Dorothy Schick ’78
This Geology Alumna Sees Earth from the Skies

The view from either of Dorothy Schick’s offices is beautiful. Her ground-level office faces quiet pastures and farms flanked by green, gently rolling hills. Her mobile office flies hundreds of feet overhead and overlooks anything from city centers to remote, river-carved valleys. Meet the energetic owner/operator of TakeWING Incorporated, a multi-faceted, small aircraft flight school operating out of the Creswell Airport.

When Schick graduated from the UO in 1978 with a B.S. in geology, she had no idea she later would put her liberal arts degree to work from the cockpit of her own plane. Her desire to fly started innocently enough as a child in Salt Lake City, Utah, when her older brothers convinced her to jump from a rooftop with an umbrella, a lá Mary Poppins. Growing up, she spent hours watching the air traffic from a nearby dirt airstrip. In her teens, her parents reluctantly endorsed the official beginning of her airborne adventures. “In high school when I was just about 15, I just harangued them, and they finally gave up and signed a release so I could go skydiving,” laughs Schick.

Schick came to the UO hoping to study under biology professor Jane Gray whose past articles had impressed Schick. Gray, who recently died, had interests in paleontology and geology, and became a mentor for Schick. After graduating, Schick worked for the U.S. Forest Service’s geotechnical engineering department. She kept her interest in flying alive by training for her private pilot’s license. Interweaving training with career shifts during the next several years, she received her license in 1985 and by 1996 also had obtained her instrument rating, commercial pilot’s certificate, and flight instructor’s certificate.

It was the death of one of her older brothers in 1994, combined with her father’s death the same year, that provided the catalyst for Schick to launch her own flight business. “We always say that ‘life is short, do the things you want to do,’” says Schick. “I realized if I want to follow what I want to do in life, why wait?” She founded TakeWING Incorporated in August 1994. Last spring, Schick talked about pursuing her dream on the Oprah Winfrey episode “Women Who Left Their Jobs to Follow Their Passion.”

Today, Schick is one of three Master Certified Flight Instructors (CFI) in Oregon and one of 200 in the United States. The National Association of Flight Instructors issues the difficult two-year certification, which combines demonstrated abilities in areas such as teaching, volunteering and article writing. The certification distinguishes Schick as a proficient pilot who’s dedicated to professional education. She developed TakeWING’s trademarked instructional programs and the Pilot Logbook and Journal, now in its third printing, during that certification period.

Shick also regularly employs her education when businesses approach her for aerial photo flights. “One company was doing photos of drainage systems of the Willamette River. Knowing what I do from my geology background, it was very easy for me to understand what they wanted and how to help them approach that project,” she says. She also likes pointing out geological features to clients while on scenic flights.

Schick tries to balance administrative details and long hours of owning her own business with just enjoying it. “It’s a balancing act between loving what you do and the day-to-day drudgeries,” says Schick. She looks toward the plane parked outside her office window. “And I do love what I do,” she says, smiling.