importantly, the coffee stain. It's a structural issue now."

T-2:15 ATC "Understood, Delta 199. Expect vectors for a straight-in to runway 27 Right. Maintenance is advised for... the structural coffee issue. And, uh, if you see a scorched piece of metal tape missing from your nose, it's just a souvenir. It happens."

T-2:00 DAL199 (Pilot) "Copy that, Center. And if you hear a strange electrical buzzing during the approach, that's just the First Officer trying to jump-start the in-flight entertainment system. Priorities."

T-1:50 ATC "Delta 199, roger. Maintain visual separation from that buzzing. Cleared to land, 27 Right. Welcome to Atlanta."

T-1:40 DAL199 (Pilot) "Cleared to land, 27 Right. Thank you, Center. Could you put an ice pack on the maintenance request, too? For the First Officer's forehead."