| Cheryl Stearns |
| 2005 WPSA Recipient |
| Championship skydiver and pilot, CHERYL STEARNS of Raeford, North Carolina was named the 2005 recipient of the prestigious WILEY POST SPIRIT AWARD. It was presented at a formal gala at Wiley Post Airport in OKLAHOMA CITY, on January 27, 2006. The WILEY POST SPIRIT AWARD is presented annually by The Wiley Post Commission and honors individuals who best exemplify the innovative engineering and pioneering spirit of the late Wiley Post, world-famous Oklahoma aviator. Throughout her career, Cheryl Stearns' "can-do" creativity has mirrored that of Wiley Post. Both Post and Stearns became interested in aviation at an early age and both were uniquely able to utilize every opportunity to learn. As a teenager, Stearns, who grew up in SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, saved her babysitting money to take skydiving lessons. She soon began flying lessons at the coaxing of her father, who urged her to pursue a safer career. (As a teenager in the early 1900s, Wiley Post saw his first airplane while visiting an Oklahoma county fair. A financial settlement from an oilfield accident, which claimed one of Post's eyes, enabled him to learn parachute jumping, take flying lessons and purchase his first airplane.) Like Wiley Post, Stearns endeavored to learn everything about her chosen field---and then some! At age 19, she contacted world-famous skydiving coach, Gene Paul Thacker to ask if she could work for him at his airport and learn competitive skydiving. With Thacker's promise to help her, she moved to RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA with her dog, her parachute gear and fifty dollars in her pocket. Between flying and maintaining planes for Thacker's Skydiving Center, Cheryl honed her chosen sport. In 1977, after winning her first national skydiving championship and establishing a world record in accuracy, Stearns joined the US ARMY and became the first woman member of the GOLDEN KNIGHTS, the Army's elite parachute team. While with the team, Stearns earned many national and international championships. In 2003, the US ARMY WOMEN'S MUSEUM at FORT LEE, Virginia honored Stearns by opening an exhibit featuring her accomplishments. Stearns now serves on the board of directors at the museum. Stearns holds the Guinness World Record for the most parachute jumps in a 24-hour period by a woman. Stearns completed 352 jumps within 24 hours. Four times, Stearns has been the overall US Parachuting champion for men and women. In addition, Stearns was awarded the Diplome Leonardo da Vinci, (the world's highest award for aerosports) for her unique achievements in skydiving. Besides her success in skydiving, Stearns has excelled as a pilot. She earned her Master of Aeronautical Science degree from EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY'S POPE AIR FORCE BASE CAMPUS. She subsequently gained experience by flying medical evacuation, teaching and competing in aerobatics, flying and jumping for AIR SHOW AMERICA. Now with US AIRWAYS, Stearns has become a captain in the BOEING 737 and first officer in the BOEING 757/767 and Airbus. Cheryl has over 17,000 hours flying time and over 17,000 parachute jumps. Much like Wiley Post, Cheryl Stearns continues to push the envelope of aviation. The current challenge is PROJECT STRATOQUEST. For this project, Stearns is leading a team of highly trained experts, who intend to accomplish several extraordinary goals. First, Stearns will travel in a helium balloon to at least 110,000 feet, to leap out and set a new free-fall record. On the way down, she will be falling faster than the speed of sound until she enters thicker air and slows down for her parachute to open. Secondly, Stearns will wear a pressure suit of her own design, again reflecting the earlier efforts of Wiley Post. Third, she will conduct research on the effects of high altitudes on the human body. Fourth, she will educate students about the atmosphere and air travel. Stearns will make history during this event as she jumps from 20 miles above the earth. |
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