NORMAN — Julie Orrick and her daughter Kiersten have gotten too busy lately to share their long-cherished movie nights, but that's OK.
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As flight instructors for the University of Oklahoma's Department of Aviation, their relationship remains sky-high despite both holding down two jobs.
Julie Orrick, 42, is an assistant chief flight instructor at OU's Max Westheimer Airport. The Moore resident also is a registered nurse and part-time house supervisor for the Integris mental health facility for children and teenagers in Spencer.
Kiersten Orrick, 23, began teaching in August 2006 after earning two FAA flight instructor rating certifications. She graduated from OU in December 2007, completed her multi-engine instructor certification last April and lives in Norman. She also works at a Norman restaurant.
"It's wonderful; I have the luxury of spending every day with her,” Julie said of her only child. "We have lunches together, and we get to be involved in meetings. Yet my office is upstairs, and she's downstairs so I'm not governing over her.”
Kiersten became acquainted with airplanes and airports as a young girl from her mother's team skydiving days, which began in 1990.
"She dragged me to the shows, so I grew up around drop zones,” she said. "I like it, and we both have a common interest in flying.”
Julie considered piloting soon after she was injured while skydiving at a Dallas event in 2000. Recovery would take nearly a year, and Julie decided learning to pilot airplanes at OU would be a great way to pass the time.
Aviation school required a lot of time and dedication so when Julie recovered, she kept her focus on learning to fly airplanes instead of jumping out of them.
She completed her training and has been an OU instructor since 2002, except for one year away working as a co-pilot for Mesa Airlines. One of her recent students was Kiersten, who took a multi-engine instructors course.
Julie's duties also include grading flight examinations on "check rides” of students seeking FAA certification. OU Aviation Director Ken Carson said she has the experience and personality to put students taking their flight exams at ease.
"It's a very important job,” Carson said. "You're basically signing off on an individual's knowledge and skill levels to become a pilot.”
Carson said Kiersten responds well to students and is adept at explaining complicated concepts in physics and aerodynamics in a way that's easy to understand.
Ultimately, Kiersten wants to become an international cargo pilot for FedEx, a company based in her native Memphis, Tenn., and whose founder's business concepts she has admired for years.
Julie also would like to be a commercial pilot some day, saying "there's always a desire to fly a bigger aircraft that will require more skill. No one wants to stay stagnant.”
Until then, Julie said she finds satisfaction teaching students to become pilots and appreciates the value of her current jobs.
"In nursing you have to use good time management as well as skill, and you need big-time multitasking with nursing as well as flying,” she said. "A lot of nursing is thinking on your feet, and aviation is that way too.”
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Kiersten Orrick, left, and her mother Julie Orrick are flight instructors for the University of Oklahoma Department of Aviation. They are in the cockpit of an OU plane at Max Westheimer Airport. By Steve Sisney, THE OKLAHOMAN
Norman airport festival
NORMAN — The Max Westheimer Airport, 1700 Lexington Ave., has scheduled its second annual aviation festival for next weekend.
The Friday and Saturday event will include tours of the air traffic control tower and new air traffic control simulator for aviation students, a children's area and several aircraft will be on display.
The festival is free and open to everyone. Scheduled times are noon to 4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 20.
"It's something the family can do that's a lot of fun,” said Ken Carson, University of Oklahoma Department of Aviation director. "Come see the airplanes; smaller airports have a role in aviation, and it has a history.”
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