Airshow spotlight: Julie Clark, “Free Spirit” Published May 11, 2006 By American Aerobatics GRAND FORKS AFB, N.D. -- You would think being a captain for Northwest Airlines would satisfy one’s desire to be airborne. Not so for Julie Clark. For more than 27 years, after delivering business travelers and vacationers safely to their destination, you would find Julie taking her love of aviation to new height aboard her T-34 Mentor “Free Spirit” or her yellow T-28 “Top Banana.” Now Julie, who retired from Northwest Airlines in 2003, still spends her free time in either the T-34 or the T-28 and performs in 20-25 air shows each season, including the base’s July 22 Air Show. Julie’s father, Ernie Clark, was an airline pilot and her inspiration to become a pilot. After a few trips with her father, she realized what airplanes did and how they flew. Soon afterward, she made the decision that aviation would become a major part of her life. By the time she was in grade school she was reading all she could read about aviation, especially military aviation. There wasn’t an airplane Julie could not identify. Life soon became difficult for Julie. At age 14 her mother died and at age 15 she was orphaned following the death of her father. In 1964, before today’s airline security measures were even thought of, a deranged passenger entered the open cockpit and shot her father and the co-pilot causing the airliner to crash, killing all on board. Finding the money for flying lessons at UC Santa Barbara, California was not easy for Julie. She water-skied professionally at Marine World and used her college book money to pay for flying lessons. In time, she earned her commercial pilot’s license and went hunting for a dream aviation job. For 18 months, in 1974-75, she was a contract instructor for the U.S. Navy at Lemoore Naval Station, Calif. Soon after, in 1977, Julie said she felt like she died and went to heaven after being hired by Hughes Air West Airlines as their first female pilot. In 1980, Hughes Air West merged with North Central Airlines and Southern Airlines to become Republic Airlines and in 1986 they merged with Northwest. After more than 27 years flying for Northwest, Julie retired in 2003 as a captain of the Airbus A320. Each of her performances, which lasts approximately 15 minutes, has G-forces ranging from five-and-a-half to six positive, and zero to one negative. Julie’s sky dance with “Free Spirit” is an aerial ballet choreographed to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and “God Bless You Canada.” In fact, she named her airplane “Free Spirit” for the spirit of freedom of the United States of America. Patriotism is very important to Julie and she has chosen to express her own through her flying. Julie says her father is always with her. Before each flight she says a little prayer, “Don’t let me do noth’n dumb Dad.” In over 27,000 hours of flying , including over 1000 airshows, she has never bent an airplane, never landed gear up, never been violated by the FAA. With her dad’s help she’s sure she never will.