Abbotsford’s The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too! event encourages girls to enter male-dominated careers

At The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too! event in Abbotsford, females of all ages have the chance to see aircraft and meet people working in male-dominant fields to help encourage them to enter careers in aerospace, aviation, marine, and defence.

But the event’s website says the event isn’t only for girls, and adds “it’s the world’s largest gender diversity outreach event of its kind.”

Organizers say the event was created to help inspire people to enter STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) industries as only six per cent of professional pilots are women, in both Canada and the U.S.

People gathered in Abbotsford to attend The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too event. (Angela Bower, CityNews Image)

Brittany Trimble is one of the few who make up that small percentage and works for the U.S. Air Force.

Trimble says being a pilot is an awarding career.

“Girls who want to start out in aviation — I wouldn’t be intimidated. There are people who have done all sorts of career fields,” she said.

“Both the U.S. military and the Canadian military have amazing programs they can choose from.”

She says her father was a pilot, and his example inspired her to undertake years of training to become a pilot herself.

“Pilot training took about two years,” she said. “You start in trainer aircraft then you can train in the F-16.”

People gathered in Abbotsford to attend The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too event. (Angela Bower, CityNews Image)

The event also showcases women who work in defence, like Const. Britteny George with the Lower Mainland Integrated Police Dog Services.

George says she is glad to be in her chosen career path.

“I recommend anyone who wants to get into policing to do it because every day I put my uniform on and I am so glad I did,” George said.

Accompanying George was her furry sidekick — Porter a two-year-old German Shepherd.

Const. Britteny George with the Lower Mainland Integrated Police Dog Services and Porter the dog. (Angela Bower, CityNews Image)

She says she started training him for the job when he was just seven months old.

“He absolutely is my partner,” she said. “Him and I patrol the streets all over the Lower Mainland. Porter is trained to apprehend suspects, to find missing people…and find evidence, and he is trained to find drugs,” George said.

She adds she has been working with the RCMP for over 15 years and says she wants to see more women entering the force.

The free event runs until Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Abbotsford International Airport.