Thursday, June 16, 2005

I bet my mom's smilin' tonight

Captain Nicole Malachowski has been named as the very first female aviator to join the Air Force's elite Thunderbirds precision flight team. Says Cap't Malachowski: "The women of yesterday and today's Air Force maintain a tradition of excellence, and it is that heritage that has given me this exciting responsibility of being the first female Thunderbird pilot." You better believe it!

One of my favorite mom stories is about her flying into a coastal base in 1944 with a group of other WASPs. They were ferrying in some new SNJs from a factory for the Navy. Coming in toward the landing strip, the ladies were in really tight formation. Serious precision stuff. Apparently, a Navy officer on the ground watched them approach, boasting to everyone about how he could tell naval aviators from a mile off by their precision and discipline. He went on and on about how good these guys looked on approach, etc., etc. When women hopped out of all the aircraft, this guy turned 50 shades of purple and the ground crew just about died laughing. He was furious that women could possibly fly well enough to be mistaken for naval aviators!

Boy, what a difference sixty years makes, huh?

Into the wild blue yonder, Captain M.

You have a lot of angels on your shoulder. You'll do brilliantly.

No comments: