“spectrum”, from fully aerobatic routines on the usual 450hp planes to wing walking in its purest form (without any aerobatics) on stock 220’s, and everything in between. She became involved with the Stewart Family Airshows wing walking team in 2009, mentoring the ladies for a couple years before becoming more “officially” involved with them in 2011. Although not technically part of the family, she is most certainly a Stewart in spirit! (Learn more about DoubleTrouble)
Though she has lived elsewhere, Jenny is back in Cleveland, where the vast majority of her family lives. Her Faith and her family are the most important things in her life. She lost her dad to esophageal cancer in September of 2008. After seeing his struggle, and the difference that many of the healthcare workers made in her dad’s and family’s lives, as well as her passion for people that grew with her airshow career, she decided to start back in school in the summer of 2009 and pursue a degree that would get her out of the science labs where she often worked solo or with just a couple people at any given time, and into a position where she could work with people on a regular basis, and make a positive difference in their lives. She recently began the formal program in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (aka Ultrasound Tech) as of Fall 2011.
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Jenny Forsythe was adopted as an infant by her wonderful
parents, Mary and David Forsythe, in 1970. She was raised in
Cleveland, Ohio where she graduated in the top 10 students of her high
school class. She went on to earn degrees in Chemistry and Geology and
worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, she came into the opportunity to work with a different wing walking team as an “airshow grunt” for 2 years and then became the team wing walker in 2004. She has since performed in Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and of course, right here at home in the USA. She has wing walked on an ultralight trainer, and performed on Stearmans throughout the wing walking
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About Jenny...
Despite the fact that Jenny may appear to be right at home in front of a crowd of thousands of people, she was actually extremely shy as a child, as she often found herself struggling with self-esteem issues, especially during her early college years when she was also struggling with weight gain and declining grades. And though she always dreamed of flying from a very young age, she never even set foot on an airliner until she was 15. Through a variety of “seeds of hope” that were planted in her life during late college, graduate school and beyond, the excess weight eventually came off and she began to see some of her inner strengths and beauty. Needless to say, when the opportunity to fly on a regular basis came along in her early 30s, she jumped at the opportunity. While most people might think it was the wingwalking that would have been the “out of the box” part to learn, Jenny felt right at home from her first flight. It was the performing part, in front of an audience, that Jenny feared most. But, with the Grace of God, Jenny overcame her fears and pushed herself beyond what she thought her limits were with respect to interactions with people not already familiar to her. In turn, Jenny now strives to be one of those “seeds of hope” for others, spreading the message that anyone who may feel out of place or lost in the crowd, as Jenny so often did growing up, can ultimately achieve greater dreams than they ever imagined. Just keep the Faith!
Photo courtesy of Scott E. Wolff (© 2011).
Wing walker Jenny Forsythe on the wings of Belle, the Stewarts' 220hp stock Stearman.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1&2
Meeting people like the Stewarts and the Red Stewart Airfield 'extended family' has made this adventure among the most extraordinary Jenny has had. In this photo from October 2011, Emerson Stewart III is piloting the Stearman and Jenny is sharing the front cockpit with fellow DT wing walker, Kimmy Stewart (Emerson's wife). The photo was taken by photographer Greg Morehead (Warbird Digest, editor/contributor) and the photo-ship was piloted by Michael Stewart (the team's ferry and rides pilot).
To that end, when not wing walking or in school, Jenny enjoys being involved in volunteer work through her church and “Building Hope in the City”. Her parents helped to create Trinity Tutoring 10 years ago – an all volunteer-based, one-on-one tutoring program free to students of all ages in Cleveland which Jenny now helps to coordinate with her mom. Additionally, Jenny’s growing passion for serving others has been fulfilled through Trinity’s Street Ministry – where she and the rest of the Trinity street team bring food and other provision to the homeless and otherwise struggling members of the Cleveland community. Most recently, Jenny has felt the call to become involved with her church Youth Group and is assisting their head Youth Leader with introducing their students to The Life Book Movement. Jenny says this kind of work makes her heart soar even higher than it does on the wings of Belle! Obedience to God's Word and sharing your blessings with others is key in this life!
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
--1 John 2:3-6
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