Thousand Oaks 83-year-old pilot breaks barriers, awarded FAA's highest honor

A Thousand Oaks woman in her 80s is the latest recipient of the most prestigious aviation award in America, breaking gender stereotypes and inspiring other women to join the field.

Most people her age are giving up their driver's licenses, but 83-year-old Cecilia Stratford is still in the cockpit.

"Well, there's nothing like going up in the air and controlling the machine that you're flying in and seeing the Earth," Stratford said.

She still remembers feeling that thrill, 51 years ago, when she took her first solo flight.

"Well, I was dating a fellow who had an airplane, and he invited me to use his airplane to learn to fly. How could I say no?" Stratford said.

The boyfriend didn't stick, but her love of flying endures. Over the last 50 years, she's created seven giant scrapbooks highlighting her aviation career, most as a volunteer.

"I wasn't interested in being paid to fly. Like to for the airlines. It did not interest me at all," Stratford said.

Her passion is to share her love and skills with others. She's flown medical supplies for relief organizations, given 900 introductory flights to kids, and mentored dozens, mostly women, to become instructors, commercial, and military pilots. One of them is Captain Genevieve Anonsen of the Air National Guard.

"Your impact reaches much further than any one airplane or any one career. It lives in the hundreds of young people who you have introduced to flying and the pilots you have helped along the way," Anonsen said to Stratford during the award ceremony.

Before becoming a fighter pilot, Anonsen was Stratford's mentee. Last month, she presented Stratford with the FAA's highest honor, the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. Something awarded only to licensed pilots with a perfect safety record of 50 years, and less than one percent of airline pilots -- only a handful of women -- have received it.

"I am so privileged to reach that milestone," Stratford said, noting that she does not plan to stop flying any time soon.

"I think it's really important that we keep doing it -- and the sky is not the limit!" Stratford said.