Guyana’s First Female Pilots
1977 was a big year for the Guyana Defense Force. It was in that year that the force hired its first female pilots: Cheryl Pickering-Moore and Beverley Drake.
“It was an exciting time in my life”, says Drake, “as my dad always wanted to be a pilot”. However, “as a black and under the colonial system, he never got an opportunity; I lived his dream and made my mother proud.”
Of course, the path to the cockpit was not an easy one for these two groundbreaking women. After graduating high school in 1968, Pickering-Moore worked as a student-teacher. She was then hired as a secretarial typist in the Faculty of Law at the University of Guyana. She parlayed that experience into a job in the Guyana Defense Force as a personal assistant to the Commanding Officer. A year later, in 1973, at age 23, she became a Second Lieutenant, serving as one of the few women officers at the time.
Government Scholarships
Pickering-Moore soon got wind of government scholarships being offered to attend flight school. She applied, and along with 10 men, was selected to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She met Beverley Drake, who had also received a flight school scholarship.
Drake, also a native Guyanese, had been pursuing a degree in chemistry and biology at the University of Guyana when she heard about the scholarships.
The two women became fast friends, and after years of training, earned their commercial pilot licenses. Upon their return to Guyana, Pickering-Moore and Drake were hired as pilots for the Guyana Defense Force. Their duties included cargo and troop transports, often flying over Guyana’s jungles. Without navigational aids, to monitor the country’s cast, hinterland, these women were often tested.
Flying Right thorugh the Glass Ceiling
Within six months, Drake was transferred to the government-owned Guyana Airways, where she became their first woman pilot. She began flying both local and international routes to Barbados, Dominica and Trinidad. Pickering-Moore would soon follow suit and join Guyana Airways as a pilot in 1980.
Along the way, each woman got married and started families. Pickering-Moore raised five children, got a business administration degree, and retired from piloting in 2013. Today, she lives in Guyana and works as a volunteer with women’s and children’s ministries in Barbados.
Drake, her husband and young son moved to the United States in 1980. After a stint at Goldman-Sachs in New York City, she was hired as an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). She moved to Washington DC in 1991. She completed her master’s degree in aeronautical science in 2005. As such, she was promoted to senior accident investigator at the NTSB. To date, the only black woman to have ever served in that capacity.
Honouring their Success
Pickering-Moore and Drake were duly recognised for their achievements in 2013. “It was a humbling experience and I felt honoured to be selected”, says Drake. “Guyana was celebrating the 100 year anniversary of aviation, and it was the year of the woman, so I felt proud to represent the other women aviators in Guyana”. The Government of Guyana issued two postage stamps honouring the women.
Most notably, the two women keep in touch today and serve as inspiration for many. “I am proud to be a Guyanese who can share my experiences with the young generation of women”, says Drake. “I can also encourage them to pursue aviation as a career choice. I enjoy working at the NTSB. Whenever I get an opportunity to share my story. I talk about my native country Guyana”, she mused.
For young Guyanese girls who dream of someday becoming pilots, the sky’s the limit. Moore and Drake are true motivators.
Travel Better in Guyana
In Guyana, we recognize we have a responsability to protect and conserve our spectacular natural and cultural treasures. We’re equally blessed that so many of our visitors want to lend a hand in doing so. To find out what you can do to help, please check out our Visitor Guidelines For Sustainable Travel. We look forward to welcoming you to Guyana.
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