‘I assumed flying was only for wealthy and males. I thought there was no hope for me.’

When Linda Ann Goodrich walks briskly across the tarmac at Montgomery Field, black notebook in hand, airplane owners nervously look up and wonder if she’s coming for them. The 38-year-old woman doesn’t look like an inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration. Neither does she look like an opera singer. But she is both, and that’s the message that Goodrich tries to impart to the little girls at the schools where she gives speeches: You can be anything you want to be. Times reporter Leslie Wolf interviewed Goodrich at Montgomery Field, and Dave Gatley photographed her.

I once heard someone say there was a distinct relationship between music and aviation, and I think it’s true. When I’m singing, I feel like I’m free, just releasing joy, expressing myself. When I’m flying, I feel the same way.

I’ve been singing since I was 8 or 9 years old. I developed a taste for opera and the old songs of the ‘40s. If you looked in my high-school yearbook it would say, “plans to be an opera singer” under my name. I practiced for hours each day and did some work at the Starlight opera.

Sometimes, I would get the feeling I needed to go someplace to take a break, and I always ended up at the airport watching airplanes. It was before the fences were put in here at Montgomery Field, and I could sit on the ridge with my lunch and watch the planes taxi by. I even picked up a cheapie radio at Radio Shack so I could tune in to the frequencies and listen to the pilots.

Watching the pilots, I made the assumption flying was only for wealthy people, and males only. I thought there was no hope for me.

But one day in July of 1975, just for the fun of it, I decided to look in the paper and, to my amazement, there was a little teeny plane for sale for $7,500. That was just what my car cost. So I sold my car and bought the plane.

I’d never even been in an airplane before. Everybody thought I was nuts, but it was just something I had to do. I’d never seen any females in planes, so there was a certain challenge.

The plane was in Oceanside, and I found someone there to give me lessons. I figured having a plane was like having a car--you have to know something about how it works or you could die. I started working as a mechanic’s helper so I could learn about planes. On Dec. 24, I got my pilot’s license.

Then I met and married my husband, who worked at University Mechanical with me. We did a lot of flying together. The following year, I quit University Mechanical and went to work at Palomar Radio selling two-way radios. I also worked selling water beds for a while. All the while I was still spending hours on voice lessons because I wanted to make a profession out of singing. But it was very difficult breaking into the opera business, it’s very political. I was very unsettled.

In 1978, my husband was transfered to Saudi Arabia and we lived there for two years. I managed a hotel over there for a Saudi prince. Ironically, British mercenary pilots for the Saudis stayed at my hotel. It was very interesting working around those people, hearing their tales. But my singing was suffering.

Back in the States, my husband was given the opportunity to work in San Francisco, so we went there. I tried out for the Metropolitan Opera there and made it. It was like a dream come true!

I went home and told my husband about it, and he said, “What about your flying?” I had recently enrolled to get my airplane maintenance license, and I decided that, because everything was falling into place, aviation was where I was supposed to go. The opera director was amazed when I told him. He thought I was nuts for turning him down.

Around that time, my husband started getting ill. We came back to San Diego and found out he had lung cancer. I continued on with school at Miramar College, and at each break in school I’d run home to see how he was doing. The teachers worked with me wonderfully and let me do a lot of studying outside of class.

My husband passed away that June. I continued with my classes and finally graduated the following June, with honors and with a scholarship to National University. While I was earning my bachelor’s degree there, I started my own company, called Lindaero Services. I flew executives in and out of small airports, and that’s how I supported myself through college.

I’ve been working for the FAA now for three years. My job is making sure the planes are safe.

Through this job, I’ve tried to give back all the things I’ve been given. I go around to schools and give talks on drug abuse. “You can’t fly high” is our message. I talk about how you, too, can be in aviation or do anything you want to do. I tell the kids they can be anything they want, and that’s really been my philosophy throughout life. You can realize any dream if you really want it.