Finding Myself in Aviation | Mary Build’s Inspiring Story of Flying, Seaplanes, and Second Chances

27 Sep 2025 • 66 min • EN
66 min
00:00
01:06:35
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Send us a text At age 47, Mary Build took her very first flight lesson. What followed was a remarkable 30-year career in aviation—flying seaplanes, running her own seaplane base in Maine, flying to Alaska, competing in the Air Race Classic, and serving as a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). In this interview, Mary shares her powerful journey from overcoming personal challenges to becoming a respected leader in aviation. We talk about her memoir Finding Myself in Aviation, the courage it takes to start something new later in life, and the joy of never saying no to opportunity. 📚 Finding Myself in Aviation was the Aviatrix Book Club pick for August. Order it here: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/finding-myself-in-aviation/ ✈️ Topics we cover:Mary’s path from young motherhood to seaplane pilot and instructorAdventures flying to Alaska (and close calls along the way)Competing in and judging the Women’s Air Race ClassicLessons learned as a flight instructor and examinerAdvice for starting—or restarting—your aviation journey at any age 💙 Blue skies and happy reading! #WomenInAviation #Seaplanes #AirRaceClassic #AviationHistory #PilotLife #LiteraryAviatrix Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/ Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening! -Liz Booker

From "Literary Aviatrix: The Power of Story - Women in Aviation"

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