Debbie Gary Callier (born February 24, 1948)[1] is an American air show pilot.[2] She began flying at age nineteen, and was the first woman to fly in a formation aerobatic team.[3] She also wrote the Bellanca Pilot Proficiency Training Manual.[2]
Gary first took flying lessons in 1966 in New Jersey.[5] Her first solo flight took place in the Virgin Islands, where she had moved with her family.[5] Starting in 1968, she began working as a glider instructor and in 1969, met Jim Holland when she flew a glider at the St. Croix airshow.[5] She learned aerobatics from Holland and joined his airshow.[5] She performed for some time for Holland, then worked for a Canadian aerobatic team.[6][7] She competed against 40 men for her spot on the aerobatics team.[8] After, she joined the Bede Jet Team.[9] She became the first woman to fly full-time in an aerial formation team.[6][5][8]The Star Tribune called Gary "the world's leading woman show pilot" in 1978.[10] She also appeared in episode 12 of the first season of the TV series The Blue Marble in 1974.[11] She has flown a Bede BD-5J and a Pitts S-1A open cockpit biplane doing her stunts.[12][13]
After 1972, she started working as an instructor at the Flabob Airport.[5] When she was not doing airshows, she worked as an instructor.[12] Later, she worked in Alexandria, Minnesota.[7]
Gary started flying airshows again around 1998.[6] She encourages young people, especially girls, to think about going into aviation as a career.[16][17]
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Gary's name and picture.[18] A photo-lithograph of the card is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[19]
References
^according to her trading card - Debbie Gary Callier - tradingcarddb.com[1]
^Debbie Gary; Alumni Hall of Fame Class of 1965, Bordentown Regional High School. Accessed February 14, 2020. "Ms. Gary graduated from William MacFarland High School in 1965. After graduation, she attended George Washington University for two years. She left college when her father asked her to take off a semester in 1967 to go with him to St. Thomas where he was beginning a construction job. Her long career in aviation began during that time."