Original Tuskegee pilot inspires Denver youth to soar
Emma Oliver grew up around planes.
She says that's what sparked her interest in aviation.
"Honestly, since I was a child, I really loved aviation," Oliver said. "With my aunts being flight attendants and my grandfather being a ground crew member for Continental and now United, and my uncle also being an air traffic controller, I was always taking flights, being at the airport, seeing planes flying over."
But it wasn't until the Mile High Flight Program introduced her to a Black woman pilot that she felt inspired to soar higher than she ever imagined.
"It was a really great experience because I was finally able to see someone else who looked like me in the cockpit when I'd never been able to see that before. Same hair, same everything," said Oliver.
Eric Mosley, a coordinator with the Mile High Flight Program, was the one who brought that pilot to Oliver's school. On Saturday, he also brought Denver metro area high school and middle school students to Metropolitan State University of Denver for a half-day experience designed to inspire diverse students to become pilots.
"If you put your mind to it and follow your heart and work hard and have a good flight plan, there's nothing that you can't do," Mosley said. "It's just a great chance, and we're just very happy that MSU has supported us for so many years."
The Mile High Flight Program is sponsored by the Denver chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. That means that in addition to all the working pilots students got to meet, they also met original Tuskegee pilot, Lt. Col. James Harvey.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces, having served in World War II.
Harvey says he loved the turnout and is grateful that this generation of young people is getting support like this.
"When I was a young pilot. I didn't get the attention," said Harvey.
Oliver is already enrolled at MSU Denver to start her journey, but if she or any other student needed any more motivation, she says they certainly found it in Harvey.
"Knowing his legacy and other Tuskegee Airmen was really inspiring for me educationally and professionally," said Oliver.
