On Wings of the Morning (2011)
“That meant I had to fly with a black curtain drawn across my windshield to block my view, relying completely on my instruments. Since the primary role of the WASP would be to ferry planes from factories and bases to where they were needed, our curriculum placed even more emphasis on this kind of navigation than the training of our male counterparts did. It wasn’t easy.
Flying under the hood required complete focus. You had to keep your eyes glued to the instruments at all times—the airspeed ind...icator to know if you were going too fast or slow, the altimeter to make sure you were climbing or descending properly, the needle-ball to make sure you weren’t listing too far to the left or right—all the while listening to the instructor’s directions as they were shouted over the earphones and praying that those instruments really were accurate. You had to have great trust in your plane and your own ability, because you really were flying blind. It was exhausting.
I was looking forward to using the bathroom (long flights didn’t include pit stops, and, unlike male pilots, we couldn’t take care of business in midair—even if we had, our oversized flight suits weren’t exactly designed to accommodate the female anatomy), taking a cold shower, and falling into bed.MoreLess
Flying under the hood required complete focus. You had to keep your eyes glued to the instruments at all times—the airspeed ind...icator to know if you were going too fast or slow, the altimeter to make sure you were climbing or descending properly, the needle-ball to make sure you weren’t listing too far to the left or right—all the while listening to the instructor’s directions as they were shouted over the earphones and praying that those instruments really were accurate. You had to have great trust in your plane and your own ability, because you really were flying blind. It was exhausting.
I was looking forward to using the bathroom (long flights didn’t include pit stops, and, unlike male pilots, we couldn’t take care of business in midair—even if we had, our oversized flight suits weren’t exactly designed to accommodate the female anatomy), taking a cold shower, and falling into bed.MoreLess
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