Sharing the Love of Flying and Aviation
Writer and mother of three promotes values of hard work and honesty
By Laura Beck
July 27, 2018 - Now 29, Brandi Fill has been a self-proclaimed “avgeek” since she was young child.
Brandi got her high school equivalency degree at 16 so she could work full time at an airport. She enlisted in the Oregon Air National Guard at 17, began basic training the day she turned 18, and then worked as an airfield manager.
Brandi is attending her seventh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh convention as a children’s book author. Brandi, who has homes in Massachusetts and Virginia, has written three children’s books, two of which are aviation-themed. She has been signing books all week at the convention.
Her three children, age 5, 4, and 1, love flying, and she wants every child to have that same enthusiasm and exposure to aviation.
“In my family, no one did that for me,” Brandi said. “I had to do that on my own.”
Brandi and her husband, who is a pilot, travel in their Beechcraft Baron with their children frequently. Each child took their first trips in their parent’s plane when they were about 17 days old.
All of their children are also EAA Lifetime members; her son has the distinction of being the youngest lifetime EAA member since his Mom signed him up while she was in labor. The youngest also joined on her first day of life.
Brandi said she likes the hard work that children learn from studying aviation, since there are no shortcuts. She wants her children to know that hard work and honesty are the most important values.
“It gives them something to strive for, and it is fun,” Brandi said. “You have to do it right.”
Brandi’s most recent book is Hobbs: The Dragon Who Couldn’t Fly, her second book was Rock Your Wings, and her first was a tribute to her uncle, Wake Up Little Sleeper.
Part of the proceeds of Rock Your Wings goes to the EAA Young Eagles program. Brandi’s husband is a Young Eagles pilot, and both are board members in Virginia for an aviation outreach program for youth.
Brandi said she is writing another book, which will be a coloring book about AirVenture and will also be aviation-themed. It will be released in time for next year’s convention.
