15-year-old makes Hill City stop on cross-country trek

Why did Kimberly Anyadike set out to become the youngest African-American female flyer to pilot an aircraft from coast to coast?

Her answer is one to which a lot of other 15-year-olds can relate.

“I wanted to beat my sister,” Kimberly said with a grin after touching down on the Virginia Aviation runway in Lynchburg on Friday morning. “We’re very competitive.”

Kelly Anyadike accomplished the same feat on her 16th birthday. When Kimberly returns to Los Angeles next week, Kelly will have been bumped down a rung, to second-oldest.

There was a reason why the Cessna 172 with the red tail came to Lynchburg: Chauncey Spencer. Her flight is a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, and while the late city native never flew with them because of his age, it was he and fellow pilot Dale White who first pried open the door for black pilots by flying from Chicago to Washington in an ancient bi-plane (surviving two forced landings along the way) and catching the attention of then-Sen. Harry Truman.

“I knew Chauncey,” said Levi Thornhill, a former Tuskegee Airman who is accompanying Kimberly on her journey. “He means a lot to us.”

The third person in the plane is Ronell Norman, acting as “safety pilot.” Kimberly couldn’t have gone it alone, even if she wanted to — she hasn’t soloed yet. Nor is she old enough to drive a car in her home state.

Nevertheless, Thornhill said, “I trust her completely. And at my age, I always try to minimize risks.”

Kelly and Kimberly Anyadike are products of a unique program hosted by the Compton (Calif.) airport and sponsored by the local chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Association and Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum.

Thornhill (who said he is related to a family of Lynchburg Thornhills that includes the city’s first black mayor) and Kimberly both said the flight has been routine so far.

“Except for Dallas,” Kimberly said. “We had to hold off landing there because there were some bad storms in the area.”

When she stepped out of her Cessna 172 and onto the tarmac in Lynchburg, she was greeted by reporters and photographers from TV and print and Mayor Joan Foster.

“What an awesome thing you’re doing!” Foster told her.

According to Thornhill, the Compton program pays young people in “museum dollars” for performing odd jobs around the airport and museum. Those dollars can then be exchanged for flying lessons.

“We’ve had over 100 kids in our program,” Thornhill said. “The youngest has been 8.”

The trip has been choreographed to stop in cities with surviving Tuskegee Airmen who will sign their names on the plane. On Sunday, Kimberly will fly to Newport News and take her red-tailed aircraft out over the Atlantic, just to say she’s been there.

In Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, she will be met by actors Lou Gossett Jr. and John Schneider, and California Sen. Diane Feinstein.

Thornhill was a flight mechanic with the 332nd Flight Group during World War II, but always wanted to fly.

“I had trouble getting a job after I got out of the service,” he said, “so I decided to go back in and apply for flight school. I got my pilot’s license and spent 22½ years in the Air Force.”

Kimberly also had an urge to be airborne.

“I remember me and my sister and my brother sitting on the roof of our house and watching the 747s fly over,” she said. “We’d always wave at them, hoping they’d wave back, but they were too high.”

She flew to Lynchburg on Friday from Goldsboro, N.C., and was planning to spend two days here.

“I’ve never been east of Milwaukee before,” she said.

Despite her accomplishments, Kimberly — who started her training at age 12 — said she didn’t feel any older than her peers. Even dressed in a snappy dark blue flight suit, she looked very much her age.

“I want to enjoy being young,” she said.

And the youngest.