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"Growth and development is definitely my big passion!"
- - - Kucki Low
Kucki now resides in Deep Cove, a lush
green waterfront community nestled in a "cove" area on the
North Shore of
Vancouver BC. Here's her story:
I was born in Austria.
In 1952, my parents immigrated to what was then called German South
West Africa, (now "Namibia"). We owned a photography business
in Walvis Bay. I loved photography and worked in the business from a
very early age. When I was 19, my parents died and our business was
bought out by my uncle.
I left for Germany
to pursue my studies in photography. After three years, I returned to
Walvis Bay to work for my uncle. One day we chartered a plane to take
some aerial photos. We took off in a single engine Piper Cherokee and
it was like sitting in chair and watching the scenery go by.
People often asked
me whether I always wanted to learn to fly, and I had to say the thought
had never even entered my mind. But after that first flight, I was hooked.
I signed up for flying lessons! I completed my private pilots licence
which requires 40 hours minimum of flight time plus a written &
practical flight test. Every second weekend, the instructor would fly
into our town from Windhoek, which is the capital of Namibia, to teach
our class of five pupil pilots. We would spend the whole weekend at
the airport taking turns in either being instructed or flying solo.
Learning to fly
in the Namib desert was great fun! The runway went on forever and there
was hardly ever another plane in the sky to worry about. I did my first
solo flight after 9 hours of instruction and can still remember the
elation & terror of being up there in the plane by myself while
all my friends were little specks in the desert, cheering me on. The
first flight going solo is a big moment for any pilot and the event
gets celebrated with a big party. All of our group got their private
pilot's licences. But I didn't want to stop there - I wanted to go for
my commercial pilot's license. But I didn't have the background that
is required for a commercial pilot's licence ...but I loved flying passionately
and couldn't afford to fly unless someone paid me for it. So, I decided
to go for it!
In 1969, I went
to a flight school in Johannesburg, South Africa. There were 20 of us
in the course, all men except for me. Actually, there were no women
commercial pilots in South Africa at that time. Everyone was incredible
supportive, but when it came to the exams I didn't pass with flying
colours. In fact I failed hopelessly. So, I went back to working as
a photographer and did a home study course for a year.
I took advantage
of any opportunity I could to build up flying hours, as it requires
a minimum of 200 hours to get a commercial licence. After a year of
hard work I passed all of the exams and the flight test. I was a commercial
pilot, the first female one in the country. But...getting my commercial
licence was only the first step. No airline would hire a woman pilot
with no experience. So I decided to become a flight instructor, which
required more flying hours and more exams.
I remember getting
into the plane with my first student at the flying school at a town
called George. We were probably equally nervous. But because I loved
flying and because it certainly didn't come easy to me I found it very
easy to relate to my students and pass on my enthusiasm for flying.
Three years later, I was offered a position at the Good Hope Flying
Club in Cape Town.
This is when
my life really changed. One of the first students who phoned
to book a lesson was told that he was so lucky the club had just hired
the only woman flight instructor in South Africa, and that there was
a booking available that afternoon. His comment was, "I'll try
anything once". One thing led to another and we were married a
couple of years later.
That was 28 years
ago and we are still very happily married, although neither of us fly
anymore. Making the transition from flight instructor to airline pilot
was my next challenge. There had never been a woman airline pilot in
South Africa thus far, and for an airline to employ me was a "bit
of a risk".
Namaqualand Airline,
a small feeder airline and charter company in Cape Town, decided to
take on the challenge. They had a questionnaire on their flights for
3 months, asking passengers how they felt about flying with a woman
pilot. Out of the hundreds of surveys returned, only one said that women
belonged in the kitchen. They figured their chance of losing customers
wasn't too great and that the upside was great publicity, so they took
the plunge.
Again, all of the
pilots I worked with were extremely supportive. They almost felt protective
towards me and would even offer to change routes with me if the weather
was extremely bad. My job included both flying a schedule and charter
flying, taking people to where ever they wanted to go.
In 1977, I stopped
flying commercially when I was pregnant with our son Marc, and two years
later we immigrated to Canada. I often get asked "Don't you miss
your flying?" No, not really!
"Life
offers us so many opportunities and new challenges," Kucki said.
"For
me right now building up a new business marketing synthetic ice rinks
in Western Canada is one of them. But I sure have some great memories."
"And I'm really
excited about connecting people through our new project EnlightenedDating.com!
"
click
here to visit enlightenedDating.com
email Kucki:
CLICK HERE
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