MIDDLETON, Wis – Friends of Remington Viney say she was a trailblazer in a field lacking representation.
“Remington was a huge inspiration to so many people in our community,” said Sara Siddiqui, who met Viney in 2018. “Young, old, and everyone in the middle. She was a friend and a mentor.”
A UW-Madison graduate, Viney was a founding member of the Women in Aviation Four Lakes Chapter. In addition, she served as a Staff Sergeant for the 115th Fighter Wing in Madison.
“Being a pilot is something that only a small percentage of the population shares,” Siddiqui said. “But being a woman pilot is an even smaller percentage.”
Siddiqui said for a period of time, Viney served as her flight instructor. More than that, however, she was a friend.
“She was vibrant,” she said. “She was a goofball. She was brilliant. She was ambitious. She was driven and she was really dedicated to her aviation and professional flying career.”
Viney, a Dane County native, died after a plane carrying her and another passenger crashed in Janesville earlier this month. Early Saturday morning, the NTSB released its preliminary findings into the crash.
“I’ll miss having her mentorship,” Siddiqui said. “I’ll miss her companionship doing fun things, whether that was getting lunch somewhere else in Wisconsin, or getting breakfast at an airport diner or restaurant…She was a very good flying friend of mine. That’s something I’m going to really miss.”
Viney’s family plans to continue her legacy of introducing more women to aviation through a memorial fund. Checks can be mailed to US Bank 2311 Windsor Street, Sun Prairie in care of the Remington Viney Memorial Fund. Siddiqui says this fund will work to continue to provide new opportunities for female pilots.
“I think if Remington wanted other people to remember her, it would be for her enthusiasm, her joy, and her love of aviation,” she said. “She was an aviator through and through. She was really passionate about inspiring women and girls in aviation. It’s not something many women or girls do.”
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