First Female F-22 Pilot

[FlyinRock]

As a woman I think it's cool hearing about these kind of things, though I agree it will be an awesome day when it needs no mentioning any more. Unfortunately as a society I think we're still at a point where a female aviator is a novelty. This is something only time will correct.

The only thing that pisses me off (and I always write a letter to whatever news agency publishes them indicating my ire) are stories detailing the deaths of women, in the military, police departments, etc., as deaths of a "female" soldier or a "female" police officer. Why not just say a soldier died? If you release the name or details of the story, the reader will get that it was a female who died. It diminishes the contributions of that particular woman in her field, not to mention all those men who died in similar situations, to highlight her gender and not what she did.

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Good for you.
Semper Fi
Rocky

 

[cosmania]

Allan Shepard was 3nd in space... remember? Yuri and the monkey beat him.

Yeah, and every single female astronaut that ever flew came after all three. . .

Fortunately, most of the women that I worked with didn't care that they were female in a "male dominated" field, they merely cared about doing a good job. It was only the outsiders that found anything novel or special about her working.

 

[AllAmerican75]

For whatever reason, their G-suits plug in on the right. Therefore, they had to have a G-suit unique to the F-22 made up.

I've worn that Navy harness you guys wear on the Navy/Marine jet rides I've had: why you guys your pilot/NFO union needs to dump that thing and get the USAF-style harness. Just ask the guys that fly the Navy F-16.

How do the Navy/USMC and USAF g-suits differ? I thought all g-suits were the same.

 

[Birdog8585]

How do the Navy/USMC and USAF g-suits differ? I thought all g-suits were the same.

Zippers zip in different directions due to water egress ease - so I'm told.

 

[phrogpilot73]

If everyone wants true equality (to include pay, not highlighting a first female whatever, etc...), then you better be prepared to be left behind with the psycho killer in a hostage situation. Last I checked they still negotiate to get him to release WOMEN and children first...

 

[VetteMuscle427]

If everyone wants true equality (to include pay, not highlighting a first female whatever, etc...), then you better be prepared to be left behind with the psycho killer in a hostage situation. Last I checked they still negotiate to get him to release WOMEN and children first...

Been involved with a few of those recently?

 

[phrogdriver]

Allan Shepard was 3nd in space... remember? Yuri and the monkey beat him.

Yes, and they were both males, too...:icon_wink

 

[HuggyU2]

Huggy,
When my mom used to teach in Yuba City she had a female U2 pilot that would always come out and speak to the class. Being kids (or members of airwarriors), the question of peeing in the plane always came up. She actually showed them a diaper developed for females. Supposedly it was a godawful expensive piece of gear - as in hundreds of dollars. Can you confirm or deny.

That was probably "Troy" Devine. She was the 1st female U-2 pilot. She went through here qual in the U-2 in 1990, and was around for a long time. Was on the path to flag officer (5 years below the zone to O-5) when, about 4 years ago, she balked at the career-progression-pain they threw at her. She retired at 20 as an O-5, and is a full time mother of 4 kids.

The diaper was very pricey, but was short lived. She and 1 or 2 other gals developed the chick-equivalent of the men's Urine Collection Device (UCD). Basically, it looks like a thick panty liner with a tube coming off of it. The pad soaks up the urine, and the airflow sucks some/most of it out of the pad and into the piss bucket in the belly of the jet. The men's version looks like a large, heavy gauge condom. The men's version is reusable. The women's is not.

 

[HH-60H]

Who, other than Christa McAuliffe, died in the Challenger? Don't know? Neither do I, because the media doesn't care about the others.

I see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. There was another woman on that flight, Judith Resnik, but without looking it up, I didn't know that either.

I think McAuliffe got a lot of attention because she was a "civilian" teacher who was on board and NASA specifically had a large media campaign to document her flight into space. In fact, I do remember that we were talking about it and following the progress in school because my teacher at the time had applied for the program.

 

[HuggyU2]

.... Who, other than Christa McAuliffe, died in the Challenger? Don't know? Neither do I, because the media doesn't care about the others.....

I care.
Dick Scobee was the Challenger's commander. His son, Rich, went to Clear Lake High School with me. His wife, June, was my English teacher my senior year. She wrote the letter of recommendation for my 4 year ROTC scholarship.
Mrs Scobee had me over to her house and introduced me to her husband. He showed me a bunch of the flying stuff in his house, and chatted with me about his career. At the time, I thought I wanted to go Navy. He was a big influence in me going AF instead. Not that he bad mouthed Navy or anything like that. Far from it. I would have been proud to go in any Service... but I was an impressionable 18 year old, and this meeting made an impression.
My mom's house sits right on the back gate of NASA in Houston, and you could see Building One from the backyard (until they built a few houses behind us). I grew up with many of the Astronaut's kids. Everytime time I see video of Challenger, I tear up. I didn't come back home for the NASA Memorial, and regret it to this day.

Dick Scobee was the pilot that said that a major Shuttle accident would happen at some point, but was adamant that it should not slow down NASA and space exploration. A legendary American.

Fast forward to 2003: I end up being great friends with another U-2 pilot here. Turns out, he was Rich Scobee's roommate for 4 years at the Academy. Small world. Coincidence?? Hadn't seen Rich in 2 decades, but went to his change of command in 2005 at Luke (and got to see his mom again), and now we stay in touch every now and then. Just a great guy.

Next time any of you go cross country through Ellington, grab the courtesy car and go to Frenchie's Italian for lunch or dinner. It's on the corner of NASA Parkway and El Camino Real, about a 10-15 minute drive from the FBO. Their sandwiches are amazing. Frankie runs the place, and it's been there since the 70's. Just about every astronaut has their picture in there. Many pictures have been hanging there for a long time, and are faded out,... pics of guys like Gene Cernan, Pete Conrad, Deke Slayton, Rick Husband, Willie McCool, etc... Their inked comments are fading with age, and the ubiquitous Texas sunlight, but you can still read them.
Across the street from Frenchie's is the Outpost Tavern. It used to be the hangout for the folks at NASA, but I don't know if they still go there, since the owner died a few years back.
It was neat to swing in there for a drink on Friday's when passing through Ellington.

 

[Shpion1]

Laika

Yes, and they were both males, too...:icon_wink

Since we're bringing mamals into this, and to showcase my AI "Nerdness" the first mammal in space was actually a "bitch". Laika...

laika the space dog... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika

 

[East]

Thanx

I care.
......

Thanx for sharing this (very) personal story!
Stories like this keeps reminding to my own childhood, no pilots who influenced me though (only a NFO dad). I grew up watching the series "call to glory" with Col. Sarnac. Major boost for choosing aviation for a career.