According to CNN , the Air Force has a new fighter plane , and the most experienced pilot is needed to fly it. The Air Force didn’t have to look any further than Lt. Col. Christine Mau because she is an experienced pilot in the cockpit. This week, the Air Force selected Mau to be its first female pilot to fly the F-35 Lightning II jet.
Christine Mau flew combat missions in the F-15 Strike Eagle in Afghanistan. Even so, Mau says completing her first flight in the F-35 was a special moment.
“It wasn’t until I was taxiing to the runway that it really struck me that I was on my own in the jet. It felt great to get airborne. The jet flies like a dream.”
According to the Air Force, even though Mau is the 88th person to fly the F-35 in four years, she is the first female to fly the F-35 .
The F-35 is a single-seat, single-engine jet that can reach a speed of 1,200 mph with a ceiling of 50,000 feet and a range of 1,350 miles on its internal tanks. The fighter plane is reported to be a state-of-the-art fighter jet and considered to be one of the most technologically complex planes ever built.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlHt5dfx-I
Newsmax reported that before flying from Florida’s Elgin Air Force Base on Tuesday, Mau, 33rd Fighter Wing Operations Group deputy commander, had completed 14 virtual training missions in a flight simulator. She joined 87 other F-35 pilots who have trained there.
This is not the first time Mau has made Air Force history. Four years ago, she was part of the first all-female combat mission over Afghanistan. The pilots and weapons officers aboard two F-15s, as well as all the planners and maintainers, were women.
The F-35 will eventually replace F-16s and A-10s in the Air Force fleet. The Air Force will not be the only branch to use the F-35. The Navy, Marine Corps, and U.S. allies around the world will use versions of the F-35.
Mau says women have been flying in the military for over two decades. So gender makes no difference in flying a combat aircraft.
“The plane doesn’t know or care about your gender as a pilot, nor do the ground troops who need your support. You just have to perform. That’s all anyone cares about when you’re up there — that you can do your job, and that you do it exceptionally well.”
[Image courtesy of U.S. Air Force]
