Warbird Information Exchange

Whs is your favorite female pilot. For me its Mary Dilda.

I actually met her...man she is one cool women. I had the choice of eithertalikng to her or Patty Wagstaff. But Patty was stuff with autographers so I walked up to Mary instead. Besides a women flying a T-6 is more my style...and man can she fly! She was very very nice and didn't mind having a long convosation with me. I actually flirted with her alittle. As I told her there is nothing better then a women flying a T-6. She asked me what my favorite plane was I said P-40. She said she would like to get a Seafury sometime!

I watched her fly too...she was about 50 feet off the ground doing rolls in that old T-6 keeping in straight never getting out of line. I was in aww!!

So yep Mary Dilda is my favorite female pilot of today. She is no schoolgirl this chick can fly like no other!

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Jackie Cochran for me... so much so that I have her tattooed on my leg.

She really was unique in so many ways... breaking records, successful businesswoman, getting an opportunity to fly aircraft that men couldn't even get access to... and she was good at it too (unlike Earhart, who many said was a poor pilot, but was pressured into all of her feats).

Obviously I never met her though.

I'd say the group of female aviators from her era though (30's / WASPs / Etc.) were all amazing... overcoming the odds and doing so without too much fanfare for the most part.

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Ryan Keough
Stow, MA

Louise Sacchi (sp)

I was taking primary flight instruction at the Doylestown PA Airport in 1965 and would work on the ramp (or clean the restrooms and mow the grass) in exchange for flight time.

A brand new Bonanza taxied up to the pumps, and this 'old lady' gets out of the plane and asks me to top off the wing tanks. I walk over to the pumps, and through the open door I see that there is no interior except for the pilot's seat. The rest of the space is taken up by aux gas tanks, with a stack of radios fastened on top of them.

Her specialty was ferrying single-engine aircraft solo to Europe. I believe she was nearing flight number 50 when I had this encounter.

It sure humbled me............

She wrote a book on navigating the North Atlantic.

Svetlana Kapanina. Incredible beauty with amazing piloting skills.

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"They done it, they done it, damned if they ain't flew." December 17, 1903

Becky Layne, my wife.

I'm pretty partial to Tina Downing.

She went out and got her ratings, while she was managing a very hectic career (which is a major reason we can afford to have the warbirds) and has gone from the C140 to our T-6 in the last 5 years. No racing or low level aerobatics, just a lot of hard work and taking it a little at a time, safely. For someone who started out just flying to "have a better understanding of what goes into it", the T6 is a huge accomplishment.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."

Svetlana followed by Patty Wagstaff

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Wonder Woman

Nathan--

Interesting thread idea. Course you've all but guaranteed I'd agree with you about Mary Dilda, with that Sea Fury reference...the lady clearly has taste!

I haven't actually known many female pilots personally (though ex-CWHer Joan Thompson does come to mind); by reputation, or from seeing their flying, though, there are many...

Patty Wagstaff
Montaine Mallet
Julie Clark
Debbie Gary Callier

...aerobatic stars all; Julie Clark sometimes gets so near the deck in her T-34 that I have long referred to the "too much month at the end of the money" situation as "financial Julie Clarking"...and I well remember seeing Debbie Gary Callier fly a full routine from a closed cross runway in a horrendous crosswind at London one year...all these jets were stuck on the ground, Ms Gary Callier and her little Marchetti were the only thing left on the flying program!

Jacqueline (Jackie) Cochran and Jacqueline Auriol

...the famous "dueling Jacquelines", one American, one French, who in the 50s and early 60s kept trading speed records back and forth...

Natalia Gynku

...who besides being an airshow pilot is also a professional model; the L-29 Delfin she used to fly is now here in Ontario, I think she now flies an L-39 but am not sure.

Carolyn Grace
Suzanne Parish
Naomi Wadsworth
Lynette Zuccoli
Judy Pay

...in our favourite sphere, Warbirds. There are many others of course but these were the first few who came to mind. (Actually, Nathan, given that Ms Parish's aircraft of choice was her famous gloss-pink P-40N, I'd have thought you'd have mentioned her in your initial post...)

S.

mary dilda is awesome. i respect her for keeping her name. her husband must have been brutalized in school with a last name like that. no doubt jokes occur. my favorite female aviatrix is pancho barnes......... the only woman worthy of wearing balls. her history is colorful, & she rubbed elbows with many big names, & her guts are endless.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Pancho sure had character! And then some...She flew some touchy vintage (not in her era) aircraft as well as her male counterparts...just didn't get the recognition....I bet she would have if she had been a glamour girl!

It's worth pointing out that as well as being a remarkable air show and air race pilot, Mary Dilda is also a veteran of the first Gulf War. Here is a nice interview article my wife did on Mary Dilda a few years back:

http://www.aafo.com/racing/2003/Mary_Dilda_Interview/

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Neal Nurmi

---Wingman Photo---

woof woof!!! she was a bowzer looks wise!! but top notch otherwise, i guess she'd still qualify as a glamour girl!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

My cousin Capt Caroline Jensen USAF callsign "Blaze" F-16 pilot 4th FS just returned from a combat tour in Iraq

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Don't touch my junk!!

Julie Clark and Patty Wagstaff





Excellent performers

Cheers Dave C