Newsletter #7 – Aug. 7, 2026: Back from Oshkosh
Editor’s Note: As one of 730,000 people who attended the 2026 EAA AirVenture, held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin from July 20 to July 26, I highly recommend the experience to everyone. Whether you’re a pilot, an aviation industry professional or enthusiast, a history buff, a kid or a kid at heart, there is something for everyone in Oshkosh. It’s the world’s largest celebration of aviation. And with the nation’s 250th birthday just days before, what a celebration it was this year in Oshkosh! The National WASP WWII Museum’s 1943 BT-13 was on display all week on Boeing Plaza where massive military planes and Independence One, Southwest Airlines tribute to America 250, were steps away.
On Wednesday, July 22, I screened our documentary, Crosswinds: The Courageous Life of Cornelia Fort, at the Skyscape Theater in the EAA Aviation Museum. I was thrilled to tell people they could see the BT-13 featured in the film at Boeing Plaza!
On Thursday, July 23, Rachael McClain, WASP Museum executive director, pinned wings on Andrea McGilvray, the BT-13 pilot who flew the warbird from the WASP Museum in Sweetwater to Oshkosh and back. I interviewed Andrea via telephone after Oshkosh. Her life story reminded me so much of Cornelia as both women found their calling in the skies during their first flight. Read about Andrea’s aviation journey in my article below.
And for those asking how to watch Crosswinds, it’s available for streaming at the Crosswinds Cornelia website.
Andrea McGilvray Carries on WASP Legacy
Aug. 7, 2026 – The loops and spins in the air that Andrea McGilvray precisely performs at aerobatic competitions from coast to coast represent an apt metaphor for the twists and turns she has experienced throughout her life. Born in Austria and raised in Canada, in 1987 at age 20 she was working as a chef at a country club in Canada when she was invited to take a ride in and fly an ultralight aircraft. Similar to Cornelia Fort who found her calling in life in 1940 on her first ride in the skies, Andrea’s life was forever changed that day. “It was instant addiction, not love. I have to do this. It kind of saved my life,” Andrea said during a July 28, 2026 telephone interview.
Today as a National WASP WWII Museum BT-13 pilot, Andrea had just returned from flying the museum’s 1943 BT-13 from Sweetwater, Texas to the 2026 EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and back. Known worldwide simply as “Oshkosh,” AirVenture is the world’s largest celebration of aviation. More than 730,000 people attended the week-long event this year and no doubt, most of them walked by the BT-13 as it was prominently displayed on Boeing Plaza. On Thursday, July 23, next to the BT-13, Rachael McClain, WASP Museum executive director, pinned wings on Andrea to officially name her as one of their BT-13 pilots.
Andrea’s journey from Austria to an aviation career in Texas is primarily the result of her perseverance in the face of many, many naysayers who told her over and over again she would not be able to accomplish anything in life.
She literally had to find out what she could do on her own after a confluence of factors caused dismal elementary and high school school experiences during those important formative years. She struggled learning English upon moving to Calgary, Canada from Austria. Adjusting to a couple of moves within Canada, she found herself in kindergarten when she should have been in third grade. Teachers told her parents she would not amount to much because she had a difficult time learning. They placed her in their box of low expectations, convenient for them but devastating for Andrea. It didn’t take much to meet those low expectations, Andrea said as she recalls sleeping through many classes because she was so bored.
But she gradually took it upon herself to define her abilities. In high school, she couldn’t see the chalkboard but her parents did not believe she needed eyeglasses so she earned money to buy her own glasses. She also wanted to take shop classes but girls were not allowed so she took home economics classes. She performed well, becoming a certified red seal chef. That led to a job in culinary arts at a country club. After accepting the invitation to fly, she crushed the box of low expectations due to that first ultralight flight. Her flight instructor told her she was a natural pilot. “Aviation fixed that because it was such an instant passion. It changed the rest of my life. It changed how I am today because of that first flight. And I’m super, super grateful for that,” she said.
It also changed her friends, which was an important pivot as she was hanging out with “no good” people, she added. “I changed my friends. My whole life changed. Everything changed.”
First she worked to earn her ultralight certificate, a Canadian requirement, she earned her private certificate and as a passenger, enjoyed doing aerobatics in a Stearman with her flight instructor, Ted (James Sorensen). Paying for all of her lessons from working two jobs, Ted gave her special time when he was flying and didn’t have anyone with him.
After logging 120 hours, in 1994, she stopped flying – for 21 years. She enrolled in school in Canada to become an electrician earning the highest mark ever achieved in one course. “It was easy. I realized I wasn’t dumb. I just had to learn who I was. There was nobody around who taught me that and I finally figured that out. I still struggle but I am not dumb,” she said.
In 2002, Andrea traveled to Texas on a business trip to install a cd-rom screen printing press she had engineered in Canada and sold to a client in Texas. The trip turned into a one-way excursion after she met someone whom she later married and faced a challenging 12 years. In 2015, now single, she met Jerry who navigated a path for her back into aviation. He had a large collection of planes and before she knew it, she purchased an ultralight, then a Hatz, and then a Pitts. She turned her twists and turns in life into aerial loops and spins in the air at aerobatic competitions. And she never looked back.
Five years ago, she bought a Decathlon. Now a member of the Ninety-Nines with certifications as a mechanic, helicopter instructor and airplane instructor, she stopped at the WASP museum in Sweetwater on a flight home during which the weather constantly pushed her west towards Sweetwater. Andrea had previously met a WASP and her daughter so she decided to fly to the museum to inquire about her. Not knowing her maiden name, it was difficult determining who she was. After the WASP passed away, a family member eventually gave Andrea six boxes of artifacts, including logbooks and a scrapbook.
Active in the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots founded in 1929, Andrea’s chapter held an event during which they donated and delivered the artifacts to the museum. There she met Lisa Taylor, the museum’s executive director at the time, who asked Andrea if she would consider flying for the museum. Her schedule did not allow it at the time but in early 2025, she was ready to fly for the museum.
As soon as she sat in the BT-13 cockpit, she felt comfortable. “The BT-13 literally feels as home. I’ve done this before. This is home. It’s an easy, fun airplane to fly,” Andrea said.
The museum and Andrea will be flying the BT-13 to three events before the end of the year. Andrea has been a bit surprised at the one question she fields over and over again. People ask if she really flew the plane to the event. Visitors are amazed the BT-13 and other warbirds are airworthy.
The B-17, among other warbirds like the Corsair and P-51, are Andrea’s favorite warbirds, which she cannot explain except to say she loves the sound of radial engines. “The sound of a P-51 makes my heart go pitter-patter,” she said. “I’m very attracted to the equipment that was from the past.”
Women only comprise about seven percent of pilots in the United States today. But for girls and women who want to do something, even outside of aviation, Andrea has timeless advice as she recalls all of the naysayers in her life. “If you want to do something, ignore all of them. Do what is right in your heart. Take the time and energy and find a way to get the proper training and you can do anything.”
Andrea, in person, and Cornelia, in spirit, are certainly flying that BT-13 together.