Nigerian girl, 15, flies plane in US

California, USA, 21 July 09-(ANA)-Nigerian teenager, Kimberly Anyadike, has become the youngest black female to ever fly from one end of the United States to the other in an aviation exercise called cross-country flight, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The 15-year-old, broke the U.S. record and entered into record books on Saturday when she flew a single-engine Cessna plane from Compton Woodley Airport in Compton, California to Newport News, Virginia, making 13 stops along the way.

Anyadike also became the youngest African American female pilot to complete the journey.

She learnt to fly an airplane and a helicopter at the age of 12 at Tomorrow Aeronautical Museum in Compton, which offers aviation lessons in an after-school programme for disadvantaged youths. It was their plane she flew on her cross-country trip, news report said.

The museum’s founder, Robert Petgrave, said Anyadike was the one who came up with the idea for the trip. But he had told her “it was going to be a daunting task. But she replied to me saying ‘I’ve got big shoulders. I can do it.’ And so we got it fixed up.”

She was accompanied during the historic flight by an adult safety pilot and an 87-year-old Tuskegee Airman, Levi Thornhill. "Tuskegee Airmen" is the name given to a group of African American pilots who flew with distinction during World War II.

About 50 Tuskegee Airmen autographed the young pilot’s plane after the journey.

Anyadike said she wanted to inspire other kids to really believe in themselves.(ANA)

FA/ANA/21 July 2009---