About Diane
Diane Earhart was bitten by the flying bug at age 12 after riding along in a C182 with her newly-licensed dad. She started flying as a teenager in Madison, Wisconsin. She soloed on her 16th birthday and became a private pilot on her 17th birthday.
Four years later Diane joined of the University of Wisconsin Flying Club and was a member for four years, serving as Vice President for most of that time. During the same years she earned her commercial license and instrument rating.
Diane has been an air traffic controller at St. Louis Downtown tower since 1982. In 1983, she became an example for airport safety after being struck by a spinning gyrocopter blade.
Diane is multi-engine rated and is an instrument flight instructor. She taught classes on air traffic control at Parks College of St. Louis University for five years and has been a member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) union since 1988, serving as the local president and Union Representative for three years. She was a member of and flight instructor at the Scott AFB Aero Club for about a decade, serving as its Safety Officer for over three years.
In 1991, Diane was appointed an Aviation Safety Counselor by the St. Louis Flight Standards District Office. The Aviation Safety Counselor program is the FAA's only safety outreach and education program. The Aviation Safety Program was established with the premise that aviation accident rates could be reduced by encouraging members of the aviation community to improve their attitudes toward safety by refreshing their aeronautical knowledge and improving their aeronautical skills. The mission has remained the same since its inception in 1968: to enhance aviation safety through public education. Aviation Safety Counselors (ASCs) are volunteers who must have a high degree of interest and concern in aviation safety and a good aviation safety record. Counselors are aviation enthusiasts who might be pilots or aviation mechanics. ASCs are appointed by their local FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), of which there are 92 nationwide. Counselors are selected for their interest in aviation safety, professional knowledge, and personal reputation in the aviation community. ASCs provide information on local flying procedures to transient pilots, counsel individuals who may have exhibited potentially unsafe acts, hold safety seminars, or conduct proficiency flight training.
In January, 1999, Diane was named the Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year for 1998 for the St. Louis, MO, district.
A big supporter of the annual Wings Weekend in Mattoon, Illinois, which is sponsored by the Springfield, IL, FSDO, Diane has attended each Wings Weekend every year since 1991 as both a volunteer flight instructor and speaker. Participants in the Wings Weekend attend a seminar and receive three hours of flight instruction provided by instructors who volunteer their time and thereby earn a phase of FAA wings. She was a popular speaker at the Georgia Wings Weekend for several years.
Diane is a cervical cancer survivor. Early detection in 1993 allowed all the cancer to be removed by laser surgery with no chemotherapy needed. She urges all women to get regular PAP smears.
Multiple Sclerosis was diagnosed in June, 1995, which began Diane's ten-month struggle to have her medical certification for flying as well as air traffic controlling reinstated. Her success with the FAA has blazed the trail for other pilots and controllers being diagnosed with MS after her. She also started a peer self-help support group in 1996 for others in her local community living with MS. Diane devotes much time to volunteering for the local National MS Society chapter, including as a member of the Gateway Chapter's speakers bureau. Diane is a firm believer in the benefits of a support group, one of which she continues to organize and lead in its tenth year.
In 1999, Diane was selected by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Gateway Area Chapter to receive the Individual Achievement of the Year award. The recipient of this award is chosen as an individual living with multiple sclerosis who is making a difference in the community and in the lives of those with MS. The award is given in recognition of the spirit of determination and tireless dedication to the service of others in the face of challenges brought on by Multiple Sclerosis. There are also awards given for mother, father, employer, and care partner of the year.
In November 1999, Diane was awarded a Betaseron Multiple Sclerosis Champions of Courage (BCC) grant. The BCC program was founded on the philosophy that quality health care, combined with a positive attitude and the support of others can be empowering forces that enable people with MS to enhance their quality of life. The program is designed to recognize and support people with MS who take Betaseron medication, who have demonstrated tremendous courage or initiative in their fight against MS, are involved in community service activities, and have an inspiring plan for a Champions of Courage grant.
Diane was honored to receive one of only eight "Pathlighter Awards" from the Gateway Area Chapter of the National MS Society in April 2001. This award is given to selected volunteers who have been inspirational and have shown a long-term commitment by volunteering for at least five years. The Gateway Area Chapter serves people with MS in several counties in southern Illinois and central Missouri.
Diane's talent for research and writing was recognized early in her life. She credits her third grade teacher, the late Sister Marian Massart, with lighting her fire for creative writing. A paragraph Diane wrote about her post card collection was submitted by Sister Marian and was published in the children's publication Golden Magazine in November 1967. Diane's extensively-researched thesis on the U.S. Constitution was honored by the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) in 1970 when she was in eighth grade. Diane continues to enjoy writing and is told she has a talent for it.
Her story about living with MS as a pilot and air traffic controller is included in a book published in August 2001, When the Road Turns edited by Margot Russell. The book is written by people living with MS about living with MS and is published by the company that publishes the popular inspirational, Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
When Diane had an old, obsolete cell phone, she discovered an organization that accepts unused (no longer used) cell phones for the benefit of victims of domestic violence. Newer phones that are no longer used often because a customer has changed providers are reprogrammed for 911 and the number of an emergency shelter and provided to victims of domestic violence. Older phones are sold for parts and that money is used to fund services to domestic violence shelters. In April 2002, Diane organized a cell phone collection fly-in breakfast at a local airport. Despite bad weather for a fly-in, she collected 173 old cell phones. A local nursing home used the collection as a service project for the residents. This involvement helped some of the residents, themselves domestic violence victims, heal some of the psychological damage for which they were in the nursing home. Diane continues to collect old cell phones. To find a local collection point for the cell phone you are no longer using, visit www.donateaphone.com.
Diane was one of about a dozen local women who were featured in an exhibit called "Women in Aviation" at the St. Louis Science Center. The exhibit was unveiled on November 8, 2003, and was on display for over two months as part of the celebration of the centen nial of flight. Diane has also been asked to participate in the upcoming "City of Flight" exhibit at the Missouri History Museum [the Missouri Historical Society]. This exhibit will highlight important events in St. Louis aviation history and include interesting people in St. Louis aviation. The exhibit will open in June, 2007, and run for 16 months. The dress Diane wore in her first wedding features airplanes and has pieces from her grandmother's 1915 wedding dress. The History Museum has requested this dress to display in the aviation exhibit and to keep for its permanent collection.
In April 2004, Diane's profile was featured on the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's website as a part of a campaign for donations to be made as part of an income tax return.Diane has broken ground both as a women pilot and air traffic controller and has set precedent for pilots and controllers living with Multiple Sclerosis. She's a member of International Wheelchair Aviators and a member of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is the largest and most influential general aviation organization in the world. She's also a charter member of Women in Aviation, International. She has given talks to pilot groups around the Midwest United States and in England and also in conjunction with the AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF). The ASF is a branch of AOPA devoted 100% to general aviation safety education.
Diane enjoys traveling and has been to or through all 50 states and has visited ten foreign countries on three continents. She took a month-long trip to the United Kingdom in April 2000, and met many pilots while there, including her future husband. She returned to London in May 2000, to attend a fundraiser in support of Flying Scholarships for the Disabled, a charitable organization that provides scholarships to disabled people to obtain a pilots license. She continues to travel to England several times a year to spend time with her fiance, a London native. Diane continues to do fundraising for Flying Scholarships for the Disabled and the National MS Society. She has danced in an adult jazz and ballet class--there's no talent, but everyone had a lot of fun!
Diane lives in the St. Louis area with her diabetic cat, Blue Max, who gets an insulin injection twice a day. They share their home with roommate Gary and his Husky, Clara. Max isn't so sure he likes the arrangement.
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