Three Sisters Follow in the Flight Path of a Family of Pilots

voaspecialenglish.com | http The Smith family of Washington State loves to fly. KELLY SMITH: “My grandfather, however, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Corps and he flew everything. He flew helicopters, large aircraft, fighters. And we have some pretty cool pictures of him and he’s got some great stories. My grandmother and my mother were both flight attendants. My cousins fly. Everybody flies.” Kelly Smith belongs to the third generation of Smith family pilots. Kelly is the oldest of three sisters. She flies the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft for the Air Force. Her sisters Amber and Lacey are also pilots, and have served in Afghanistan. Lane Smith is the father of the three sisters. He has flown military fighters and other aircraft. LANE SMITH: “I am glad I got to help them learn to fly. And I hope I’m not too old to maybe teach their kids, but I’m getting up there now.” Now retired, Lane Smith and his wife Betsy are happy about the success of their daughters. But the sisters did not always share their parents’ love of flying. KELLY SMITH: “We weren’t expecting to all go into flying, let alone in the military. My middle sister was a cheerleader at University of Washington. My youngest sister wanted to be a veterinarian. And, I wanted to travel the world as an English journalism person.” In college, Kelly wrote a paper that got her interested in flying. BETSY SMITH: “She did a paper on her grandfather, Lane Smith, because she thought he had such an …