What an informative and inspirational day we spent at Mather Airfield today! Jen Davis arranged for us to meet up with her sister-in-law, Sandra Dutcher who is a private jet pilot. We had a total of 32 attend. Sandra started out by explain to us what her job is. She flies private charter flight for business people, sports, stars, politicians, rock stars etc. Some of her trips are just for the day other last several days. People pay $40,000-$50,000 for this type of service. 
Although the plane Sandra flies was in for annual maintenance we were able to see a couple planes similar to hers. She did a great job of explaining about static electricity, propellers, how you steer a plane, how to prepare a plane for flight, different types of engines, landing gear, and more. Sandra also told us how see became a pilot. She explained how she work, scrimped and saved to pay for each of her flying lessons. She told all the kids that once you decide what career you want to do not to let anything stand in your way – there is always a way.
While out looking at the other planes we were able to see this plane land and pull over by us to park. Turn out this plane was doing aerial mapping.
While Mather used to be an air force base, today it is home to mostly private jets and UPS cargo. Some military do still use the facility.
After spending sometime on the field we headed back through the private jet lounge and drove over to the control tower.
At the control tower we were greeted by one of the ATC (Air Traffic Control) operators. He lead us up in the tower to a room were we would wait for our turn to go all the way up to the top control room.
Groups of 6 at a time were lead up to the top. Meanwhile Sandra sat with us and share more information and answered questions about her job and aviation. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take picture in the control room but it was very neat. You could see 360 degrees around you. The controllers showed us what they do and some of the instruments they use. We also learned what kind of training is required to be an air traffic controller.
We ended up spending about 3 1/2 hours at Mather and very much appreciate the time of Sandra, her daughter, Alex and the ATC.
The Hatch Family 