A Life in Flight: From Rogue Pilot to Atlantic Crossings with Penelope Cornwall

Penelope Cornwall is a retired commercial pilot and flight instructor, and Vice President of the International Fellowship of Flying Aviators. She possess a rare aeronautical combination of technical mastery, fearless exploration, and hard-earned wisdom. From the moment she first grasped the yoke of a jet at age six, seated in her father’s lap, Penelope knew her life would be lived in the sky. Raised by an RAF Wing Commander deeply involved in Special Operations, Penelope’s childhood was anything but ordinary. She was trained early in fieldcraft how to move silently through terrain, read the wind, and remain unseen. From building blinds to participating in live-fire drills, she developed a discipline and resilience that would later define her career as a pilot. Penelope went on to become a commercial pilot and instructor, earning her CFI and Instrument Instructor ratings, and flying everything from single-engine aircraft to Lears and Citation jets. Her adventures have taken her across the globe: from remote Australian Outback airstrips to high-stakes carrier landings on the USS Abraham Lincoln, to a daring single-engine transatlantic flight from Maastricht to Toronto. On May 14, she will share stories from a lifetime in the air including her highest highs, her most brutal lows, and what it truly means to push beyond limits as a pioneering female aviator. This is not simply a talk about flying. It’s a story about courage, precision, and living life above the clouds.