April 4, 2024 • 11 mins
THE BLONDE BOMBERS ARE READY TO RACE! This year in honor of World Pilots’ Day (4/26), aviation-themed brewery FlyteCo Tower and Denver’s Blonde Bombers all-women flying team are joining forces to raise funds for Alaina Bravo with Blonde Bombers and FlyteCo Founder and pilot Eric Serani! In 2019, two pilots decided to get grounded and open FlyteCo Brewing, followed by their second location in a defunct airport tower. They support a TON of initiatives that work to create a better, more equitable aviation industry, including many scholarships to those who are low income, women, those moving from military life to commercial pilot life, and others that are underrepresented in the pilot industry to receive their pricey pilot license. Today I am joined by Alaina Bravo with Blonde Bombers and FlyteCo Founder and pilot Eric Serani to talk about the Tower Tours being offered in support of an across country air race for women. Find out more about that here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I am joined by, first ofall, one of a team of women
who are trying to do a crosscountry race in airplanes. Mind you,
not just any race. They're notThey're not hoofing it, they're not driving
it. This is an airplane race. And Elena, Elena Bravo is probably
your real last name. That's avery piloty sounding last name. Is that
(00:24):
Is that your real last name?Or is that your blonde bomber name?
Elena? It is? It ismy real last name. I lucked out
for sure. And we've got pilotand one of the co founders of flight
Co Tower of brewery Flight Co Tower, Eric Serani with us as well.
Thank you both for joining me totalk about this event. And I want
to start with you, Elena,because this whole fundraiser that we're about to
(00:48):
talk about is so you guys canjoin an air race, right, So
what is this? What is anair race? How do you what is
this? Yes? The air RaceClass is an all women's air race.
The first race dates back to nineteentwenty nine and it's been going on ever
since then. I think the onlytime we ever missed one was through the
(01:11):
COVID season, of course. Butthe race is really meant to carry on
traditions of female pilots and pioneering womenin aviation from those early days all the
way up till now. So howdid you become a pilot? I became
a pilot because my dad's a pilot. I was always interested in aviation when
I was a little girl. Didthe responsible thing and went to college first,
(01:36):
and then after I had a goodcareer going, I decided to go
ahead and get my pilot's license.I was certified in twenty sixteen. That's
excellent. Now, Eric, you'realso a pilot and a brewer, and
I'd like to know how you wentfrom pilot to brewer. First off,
how did you become a pilot inthe first place. Oh, man,
I've been flying since I was aboutthree years old. I went up to
(02:00):
my grandfather's nineteen forty six plane,just kind of always been around it my
whole life. When I was oldenough, he had a friend that was
a flight instructor that he paid togive me lessons, and I soloed on
my sixteenth birthday. Got my privatepilot's license when I was seventeen. It's
as young as you you can be. But I also had other dreams and
(02:23):
aspirations out to school. When engineeringschool, that's where I started homebrewing with
my business partner, Jason Slingsby.We went off into various engineering degrees and
careers and realized that that wasn't whatwe wanted to do. So we came
back to brewing and a few friendssaid they liked it enough that they would
(02:46):
invest in us if we ever didit. One thing led to another and
we're here. So yeah, aviationsand beer has been long, long pillars
in my life for me. Well, you guys, where's flight Co Brewing?
Where are you guys located? Firstof all, our original location is
off of thirty eighth and Tennyson Streetin Northwest Denver. We just celebrated five
(03:07):
years over there, and then abouta year and a half ago we opened
in the old Stapleton Airport Control Towerbuilding over in Central Park neighborhood. This
is twenty five thousand square feet offamily fund center. It's bowling, mini
golf, arcades, ax throwing.What else? We got golf sims,
(03:29):
three bars, full restaurant. Yeah, it's quite an operation over here.
So how are those two things?I was trying to get to the tower
so I could get to the fundraiserthat we're doing here. How is that
tower coming into play to support theBlonde Bombers. Well, yeah, we
just started opening up the tower toHU tours. We have a couple tours
(03:53):
a week. It's all stairs.It's about three hundred stairs that you have
to run up, and we thoughtthis would be a great way for an
aviation event like the Blonde Bombers toraise money for their air ras. So
they will be hosting tours on WorldPilots Day on Friday, April twenty six,
(04:16):
and all the money that is raisedduring during those tours will go directly
to the Blonde Bombers in and theirefforts. Well, Elena, you do
realize he just said three hundred stairsthat you have to quote run up,
So I'm guessing you're going to dothat a few times before the end of
this day. How much does thiscost to get one of these tours?
(04:38):
The tours are twenty dollars and youcan get tickets by going to Blonde Bombers
dot com. And yes, Idon't think we're going to make people run
up the stairs, but it's definitelya hike. Amanda and I am my
fine partner. We've done the towertour. It's amazing views up there,
and they let you take your drink, so oh, come for lunch,
(04:59):
come for the Happy or tour,and you can sip your beverage on your
way up those stairs and it's notso bad. Well, I love this
because and you guys do a lotof support it flight COO for various organizations
that are trying to help people getinto flying. Is that accurate, Eric,
Yeah, that's correct. I gota scholarship when I was sixteen years
(05:24):
old to get my private pilot's licensewhen my grandfather passed away, and his
group of friends stepped up and helpedme get across the finish line. So
that's always been a big piece ofthe brand for me, as we donate
ten percent of our profits to scholarshipsyouth engagement try to get other people into
the industry. It's a very hardindustry with the high barrier of entry to
(05:46):
get into and requires a lot ofmentorship. But it's really great, it's
really fulfilling. It can change thelife of anyone that decides to pursue it.
Alena, and I don't know yourflying partner, Is that either of
you ever wanted to go fly andwork for a commercial airline or things like
that, because I was a flightattendant back in the nineties for Delta and
(06:09):
I flew with one female captain andshe was a hoote. I mean,
she looked like Dolly Parton, likethe big hair, the whole nine yards.
She started out as a crop dusterand that's how she got into the
pipeline because at the time, whenshe was younger, you couldn't fly in
the military if you were female.There was not a lot of female pilots.
Is that something you would ever pursue. Is that one of the things
(06:29):
that you're trying to encourage other youngwomen to go into flying, to maybe
bring more women into the field overall? Yeah, I personally fly for fun
and for recreation and I want tostay there. I absolutely love aviation as
a hobby and I find that itmakes me a better manager at work,
you know, better in all otherareas of life, and there's so many
(06:54):
lessons to learn from aviation that youcan apply all over life. So for
me, it's an amazing, challenginghobby, but absolutely part of our goal
as the Blonde Bombers, and partof the goal of the Air Race Classic
is to encourage and promote women's rolesin aviation and to have community for women
in aviation, to really learn aboutdifferent opportunities that are out there for women.
(07:15):
So you can go a corporate route. You can go to the airlines,
of course, but there are plentyof other opportunities. You mentioned agriculture
corrupt justing there. I recently meta female pilot who does like aerial surveillance
for firefighting operations. There are somany really amazing opportunities that are opening up
(07:35):
for women all over the aviation industry. Now, tell me about the race.
Tell me where the race starts,tell me where the race goes.
How long is the race? Sothe race is a four day race.
It'll start in Carbondale, Illinois,and it's going to cover about two three
hundred nautical miles going cross country.So we'll travel northwards to the Upper Peninsula
(07:59):
and kind of snake our way acrossthe country westward, and it ends right
here in Loveland, Colorado. Now, you guys have also got to go
fund me. If people can't comeon World Pilot's Day and do a tower
tour, you've also got to gofund me. What is this just to
pay for your fuel cost and youroverall cost and participating in the event.
(08:22):
Yes, it's for fuel costs.Our biggest cost is going to be renting
the aircraft and then paying for fuel, and neither of us are lucky enough
to own our own aircraft right now. It's a goal that we'd love to
have, but renting the aircraft,the fuel. Of course, our hotel
and food along the way are someminor expenses too, But that's what we've
got the go fundme for and weappreciate everyone's support is able to give to
(08:45):
that. So this is our opportunityto bring the Air Race Classic Trophy back
to Colorado or to Colorado if it'snever been here before, and you guys
could wait on your home turf,that would be pretty amazing. It would
be amazing. Yes, absolutely,we'll be competing against up to sixty other
teams or sixty teams total in therace, and so it'll be stiff competition,
(09:09):
but definitely friendly competition, and we'relooking forward to just you know,
being out there and representing well anddoing the best job that we can now
do. People have to sign upfor the Tower Tour in advance and if
so, how do they do that? Tickets are limited, so we do
recommend sign up. We've got spaceavailable on our lunch tour. We've got
(09:31):
a three thirty pm tour. We'rethinking about even adding tours. I think
our sunset tour is just about soldout. We can only have I think
Eric is like thirty people up thetower at once, just for safety reasons.
We don't want it to be toocrowded, want you at all to
be able to enjoy those views.So definitely head to the website and reserve
your spot early if possible. Allright, I put a link on my
(09:54):
blog to both the blonde bombers.I didn't put one to flight code,
but I will rectify that Eric assoon as we get to a commercial break.
This is such a cool event.It's all happening on April twenty six.
I fully expect a report. Andwhen you guys, get your satin
jackets. Okay, I want ablonde bomber satin jacket because I've asked Elena.
I want to be made an honorarybomber, so I feel like satin
(10:16):
jackets are required. So when thathappens, let me know. And after
you win, we're going to dothe assumed clothes here and after you win,
you can come in and parade yourhardware from winning on the show.
I would love to have you guysback in too here more and you may
see me on four twenty six.This sounds really intriguing, and I love
whenever I travel, I always goto the place that has the best view.
(10:39):
And I bet you the view fromthe tower is pretty spectacular. I
mean, Eric, is it?I mean, do you do you let
people rent out the tower? Now? Not, we haven't done private events
up there yet, but you arecorrect. It is the best view in
Denver. It's you get the cityskyline with the mountains behind it. You
can see all the way to Pike'sPeak kept the Long Speak and even further.
(11:01):
It's it's pretty incredible. All right, this is all happening April twenty
six. Guys, thank you somuch for making time today. I really
appreciate it. And best of luck, Lena. I hope you and your
partner fly like the wind and winthis race and raise all the money you
need and have a great time doingit and represent Colorado. Well. Thank
(11:22):
you so much. Mandy really appreciatebeing on Stay all right, and go
visit Eric at flight Co Brewing.You can go to the old Stapleton Tower.
They got all kinds of good stuffgoing on. You can entertain the
entire family. If your family isfun, you can entertain your entire family
there. Eric, thanks for comingon the show today. Thanks for having
us. All right, Thanks guys. That is Alena Bravo and Eric Serrani,
(11:46):
who is one of the founders offlight Co Brewing. That's really cool.
That's really really cool.
I am joined by, first ofall, one of a team of women
who are trying to do a crosscountry race in airplanes. Mind you,
not just any race. They're notThey're not hoofing it, they're not driving
it. This is an airplane race. And Elena, Elena Bravo is probably
your real last name. That's avery piloty sounding last name. Is that
(00:24):
Is that your real last name?Or is that your blonde bomber name?
Elena? It is? It ismy real last name. I lucked out
for sure. And we've got pilotand one of the co founders of flight
Co Tower of brewery Flight Co Tower, Eric Serani with us as well.
Thank you both for joining me totalk about this event. And I want
to start with you, Elena,because this whole fundraiser that we're about to
(00:48):
talk about is so you guys canjoin an air race, right, So
what is this? What is anair race? How do you what is
this? Yes? The air RaceClass is an all women's air race.
The first race dates back to nineteentwenty nine and it's been going on ever
since then. I think the onlytime we ever missed one was through the
(01:11):
COVID season, of course. Butthe race is really meant to carry on
traditions of female pilots and pioneering womenin aviation from those early days all the
way up till now. So howdid you become a pilot? I became
a pilot because my dad's a pilot. I was always interested in aviation when
I was a little girl. Didthe responsible thing and went to college first,
(01:36):
and then after I had a goodcareer going, I decided to go
ahead and get my pilot's license.I was certified in twenty sixteen. That's
excellent. Now, Eric, you'realso a pilot and a brewer, and
I'd like to know how you wentfrom pilot to brewer. First off,
how did you become a pilot inthe first place. Oh, man,
I've been flying since I was aboutthree years old. I went up to
(02:00):
my grandfather's nineteen forty six plane,just kind of always been around it my
whole life. When I was oldenough, he had a friend that was
a flight instructor that he paid togive me lessons, and I soloed on
my sixteenth birthday. Got my privatepilot's license when I was seventeen. It's
as young as you you can be. But I also had other dreams and
(02:23):
aspirations out to school. When engineeringschool, that's where I started homebrewing with
my business partner, Jason Slingsby.We went off into various engineering degrees and
careers and realized that that wasn't whatwe wanted to do. So we came
back to brewing and a few friendssaid they liked it enough that they would
(02:46):
invest in us if we ever didit. One thing led to another and
we're here. So yeah, aviationsand beer has been long, long pillars
in my life for me. Well, you guys, where's flight Co Brewing?
Where are you guys located? Firstof all, our original location is
off of thirty eighth and Tennyson Streetin Northwest Denver. We just celebrated five
(03:07):
years over there, and then abouta year and a half ago we opened
in the old Stapleton Airport Control Towerbuilding over in Central Park neighborhood. This
is twenty five thousand square feet offamily fund center. It's bowling, mini
golf, arcades, ax throwing.What else? We got golf sims,
(03:29):
three bars, full restaurant. Yeah, it's quite an operation over here.
So how are those two things?I was trying to get to the tower
so I could get to the fundraiserthat we're doing here. How is that
tower coming into play to support theBlonde Bombers. Well, yeah, we
just started opening up the tower toHU tours. We have a couple tours
(03:53):
a week. It's all stairs.It's about three hundred stairs that you have
to run up, and we thoughtthis would be a great way for an
aviation event like the Blonde Bombers toraise money for their air ras. So
they will be hosting tours on WorldPilots Day on Friday, April twenty six,
(04:16):
and all the money that is raisedduring during those tours will go directly
to the Blonde Bombers in and theirefforts. Well, Elena, you do
realize he just said three hundred stairsthat you have to quote run up,
So I'm guessing you're going to dothat a few times before the end of
this day. How much does thiscost to get one of these tours?
(04:38):
The tours are twenty dollars and youcan get tickets by going to Blonde Bombers
dot com. And yes, Idon't think we're going to make people run
up the stairs, but it's definitelya hike. Amanda and I am my
fine partner. We've done the towertour. It's amazing views up there,
and they let you take your drink, so oh, come for lunch,
(04:59):
come for the Happy or tour,and you can sip your beverage on your
way up those stairs and it's notso bad. Well, I love this
because and you guys do a lotof support it flight COO for various organizations
that are trying to help people getinto flying. Is that accurate, Eric,
Yeah, that's correct. I gota scholarship when I was sixteen years
(05:24):
old to get my private pilot's licensewhen my grandfather passed away, and his
group of friends stepped up and helpedme get across the finish line. So
that's always been a big piece ofthe brand for me, as we donate
ten percent of our profits to scholarshipsyouth engagement try to get other people into
the industry. It's a very hardindustry with the high barrier of entry to
(05:46):
get into and requires a lot ofmentorship. But it's really great, it's
really fulfilling. It can change thelife of anyone that decides to pursue it.
Alena, and I don't know yourflying partner, Is that either of
you ever wanted to go fly andwork for a commercial airline or things like
that, because I was a flightattendant back in the nineties for Delta and
(06:09):
I flew with one female captain andshe was a hoote. I mean,
she looked like Dolly Parton, likethe big hair, the whole nine yards.
She started out as a crop dusterand that's how she got into the
pipeline because at the time, whenshe was younger, you couldn't fly in
the military if you were female.There was not a lot of female pilots.
Is that something you would ever pursue. Is that one of the things
(06:29):
that you're trying to encourage other youngwomen to go into flying, to maybe
bring more women into the field overall? Yeah, I personally fly for fun
and for recreation and I want tostay there. I absolutely love aviation as
a hobby and I find that itmakes me a better manager at work,
you know, better in all otherareas of life, and there's so many
(06:54):
lessons to learn from aviation that youcan apply all over life. So for
me, it's an amazing, challenginghobby, but absolutely part of our goal
as the Blonde Bombers, and partof the goal of the Air Race Classic
is to encourage and promote women's rolesin aviation and to have community for women
in aviation, to really learn aboutdifferent opportunities that are out there for women.
(07:15):
So you can go a corporate route. You can go to the airlines,
of course, but there are plentyof other opportunities. You mentioned agriculture
corrupt justing there. I recently meta female pilot who does like aerial surveillance
for firefighting operations. There are somany really amazing opportunities that are opening up
(07:35):
for women all over the aviation industry. Now, tell me about the race.
Tell me where the race starts,tell me where the race goes.
How long is the race? Sothe race is a four day race.
It'll start in Carbondale, Illinois,and it's going to cover about two three
hundred nautical miles going cross country.So we'll travel northwards to the Upper Peninsula
(07:59):
and kind of snake our way acrossthe country westward, and it ends right
here in Loveland, Colorado. Now, you guys have also got to go
fund me. If people can't comeon World Pilot's Day and do a tower
tour, you've also got to gofund me. What is this just to
pay for your fuel cost and youroverall cost and participating in the event.
(08:22):
Yes, it's for fuel costs.Our biggest cost is going to be renting
the aircraft and then paying for fuel, and neither of us are lucky enough
to own our own aircraft right now. It's a goal that we'd love to
have, but renting the aircraft,the fuel. Of course, our hotel
and food along the way are someminor expenses too, But that's what we've
got the go fundme for and weappreciate everyone's support is able to give to
(08:45):
that. So this is our opportunityto bring the Air Race Classic Trophy back
to Colorado or to Colorado if it'snever been here before, and you guys
could wait on your home turf,that would be pretty amazing. It would
be amazing. Yes, absolutely,we'll be competing against up to sixty other
teams or sixty teams total in therace, and so it'll be stiff competition,
(09:09):
but definitely friendly competition, and we'relooking forward to just you know,
being out there and representing well anddoing the best job that we can now
do. People have to sign upfor the Tower Tour in advance and if
so, how do they do that? Tickets are limited, so we do
recommend sign up. We've got spaceavailable on our lunch tour. We've got
(09:31):
a three thirty pm tour. We'rethinking about even adding tours. I think
our sunset tour is just about soldout. We can only have I think
Eric is like thirty people up thetower at once, just for safety reasons.
We don't want it to be toocrowded, want you at all to
be able to enjoy those views.So definitely head to the website and reserve
your spot early if possible. Allright, I put a link on my
(09:54):
blog to both the blonde bombers.I didn't put one to flight code,
but I will rectify that Eric assoon as we get to a commercial break.
This is such a cool event.It's all happening on April twenty six.
I fully expect a report. Andwhen you guys, get your satin
jackets. Okay, I want ablonde bomber satin jacket because I've asked Elena.
I want to be made an honorarybomber, so I feel like satin
(10:16):
jackets are required. So when thathappens, let me know. And after
you win, we're going to dothe assumed clothes here and after you win,
you can come in and parade yourhardware from winning on the show.
I would love to have you guysback in too here more and you may
see me on four twenty six.This sounds really intriguing, and I love
whenever I travel, I always goto the place that has the best view.
(10:39):
And I bet you the view fromthe tower is pretty spectacular. I
mean, Eric, is it?I mean, do you do you let
people rent out the tower? Now? Not, we haven't done private events
up there yet, but you arecorrect. It is the best view in
Denver. It's you get the cityskyline with the mountains behind it. You
can see all the way to Pike'sPeak kept the Long Speak and even further.
(11:01):
It's it's pretty incredible. All right, this is all happening April twenty
six. Guys, thank you somuch for making time today. I really
appreciate it. And best of luck, Lena. I hope you and your
partner fly like the wind and winthis race and raise all the money you
need and have a great time doingit and represent Colorado. Well. Thank
(11:22):
you so much. Mandy really appreciatebeing on Stay all right, and go
visit Eric at flight Co Brewing.You can go to the old Stapleton Tower.
They got all kinds of good stuffgoing on. You can entertain the
entire family. If your family isfun, you can entertain your entire family
there. Eric, thanks for comingon the show today. Thanks for having
us. All right, Thanks guys. That is Alena Bravo and Eric Serrani,
(11:46):
who is one of the founders offlight Co Brewing. That's really cool.
That's really really cool.
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