Page 10 - Women's History Month 2022 - Combined Special Edition of Aerotech News and Review Nellis AFB Creech AFB Desert Lightning News

19-year-old woman sets record for solo global flight

by Raf Casert mother Beatrice said. “I think Zara wants to celebrate by sleeping
Associated Press about two weeks.”
When she wakes up, she will find herself in the Guinness World
BRUSSELS — Home! And no longer alone. Records book after setting the mark that had been held by 30-year-
The 19-year-old Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford set a old American aviator Shaesta Waiz since 2017.
world record as the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, The overall record will remain out of Rutherford’s grasp, since
touching her small airplane down in western Belgium on Jan. 20 Briton Travis Ludlow set that benchmark last year as an 18-year-
2022 — 155 days after she departed. old.
She made it count for herself, her family and dedicated it to all Her global flight was supposed to take three months, but relent-
young women trying to succeed in male-dominated sectors like less bad weather and visa issues kept her grounded sometimes for
aviation, and the exact sciences that drive the industry. weeks on end, extending her adventure by about two months.
“Go for it. It takes a lot of time, patience, a lot of work, but it is On Jan. 20, rain, drizzle, sunshine and even a rainbow over Kor-
incredible,” she said after an adventure that gave her as many thrills trijk airport exemplified the changing, often bad weather she had
as scares — from the frozen tundra in Siberia to typhoons in the been facing all too often.
Philippines and the stark beauty of the Arabian desert. After she was escorted by a four-plane formation in a huge V
One time, her one-seater Shark microlight plane filled up with across much of Belgium, she did a flyby of the airport before finally
the stench of California wildfires. Often she was flying in absolute landing. After waving to the jubilant crowds, she draped herself
solitude over seas or desolate land, any potential rescue hours away. both in the Union Jack and Belgian tricolor flag.
She had to spend weeks isolated in the tiny Siberian village of Ayan In her trek of more than 28,000 nautical miles, she stopped over
with barely any contact with her family or the world she knows. in five continents and visited 41 nations.
So little felt as sweet as the Jan. 20 embrace with her pilot par- Rutherford’s flight saw her steer clear of wildfires in California,
ents and brother. deal with biting cold over Russia and narrowly avoid North Ko-
“We will celebrate this by being as a family together, at first,” her rean airspace. She flew by Visual Flight Rules, basically going on
sight only, often slowing down progress when more sophisticated
systems could have led her through clouds and fog.
Sometimes she feared for her life, and at other times she simply
yearned for the simple comforts of home. Flying runs in her blood
since both her parents are pilots and she has been traveling in small
planes since she was 6. At 14, she started flying herself.
Pretty soon, the dream of flying round the world grew in her
head. Photograph by Zara Rutherford
“But I never thought it would be possible. I thought that it is too Zara Rutherford takes a selfie with Diane Barney, inside Barney’s
difficult, too dangerous, too expensive,” she said. Grumman Tiger. During Rutherford’s stopover at the Mojave Air
For the money part, sponsorship and people’s contributions took and Space Port, the two flew over California’s Central Valley to
care of it. For the danger and difficulty factor, she did it herself. observe a SpaceX launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base,
Timing-wise it fit in perfectly between high school and univer- Calif.
sity.
Photograph by Diane Barney “I thought, actually, this is the perfect opportunity to do some- enthusiasm for studies in the exact sciences, mathematics, engineer-
ing and technology.
Zara Rutherford lands at the Mojave Air and Space Port as part thing crazy and fly around the world,” she said.
of her solo, round the world flight. With the final touchdown, the teenager wants to infuse young In September she hopes to be off to a university in Britain or the
women and girls worldwide with the spirit of aviation — and an United States to study electrical engineering.
Leaving a legacy, paving the way in UPT

partment of mathematical science.
by Capt. Kenya Pettway
JB San Antonio-Randolph
Susan D. Rogers
In 1975, then-Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Flying a C-141 Starlifter, Rogers evacuated
David C. Jones, announced the establishment of victims of a bombing attack on a U.S.
a test program for female pilots and navigators. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon on
Although women had already proven their Oct. 23, 1983. She died of cancer in 1992 and
ability to fly military aircraft, such as the WASP left behind a legacy of excellence.
had in World War II, the test program would
establish a precedent for the future of Air Force Christine E. Schott
female pilots. Schott was the first woman to solo in the
The candidates were all Air Force officers Northrop T-38A Talon at Williams AFB,
from various career fields, including a nurse, Ariz. She later became the first woman to
engineer and maintenance officer. qualify and serve as an aircraft commander on
On Sept. 26, 1976, 10 women, alongside their the C-9A Nightingale medical transport and
35 male classmates, began undergraduate pilot command its first all-female aircrew.
training at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz., and
cemented their place in history. Connie J. Engel
The 10 women of UPT class ‘77-08 were: Engel, the class leader, was the first in her
Kathleen A. Cosand, Victoria K. Crawford, class to solo in the T-37 Nov. 30, 1976,
Mary E. Donahue, Connie J. Engel, Kathy La- earning her one of the three Distinguished Air Force photograph
Sauce, Mary M. Livingston, Susan D. Rogers, Graduate awards, the Officer Training U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 77-08 at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz., in
Carol A. Scherer, Christine E. Schott and Sandra Award for exhibiting “high qualities of mili- May 1977.
M. Scott. tary bearing and leadership”, and the Air Train-
Accumulating more than 210 flight hours in ing Commander’s Trophy as top graduate. After graduating OTS, LaSauce was select- did so anyway.
the T-37 Tweet and T-38 Talon, they success- Following graduation, she became the first ed as one of the first female officers in aircraft “I wanted to play the trumpet and they said
fully completed UPT and went on to achieve female T-38 instructor and flew the T-38 chase maintenance, a newly-opened career field for ‘No, girls don’t play the trumpet,’ so I played the
more historical feats in their Air Force careers for the space shuttle program. women at that time. Her experience in aircraft trumpet,” she said. “I wanted to be a drum major
that pioneered future generations of women to maintenance helped her gain one of the 10 slots and they said ‘No girls aren’t drum majors’, so
follow. Kathy LaSauce for women to enter pilot training. I became a drum major. When I set my heart on
LaSauce became the first female pilot to com- “I loved aircraft maintenance,” LaSauce said. doing something, I didn’t listen to those who told
Mary E. Donahue mand a C-141 and the first woman to serve as “I loved working around airplanes. When pilot me I couldn’t.”
Donahue became the first woman to serve as a presidential support pilot. She joined the Air training opened for women, I knew that was
an instructor pilot assigned to the U.S. Air Force Force in 1972 and received one of only two slots what I wanted to do.” Sandra M. Scott
Academy, where she taught senior cadets to fly available for women to attend Air Force Officer Although LaSauce’s interest in becoming a Scott became the first female tanker com-
the T-41 trainer and was an educator in the de- Training School. pilot was not met with optimism by society, she See UPT, Page 11

Aerotech News and Review
10 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview February 25, 2022