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Please ping me to aviation and aerospace articles. Thank you.
If you want added to or removed from this ping list, please contact EveningStar or Paleo Conservative.
I’m curious about one of the comments to the story, in regards to Kara Hultgreen:
“The story I heard, collaborated by numerous fellow aviators, was that she was given a fleet naval aviator disposition board,(FNAEB) convened at the behest of the flight surgeon, of all people, while assigned to VAQ -33, N.A.S. Key West. She was selected to fly F-14’s in spite of this huge black mark.”
I guess my question is, if Hultgreen indeed had one of these, what is it about the FNAEB that would be such a black mark on the record? Is it a routine evaluation type thing, or is it “we don’t think this person is up to snuff, and we’re basically going to publicly question their competency” sort of thing?
Just curious. I don’t know much about these things.
By all accounts I’ve read, Kara Hultgreen had no business being in the cockpit of that F-14 on the day she lost her life. As a number of pilots and Navy vets have pointed out over the years, any man with her track record in training would have been washed out of the program.
“That plane earned the headlines again on Oct. 25, 1994 when, piloted by Lt. Kara “Revlon” Hultgreen, U.S. Navy’s first female F-14 pilot, crashed into the sea while landing aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, off San Diego. While her RIO, Lt. Matthew P. Klemish, ejected safely she didn’t survive the ejection.”
I remember that crash. The ultimate finding was that Lt. Hultgreen was given a much coveted fighter billet despite recommendations that she be given a much less demanding flying slot.
Top Gun is one of my top 10 most favorite movies along with Cool Hand Luke, Bullit and a few more.
I was there, V-2 Div, Waist Cats. Ah, it seems like a lifetime ago.