Her friend—who was also a corporate chief pilot—became her mentor and supporter, and helped her quickly climb the ratings ladder.

With a whopping 250 hours in her logbook, Marcinko got another unheard-of offer from her mentor friend: He needed a third crew member on his corporate flying job in a Gulfstream II jet.

Suddenly, Marcinko was an official right-seater in the G-II. "The first flight was kind of crazy," she adds, "I didn't remember how to open the cabin door." Marcinko—who had never flown anything larger than ATP's Piper Seminole—was now a Gulfstream pilot.