{"id":18092,"date":"2023-05-11T06:58:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T16:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=18092"},"modified":"2023-05-11T07:31:09","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T17:31:09","slug":"filipino-pride-jessica-cox-is-the-worlds-first-armless-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2023\/05\/11\/filipino-pride-jessica-cox-is-the-worlds-first-armless-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Filipino Pride: Jessica Cox Is The World\u2019s First Armless Pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Jessica Cox in the 1946 Ercoupe airplane (Photo via www.JessicaCox.com)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Jim Bea Sampaga<\/em>

Born in 1983 Arizona to a Filipino mom and an American dad, Jessica Cox has made the impossible possible throughout her life.

She was born without arms. But that didn\u2019t stop her from living a normal life. She graduated high school and pursued a degree in psychology at the University of Arizona.

As part of living the \u201cnormal\u201d life, Jessica wore prosthetic arms growing up. However, after 11 years of wearing them, she admits she never found a connection with them.

\u201cFrom the day I was born, I started interacting with the world through my feet. I played with my first toys using my feet,\u201d Jessica told Hawaii Filipino Chronicle.

\u201cWhen I used prosthetics, they were slower, and I couldn\u2019t tell whether something was hot, cold, soft, hard, rough, or smooth. So, it\u2019s always been more natural to use my feet.\u201d

After graduating college, she pursued a career in motivational speaking. Jessica shared that in her sophomore year in high school, she was asked to speak to a group of 7th graders.

\u201cThat was the first time I saw my story inspire other people. Since then, I\u2019ve inspired people in 28 countries, and it supports both myself and my husband,\u201d she said.

In her events, she teaches the skills she has learned living without arms on how to reframe challenges. \u201cDo something that scares you,\u201d she would often tell her audiences.

To take her own advice, Jessica did the impossible. She became the world\u2019s first armless pilot. \u201cIt was my greatest fear. Not the flying part, but losing contact with the ground,\u201d she said.

Flying an airplane was not an overnight achievement. It took Jessica three years, three states, four airplanes and three flight instructors to finally fly the right aircraft.

\u201cI\u2019ve only flown a 1946 Ercoupe airplane. The Ercoupe is great for local, slow flying. It cruises at about 85 mph and flies for about 500 miles. It is the only plane ever built with all the flight controls built into the hand controls,\u201d she shared.

\u201cNormally there are rudder pedals to make a plane turn left and right. But I put my feet on the controls and the throttle, and I can fly.\u201d

Finally, in 2008, Jessica earned her Light Sport Pilot Certificate. Then in 2011, she received the Guinness World Record for being the first person certified to fly a plane with only their feet.

But Jessica is not stopping her pilot journey just yet. She\u2019s on a mission to build the first foot-controlled airplane in history.

\u201cI know I can help shape the perception of people with disabilities and challenge the negative assumptions people have. So, I approached a manufacturer about modifying one of their aircraft to make it easier for me to fly,\u201d Jessica told Hawaii Filipino Chronicle.

Currently, Jessica and her team at Impossible Airplane are about halfway through the process of building the plane: Van\u2019s Aircraft RV-10. According to Jessica, the aircraft cruises at 200 mph and flies for 1,000 miles.

\u201cAn engineering team is helping me design the modifications, and another group of volunteers in New Jersey is helping assemble the airplane,\u201d she shared.

\u201cThe wings arrived partially assembled from Van\u2019s, and I learned the work was done in the Philippines!\u201d

Ecstatic with her new wings of pride, Jessica shares that her mom and aunt cultivated her Filipino heritage and spirit.

\u201cI didn\u2019t just grow up with my mom cultivating Filipino culture in our family, but also my aunt lived with us. It was very important to my mother to stay connected with the Filipino culture wherever we lived. We also made many trips back to the Philippines,\u201d she said.

Jessica also shared she was able to bring her husband and mother-in-law to her mom\u2019s hometown of Bobon, Mercedes in Eastern Samar, Philippines. In fact, her husband proudly cooks Filipino food at their home.

\u201cMy husband has learned to cook chicken adobo in several different ways, including with coconut milk. I\u2019d never had coconut milk in adobo until he cooked it!\u201d she said.

With her career and achievements, Jessica\u2019s Filipino spirit is undeniably strong. She credits the Filipino values for her perseverance and hard work.

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for [the Filipino spirit], I wouldn\u2019t be the person I am today and share with thousands of people around the world how to achieve the impossible,\u201d she said.

Aside from her most famous achievement as a pilot and career as a motivational speaker, Jessica is also an entrepreneur, a black belt and Taekwondo champion, and author.

When asked about her message to the Filipino community, Jessica said:

\u201cRemember the Filipino spirit. Be proud of that spirit and the community we have no matter where we are in the world.\u201d

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jim Bea Sampaga Born in 1983 Arizona to a Filipino mom and an American…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,4,12],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1703&ssl=1",2560,1703,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1",640,426,true],"large":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=1536%2C1022&ssl=1",1536,1022,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1362&ssl=1",2048,1362,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=870%2C570&ssl=1",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C900&ssl=1",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=1115%2C715&ssl=1",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C681&ssl=1",1024,681,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=540%2C340&ssl=1",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Features<\/a> Mainland<\/a>","tag_info":"Mainland","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Jessica-Cox-Photo-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1703&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18092"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18111,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18092\/revisions\/18111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}