It started out as a fear, but Jessica Cox turned it into a mission. Growing up, it was her dad who encouraged her and cultivated her love of flying.
“I went up for the first time and I overcame that fear. The initial takeoff, it was terrifying, a lot of adrenaline flowing,” she says.
She credits the pilot on that flight for helping her overcome her phobia.
But then, the pilot turned to me and said, ‘you want to know what it’s like to fly?.” I said, ‘OK.'”
Jessica, who was born without arms, then learned what many of us with arms have never felt, the feel of flying.
“He had me put my foot on the yoke, l rocked it a little bit and I felt what it was like to feel like grab a yoke.”
She finally felt it. The desire to fly.
“It’s an incredible feeling, when you feel 3 dimensionally,” she said.
For Jessica, it all started at a playground, specifically a swing. She just got on it once and decided to go higher and higher. Her dreams did not stop there. Now 15 years later, she inspires abled and disabled people.
“It’s taken me to 20 countries as a motivational speaker. I’ve written a book on aviation that has given me a tool to inspire people,” she says.
The sky’s the limit for Jessica and she wants you to know this too.
Jessica is speaking throughout the week at Sun ‘n Fun. Here schedule is detailed below:
Tuesday, April 21 6 p.m. Aerospace Pavilion
Wednesday, April 22 11 a.m. Book signing at Sarasota Avionics Hangar C
Friday, April 24 1 p.m. at Florida Air Museum
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2015/04/21/young-pilot-inspires-at-sun-n-fun/26139833/