“If you have lost faith, all you need to do is look at kids like Kimberly,” said Thornhill, who served overseas during World War II as a propeller specialist and P-47 crew chief before becoming a pilot. “I’ve been in awe of girls all my life, the smarts, the passion, but this is something else. I was newly inspired.”
Kimberly’s 17-year-old sister, Kelly, last year set a world record by becoming the youngest black female to solo in four fixed-wing aircraft on the same day.
“She talks about getting her pilot’s license more than she does about driving,” Kimberly said of her sister on a Saturday visit to the Buena Vista Library in Burbank. The pair were joined by Thornhill and museum founder Robin Petgrave to discuss the June 29 flight.
In all, five children have set 10 world records in the museum’s 12-year history. The organization reached out to living Tuskegee Airmen, black pilots who flew in World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps, to help bridge accomplishments of the past with those of the future, Petgrave said.
“We recognize the honor and that we stand on their shoulders,” said Kimberly, who along with the audience referenced such names as Bessie Coleman, the first African American airline pilot, and Mae Jemison, the first African-American female to travel in space. Jemison has agreed to forgo her speaking honoraria to speak at an upcoming museum gala, Petgrave said.
