The world’s first licensed armless pilot, Jessica Cox, had been working for well over a decade to empower individuals to live to their full potential when, in 2019, a generous fan donated an ERCO 415-C Ercoupe light airplane to her. She has since used the aircraft to advocate for a disability-inclusive culture in the United States, and to inspire children with limb differences around the world.
Though the aircraft features simplified controls that make it easy to maneuver, flying in an Ercoupe with just your feet is nonetheless challenging. That’s among the reasons why Cox and her team, with support from aviation stakeholders and aviators, is now developing the first exclusively foot-controlled airplane in history.
If successful, Cox hopes that her customized version of a Van’s Aircraft RV-10 — which she calls the “Impossible Airplane” — will show others that anything is possible, and embolden other pilots with disabilities to “explore or inspire new ideas”, she explained during her keynote speech at the Leading Ladies of… Aerospace’s virtual summit on 28 September.
Assembly of the RV-10 is well underway. And Cox’s team, including students at the Oregon Institute of Technology, has already found a way to modify the gull-wing door of the Impossible Airplane for improved disability access.
“One of the challenges we faced with upgrading to the Impossible Airplane (a Van’s Aircraft RV-10) was opening the gull-wing doors. Reaching the door handle from the outside is tough for me while precariously balancing on one leg on the wing,” Cox said in a 9 June piece for Flying magazine.
“This is an excellent metaphor for disability access. The airplane may be modified for a pilot without arms, but what is the point if I can’t get in? The same goes for a restaurant with a disabled-accessible table available but also has steps leading up to the front door. Or a website that sells products for low vision or blind people but can’t be accessed by a screen reader. It’s not the disability that’s the issue; it is the way we design things.”
That’s the sort of sound logic that has catapulted Cox into the news headlines, into corporations where she consults on how they can become more inclusive, and indeed into speaking roles around the globe. She has personally mentored over 100 children with disabilities and traveled to over 28 countries hoping to teach people that “disability does not mean inability”.
Citing a common acronym, F.E.A.R. — False Evidence Appearing Real — Cox said at the summit that self-generated F.E.A.R inhibits people from reaching their full potential. She implored attendees to eschew another acronym, S.H.O.E. — Self-limiting beliefs, Habits, Over-complications, and Excuses — to get to the other side of their fears.
The more we face our fears, Cox added, the easier it becomes.
“It starts with courage,” and the belief that the “impossible” simply means “I’m Possible”. Cox, who was born without arms due to a rare birth defect, used her own story as an example, confiding that she had to face her fear of flying and “losing contact with the ground” to begin her pilot journey.
Cox’s words resonate with those who are typically abled as well as the disabled, though she made an interesting point: one in five people will have a disability at some point in their lifetime. “It is the only minority you can join.”
The Impossible Airplane is expected to be ready in 2025. “If we can be bold in our careers, in our personal lives, it is amazing what we can accomplish,” declared Cox at the Leading Ladies of… Aerospace summit.
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Featured image credited to Jessica Cox
