My first experience with a female pilot was watching a 14 year old girl fly solo in a glider. Winch tow. I was a pre solo Piper J3 student. The winch tow in the glider scared the hell out of me. Routine for the girl.
Between jobs I was instructing part time in Cherokees and Cessna’s. A gentleman who I had been flying with in his personal airplane asked me to teach his wife to fly. We started in the 152 and then she bought her own 172. I had my own unique agenda which included a lot of cross wind landings which she learned to handle very well. She probably had 60 hours when she took her check ride but she was performing at a commercial pilot skill level.
Decades ago I had the honor of conducting a special program for the graduates of the Navy
Test Pilot program. This was done in the Russian Sukhoi SU29, a taildragger with some quirks. There were something around 12-15 pilots, all got two flights. A lot of spin work including upright and inverted flat spins. There was one person in that group who was so much better than the next best that it was an embaressment to the rest She was six ft tall with long blonde hair. I was later told she was overhauling Corvette engines when she was 16 years old. I have always wondered what path her career took.
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